Alleycat Rock: Female Boss
Encyclopedia
aka Stray Cat Rock: Delinquent Girl Boss, Female Juvenile Delinquent Leader: Alleycat Rock, Wildcat Rock is a 1970
Japan
ese film directed by Yasuharu Hasebe
and starring Akiko Wada
and Meiko Kaji. It is the first entry in the five-film Alleycat Rock series.
is involved in fixing boxing
-matches. When their leader is killed by a rival yakuza
gang, her second-in-command takes charge and seeks revenge.
's Delinquent Boss series, which, in turn, had been inspired by Roger Corman
's early outlaw biker film
, The Wild Angels
(1966). Nikkatsu also meant the film to showcase the popular singer Akiko Wada
, and to appeal to her young audience. Co-star Meiko Kaji, however, attracted the most audience attention, and she became the star of the remaining episodes in the Alleycat Rock series. Nikkatsu regarded Alleycat Rock: Female Boss as a prototype for a new direction for the studio. Its success ensured the studio's move towards youth-oriented action films.
Director Hasebe and cult screenwriter-director Atsushi Yamatoya wrote the script to Alleycat Rock: Female Boss. Because of the film's low budget, the studio gave Hasebe and Yamatoya more creative freedom than was generally the case for Nikkatsu's staff at this time. Of the distinctive look of Alleycat Rock: Female Boss, Hasebe recalled, "I tried to infuse those movies with the culture of the time. I spent a lot of time visiting places where people hung out. At the time, protest songs were popular, so I included them in the soundtrack. I remember, one day I noticed a big fuss near the west entrance of Shinjuku station Activists were gathering and protesting against the US-Japanese Security Treaty. These people were like the hippies in the States. I found them interesting. Cinematic. I wanted my film to be this modern."
's Delinquent Boss series, with which it was meant to compete, and call the series, "a prime example of sexually oriented-action movies, five excellent entries over a two year period". The style of the series, according to the Weissers, is "Ultra-chic, yet surprisingly grim". Allmovie writes that Alleycat Rock: Female Boss is "Good-looking and fast-paced".
1970 in film
The year 1970 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 9 - Larry Fine, the second member of The Three Stooges, suffers a massive stroke, therefore ending his career....
Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese film directed by Yasuharu Hasebe
Yasuharu Hasebe
was a Japanese film director best known known for his movies in the "Violent pink" subgenre of the Pink film, such as Assault! Jack the Ripper , Rape! , Rape! 13th Hour and Raping!...
and starring Akiko Wada
Akiko Wada
is a female Japanese singer and television performer of Korean ancestry, originally hailing from , Ikuno-ku, Osaka. Born Kim Bok-Ja , like many Zainichi Koreans, she also had a name for everyday use, which was Japanicized . On her selection of Japanese citizenship, her name became , which upon...
and Meiko Kaji. It is the first entry in the five-film Alleycat Rock series.
Synopsis
A female motorcycle gangBosozoku
is a Japanese subculture associated with motorcycle clubs and gangs.-Traits and history:The word bōsōzoku is also applied to motorcycle gangs, who share an interest in modifications for motorcycles, such as removing the mufflers so that more noise is produced...
is involved in fixing boxing
Boxing
Boxing, also called pugilism, is a combat sport in which two people fight each other using their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee over a series of between one to three minute intervals called rounds...
-matches. When their leader is killed by a rival yakuza
Yakuza
, also known as , are members of traditional organized crime syndicates in Japan. The Japanese police, and media by request of the police, call them bōryokudan , literally "violence group", while the yakuza call themselves "ninkyō dantai" , "chivalrous organizations". The yakuza are notoriously...
gang, her second-in-command takes charge and seeks revenge.
Cast
- Akiko WadaAkiko Wadais a female Japanese singer and television performer of Korean ancestry, originally hailing from , Ikuno-ku, Osaka. Born Kim Bok-Ja , like many Zainichi Koreans, she also had a name for everyday use, which was Japanicized . On her selection of Japanese citizenship, her name became , which upon...
as Ako - Meiko Kaji as Mei
- Kōji Wada as Michio Yagami
- as Yuriko
- Yuka Kemari as Mari
- Hanako Tokachi as Hanako
- Yūko Shimazu as Yūko
- Yuka Ōhashi ( as Yuka
- Miki Yanagi as Miki
- Toshimitsu Shima ( as Maabō
- George Fujita as Hiroshi
- Ken Sanders as Kelly Fujiyama
- Tatsuya Fuji as Katsuya
- Yōsui Inoue (as Andre Candre)
Background
Alleycat Rock: Female Boss was designed by Nikkatsu to compete with ToeiToei Company
is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution corporation. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan, a modest vertically-integrated studio system by the standards of the 1930s United States; operates studios at Tokyo and Kyoto; and is a...
's Delinquent Boss series, which, in turn, had been inspired by Roger Corman
Roger Corman
Roger William Corman is an American film producer, director and actor. He has mostly worked on low-budget B movies. Some of Corman's work has an established critical reputation, such as his cycle of films adapted from the tales of Edgar Allan Poe, and in 2009 he won an Honorary Academy Award for...
's early outlaw biker film
Outlaw biker film
The outlaw biker film is a film genre that portrays its characters as motorcycle riding rebels. The characters are usually members of an outlaw motorcycle club.-History:...
, The Wild Angels
The Wild Angels
The Wild Angels is a 1966 Roger Corman film, made on location in Southern California. The Wild Angels was made three years before Easy Rider and was the first film to associate actor Peter Fonda with Harley-Davidson motorcycles and 1960s counterculture...
(1966). Nikkatsu also meant the film to showcase the popular singer Akiko Wada
Akiko Wada
is a female Japanese singer and television performer of Korean ancestry, originally hailing from , Ikuno-ku, Osaka. Born Kim Bok-Ja , like many Zainichi Koreans, she also had a name for everyday use, which was Japanicized . On her selection of Japanese citizenship, her name became , which upon...
, and to appeal to her young audience. Co-star Meiko Kaji, however, attracted the most audience attention, and she became the star of the remaining episodes in the Alleycat Rock series. Nikkatsu regarded Alleycat Rock: Female Boss as a prototype for a new direction for the studio. Its success ensured the studio's move towards youth-oriented action films.
Director Hasebe and cult screenwriter-director Atsushi Yamatoya wrote the script to Alleycat Rock: Female Boss. Because of the film's low budget, the studio gave Hasebe and Yamatoya more creative freedom than was generally the case for Nikkatsu's staff at this time. Of the distinctive look of Alleycat Rock: Female Boss, Hasebe recalled, "I tried to infuse those movies with the culture of the time. I spent a lot of time visiting places where people hung out. At the time, protest songs were popular, so I included them in the soundtrack. I remember, one day I noticed a big fuss near the west entrance of Shinjuku station Activists were gathering and protesting against the US-Japanese Security Treaty. These people were like the hippies in the States. I found them interesting. Cinematic. I wanted my film to be this modern."
Critical appraisal
The Weissers, in their Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films, judge Alleycat Rock: Female Boss to be better than ToeiToei Company
is a Japanese film, television production, and distribution corporation. Based in Tokyo, Toei owns and operates thirty-four movie theaters across Japan, a modest vertically-integrated studio system by the standards of the 1930s United States; operates studios at Tokyo and Kyoto; and is a...
's Delinquent Boss series, with which it was meant to compete, and call the series, "a prime example of sexually oriented-action movies, five excellent entries over a two year period". The style of the series, according to the Weissers, is "Ultra-chic, yet surprisingly grim". Allmovie writes that Alleycat Rock: Female Boss is "Good-looking and fast-paced".
Availability
Alleycat Rock: Female Boss was released theatrically in Japan on May 2, 1970. It was released on DVD on December 8, 2006.English
- Hasebe, Yasuharu. (1998). Interviewed by Thomas and Yuko Mihara Weisser in Tokyo, 1999, in Asian Cult Cinema, #25, 4th Quarter, 1999, p.32-42.