Ginchô wataridori (1971)

Nami, a young woman, is released from the prison after serving 3 years for killing a man. She becomes a hostess to support a sick woman thanks to whom she was released before her term. ... See full summary »

Director:

Kazuhiko Yamaguchi

Writers:

Isao Matsumoto, Kazuhiko Yamaguchi

Stars:

Meiko Kaji, Tsunehiko Watase, Mieko Aoyagi

Cast

Credited cast:
Meiko Kaji	...	Nami
Tsunehiko Watase
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Mieko Aoyagi
Meg Flower
Mayumi Fujii
Teruo Hatanaka
Tomiko Ishii
Hiroshi Itsuki
Kazuko Kamei
Tatsuya Kameyama
Yôichi Kaneko
Keizô Kawasaki
Keiichi Kitagawa
Chie Kobayashi
Akiko Koyama

Storyline

Nami, a young woman, is released from the prison after serving 3 years for killing a man. She becomes a hostess to support a sick woman thanks to whom she was released before her term. While trying to manage her own life and helping the sick woman she becomes involved in a Yakuza scheme to take over the bar she works for. She has to use her wits and skills at pool table to save the bar and her own life.

---

Plot Keywords:

yakuza | female gang | animal in title | street gang | sword | 

---

Genres:

Action | Drama

---

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Also Known As:

Wandering Ginza Butterfly

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toei Company, Toei Kagaku

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Featured in Butterfly and Scorpion: An Appreciation of Meiko Kaji (2009)

User Reviews

A failed combination "weepie"/yakuza flick.

Meiko Kaji has been great in a number of films, but even she can't save this film from an uninspired script and wholly lackluster direction. The story is a combination of a womens' "weepie" about the protagonist's trials and tribulations after serving a three-year prison hitch, and though the DVDs packaging would lead one to believe it's an action-packed story about a yakuza chick who's very handy with a sword, there is no action whatsoever until the last ten minutes or so, and what little we get is just not worth the uninvolving buildup. I love Japanese cinema and have endured far worse than WANDERING GINZA BUTTERFLY, but its overwhelming mediocrity dooms it to the "I have better things to do than watch this" category. Skip this and check out Kaji in the vastly superior LADY SNOWBLOOD. You won't be disappointed by that one!