The Yakuza Wives (1986)
aka Gokudô no onna-tachi
Genre: Crime
Country: Japan | Director: Hideo Gosha
Language: Japanese | Subtitles: English & French (.srt files)
Aspect ratio: Widescreen 1.85:1 | Length: 119mn
Dvdrip Xvid Avi - 704x384 - 23.976fps - 1.35gb
While her husband is in prison doing time, Tamaki, the wife of a yakuza capo, runs her spouse’s gang with an iron hand. Meanwhile, Makoto, her younger sister, marries a member of a rival band after being raped by him. The two sisters, united by blood ties but married to enemy yakuzas, will ultimately have to decide whose side they’re on.
Inspired by an article about the tough-minded women behind their mobster kingpin husbands, Toei producer Goro Kusakube made Gokudo no Onnatachi in 1986. In part because of the film’s gritty realism, in part because of its rampant nudity and in part because of the presence of actress Shima Iwashita, whose elegance and venom recalls Bette Davis, this film proved to be major hit, spawning ten sequels. In this go-around, Iwashita’s last in the series, Tamaki’s (Iwashita) husband is the head of the Idei clan, based in southern Osaka. As the film opens, punch-permed lieutenant Ginji (Riki Takeuchi) is offed while pumping iron. Following the hit, rumors and recriminations abound, slowly corroding the clan’s cohesion. Ginji, it turns out, was up to his amputated pinkie in debt. After Ginji borrowed a king’s fortune to build a luxury resort, his bank went belly up and stopped financing the loan. Frantic for funds, he decided as a last resort to rat out his boss who had skimmed five-billion yen from the gang. Soon everyone assumes that Idei did the hit. Convinced that Idei is being framed, Tamaki sets out to find the real killer. Of course, she entitles her band of shapely gangland wives to help. Rina Katase and pin-up model Fumie Hosokawa also appear.
The Yakuza Wives (1986)
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