Fairy In A Cage is the third Koyu Ohara joint I've seen so far and I think on the whole it may be my favorite. Judge Muraryama heads up the Japanese secret police during WW2 and he uses his position to get whatever he wants, and whatever he wants means women, guilty or not. To fulfil his sadistic desires he connives to get the lovely Lady Kikushima arrested along with her young protégée Inoue along for the ride, then its torture and abuse a-plenty for the both of them, and thusly entertainment a-plenty for the viewer. Things like plot and characterisation are lain by the wayside for this exercise in the joy of torture but all is underpinned by the interest inherent in the situation and its treatment, that is to say the unflinching gaze at the horror of history coupled with exploitative sexuality. Japanese films rarely fail to interest me when dealing with their past and this is no exception, it seems as if the post war era draws their film-makers to self flagellation but they can never quite get away from pure exploitation, its a tension that paints a fascinating picture of guilt and warped desire above and beyond anything on screen. Happily Fairy In A Cage delivers on screen as well, although it lacks the brutality of some later entries in the field and the depravity is not always the most inventive (couple of classic scenes though including one absolute ripsnorter which was echoed the next year in more graphic but less effective fashion in Jess Franco's notable Women In Cellblock 9), there's still a good deal of it including plenty of fun beating/flogging and classy rope work. Pink veteran Naomi Tani is excellent is Lady Kikushima, the role was apparently genuinely physically demanding with at least one scene performed for real and she is deeply compelling and sympathetic throughout, especially in one standout scene of rope bound urination humiliation. Tatsuya Hamaguchi is similarly convincing as the unfortunate Inoue, while Minoru Okochi makes for a quality upper class slimeball as Judge Muraryama and Kazuo Satake is a decent moral balance as a new recruit who isn't really down with the whole sexual torture for chits and giggles thing. Ohara handles it all in slick fashion with a decent enough budget allowing for generally good looking sets and period costumes, the compositions are pretty decent and the whole affair has a neato sleazy flair. Arguably the premise could have allowed for more commentary on the abuse of power and perhaps a twist or two, its pretty predictable stuff but the lack didn't really bother me and unless you're really discerning about this sort of thing it shouldn't bother you. Well recommended, 8/10.
Review of Fairy in a Cage
