Red Peony Gambler is a perfect transition from the honorable yakuza movies to the exploitation boom of the 70s. As I watched the movie I thought this is a proto Lady Snowblood. It's not as good as lady snowblood but it still had the style, charm and a fantastic lead with Sumiko Fuji.
Red Peony Gambler follows Ryuko as she seeks the man who killed her father in a mugging. As she goes on her quest of revenge she makes friends and enemies with the yakuza who just might know who killed her father.
The story definitely inspired the later revenge movies made by Japan in the coming years. It built the foundation Meiko kaji, Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto to reap their vengeance. As for the plot itself, it may not be the most complex or bloody. It still serves interesting characters, a cool final battle and sweet little moments especially with Ryuko.
Sumiko Fuji is the star. She plays Ryuko with grace and class. She isn't a lot like Yuki from lady snowblood who is more cold. That bring said she is still an entertaining character who you want to see get her revenge but not lose herself. Her ending also teases an interesting future I'm excited to see explored in the rest of the series.
I also enjoyed the side characters. The yakuza world makes for an interesting background as we see ryoko's faithful protector do anything for her. Katagiri who may know more than he let's on to protect someone and Fujimatsu the immortal who has some cool moments in the final battle. So all the side characters are great.
The movie looks beautiful. The music is soothing and enjoyable to listen to. The direction is done well.
Red peony Gambler walked so future movies can run. Dispite that I still enjoyed it alot. The quiet moments are nice, the world is interesting and it has an amazing lead. So it's a good time all around.
Red Peony Gambler is a perfect transition from the honorable yakuza movies to the exploitation boom of the 70s. As I watched the movie I thought this is a proto Lady Snowblood. It's not as good as lady snowblood but it still had the style, charm and a fantastic lead with Sumiko Fuji.
Red Peony Gambler follows Ryuko as she seeks the man who killed her father in a mugging. As she goes on her quest of revenge she makes friends and enemies with the yakuza who just might know who killed her father.
The story definitely inspired the later revenge movies made by Japan in the coming years. It built the foundation Meiko kaji, Reiko Ike and Miki Sugimoto to reap their vengeance. As for the plot itself, it may not be the most complex or bloody. It still serves interesting characters, a cool final battle and sweet little moments especially with Ryuko.
Sumiko Fuji is the star. She plays Ryuko with grace and class. She isn't a lot like Yuki from lady snowblood who is more cold. That bring said she is still an entertaining character who you want to see get her revenge but not lose herself. Her ending also teases an interesting future I'm excited to see explored in the rest of the series.
I also enjoyed the side characters. The yakuza world makes for an interesting background as we see ryoko's faithful protector do anything for her. Katagiri who may know more than he let's on to protect someone and Fujimatsu the immortal who has some cool moments in the final battle. So all the side characters are great.
The movie looks beautiful. The music is soothing and enjoyable to listen to. The direction is done well.
Red peony Gambler walked so future movies can run. Dispite that I still enjoyed it alot. The quiet moments are nice, the world is interesting and it has an amazing lead. So it's a good time all around.
