When I first saw Female Prisoner 701 Scorpion I realized I had something special on my hands. Here was a movie that wasn't content to be mere exploitation nonsense. With it's stylish, surreal direction and it's scattergun attack on a wide range of topics the film was a different creature entirely. By being so well crafted 701 became a far more emotional and effective movie than it would have been if it had been content to be yet another piece of grindhouse fodder. Thanks to 701 I was reminded that there are hidden gems out there waiting to be discovered. But what I didn't realize during my initial viewing was that 701 was merely a warm-up for the amazing sequel Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41.

Jailhouse 41 opens with another series of visual reminders of what caused the heroine Nami Matsushima [Meiko Kaji] to become Scorpion. After her revenge-fueled killing spree in the last movie, Scorpion spent a year chained and immobile on the floor of a cellar like cage. When she is momentarily brought out of her cell she is so weak from the weight of her manacles and muscle atrophy that she has to practically be dragged. But even with all those impediments Scorpion still attacks the warden Inspector Goda [Fumio Watanabe] the moment she sees an opening. The sense of revenge that fuels her is so strong that Scorpion can eventually overcome the most extreme of conditions. The theme of violent, incredible retribution for women who are martyred by an unjust society that fuels all of the Scorpion movies returns in Jailhouse 41. If anything, the theme is most thoroughly explored in the second film, with every part of the plot dovetailing back into that cycle of violence.

At this point in the series Nami Matsushima has moved beyond herself and fully become Scorpion. In 701 Matsushima was fueled by a sense of personal revenge. Even though the circumstances that caused her to set off on a path of vengeance were endemic of much larger flaws in society itself she was only focused on her personal survival and redemption. In Jailhouse 41 the oppressors are jailers and characters who seem designed to be seen as symbolic of wider social concerns instead of as individuals. Instead of trying to right personal wrongs Scorpion is now at war with society itself. This change in focus is reflected in her personality. Any signs of the young woman who existed before her ordeal began has been buried, with Scorpion now existing as a pure vehicle of revenge. The male prison officials continue to refer to her by her old contracted knick name of "Matsu" as if they can somehow push her back into being yet another incarcerated woman. The other prisoners, however, recognize her for what she is and almost always refer to her as Scorpion.

When playing Scorpion Meiko Kaji appears to have taken a page out of Clint Eastwood's acting book by realizing that the less a character says the more iconic they can become. During the entire running time of the film Scorpion has, at most, maybe two lines of dialogue. The only other time Kaji's voice is heard in the movie is on the soundtrack that omnisciently accompanies her exploits during the movie. For the rest of the film she communicates with her eyes. Anger, disgust and pain are all displayed through body language and how she interacts with whatever current problem she is facing. But for most of the film Scorpion watches. Her unrelenting stare silently sees and judges everything. Small wonder several of the other characters in the film find Scorpion unnerving- she comes across as being nearly inhuman.

The otherworldly aspect of Scorpion is a reoccurring theme in the movie. Sometimes she is able to attack her opponents with the speed and power that would seem more appropriate coming from the killer in a slasher movie instead of from her petite frame. Other times she is able to suffer incredible amounts of punishment. Presented as the symbol of every woman who has been wronged Scorpion suffers through an impossible number of tortures. As if her status as a messiah figure wasn't obvious enough Scorpion at one point is even tied to a tree crucifix style. The spiral of unnecessary pain followed by revenge becomes so extreme that Scorpion seemingly dies at one point only to spring back to life the moment she can kill one of her oppressors. Her desire to met out violent justice is so strong that she can even overcome an apperantly fatal beating immediately. Other prisoners in the film have been just as unfairly treated by life but they are shown to be far too frail and mortal. In the end only Scorpion is somehow able to live on to exact revenge every wrong that is committed. Even the way Scorpion looks has an air of the unreal. With her long black hair draped over a face that is often set in an unchanging mask-like expression she looks every inch like a modern interpretation of a vengful female spirit from Japanese folklore.

In another film Scorpion's plight and power might seem outlandish. In Jailhouse 41, however, her inexplicable, supernatural air seems right at home. The surreal moments from 701 have overrun Jailhouse 41 to the point that the sequel loses all connection with reality. From the theatrical composition of the characters in the frame to the wild shifts in lighting and sound, everything in Jailhouse 41 is geared toward maximum visual impact. For example, at one point Scorpion and several other prisoners hide in an abandoned village. Even the few moments of reality that appear feel odd and uncanny. At one point Scorpion and several other escaped prisoners hide out in an abandoned village. From what I have read the ruins were an actual village that had been abandoned due to the eruption of a nearby volcano. The ash the buildings were buried under gave the location an air of the impossible. When the action moves to a set that features a building that magically flies apart it still feels as real -or unreal- as the village. The hyper-reality of the story is so complete that reality feels like fiction and the unreal moments seem real. When the movie occasionally drops out of reality altogether it seems perfectly reasonable and even expected for the dream-like world that Jailhouse 41 has created.

As audacious and amazing as the film is I find it equally amazing that it was even made. Even with all of its social commentary and stylish presentation the Scorpion series is still built on the foundation of women in prison movies. The barrage of exploitation movies that Japan was cranking out in the 1970's was filled with a surprisingly large number of well made offerings but they were still, first and foremost, designed to shock and titilate. Even though the films were often better made than they needed to be it often felt like this was being done by film creators who were amusing themselves more than actually trying to produce a quality product. I don't know if director Shunya Ito, Meiko Kaji, and the rest of the people responsible for the series were trying to make films that were meant for an audience or only meant for themselves but whatever the thought process was that went into it they created quite the collection of movies. Whether anyone meant it or not, it seems that the Scorpion films must have had some sort of audience since not only was the sequel Jailhouse 41 ordered up by Toei Studios but apparently the creators were given free reign to make the movie as crazy as their hearts desired. It makes me wonder what the original audience for these films thought about this surreal exploitation. Perhaps the audience attending B movies in Japan were a lot more open to fresh ideas than I would have initially expected.

Jailhouse 41 straddles the line between high art and high trash without ever condescending to either aspect. A surreal social commentary built around women prisoner revenge fantasy isn't the sort of movie that is going to appeal to everyone but anything with its own voice isn't going to meet with universal acclaim. While Jailhouse 41 certainly isn't subtle it is memorable and compelling. By going above and beyond what it could have been Jailhouse 41 achieves its own strange sense of poise and beauty.

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