The Rewind Movie Podcast

Share

Female Prisoner Scorpion : Jailhouse 41 (1972) - Episode 99

Season 5

Burning, burning…burning woman’s song of vengeance. We’re delving into the heady world of 1970s Japanese exploitation cinema with the imposing Meiko Kaji as the indomitable Nami Matsushima, Sasori, the wrongly imprisoned Convict #701 in Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41.


Directed by Shunya Itō in 1972, mere months after releasing the first film in the series (and his debut feature) Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion, Jailhouse 41 sees Kaji do battle with the vicious, patriarchal forces of prison Warden Goda (Fumio Watanabe) and his guards after her repeated escape attempts have started to undermine his authority. A shocking punishment, a kaleidoscopic prison break, and a phantasmagorical trip through the tumultuous landscape of a Japan in upheaval follows in an incendiary, politically charged, visually startling underground cult classic.


Film picker Devlin has chosen the 50th anniversary of its release to introduce new viewers Gali, Patrick and Matt to one of his favourites, as they join him in debate on representations of gender, moral murkiness, the perils and pleasures of quick and cheap movie production, awesome theme tunes, and a whole lot more. Were the gang willing to join in the riot, or were they ready to send Devlin to solitary confinement?


For information about this film, and the era that produced it, head to rewindmoviecast.com for an introductory essay by Devlin that contains more information, article links, trailers, clips that help contextualise the movie. You’ll also find his Scorpion-inspired poster designs for all four Kaji features as high quality giclee prints on Etsy, and as a range of shirts, hoodies and sweatshirts at our Teemill store. You can also find our movie podcast merchandise, and shirts and posters based on some of the other titles we’ve discussed. 


If you’d like to support the podcast, a review or a quick rating on your platform of choice is the best way you can help us get the word out and keep the conversations flowing. 


Get in touch with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and if you'd like to submit a request, correct our constant mispronunciations, or have a chat about whatever is on your mind, you can email rewindmoviepodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening!

More Episodes

2/23/2023

Querelle (1982) - Episode 102

Season 5
The thought of murder often evokes thoughts of the sea, and of sailors. Our latest episode takes a sharp tonal shift into the tail end of Germany’s influential Neuer Deutscher Film movement with director Rainer Werner Fassbinder’s sultry, sweaty 1982 swansong Querelle.As the Navy ship Le Vengeur arrives into the docks of the town of Brest, the strapping young men of the crew turn their attentions to the unusual brothel tavern La Feria - home to sad-eyed Madame Lysiane (Jeanne Moreau), her burly husband Nono (Günther Kaufmann), and her mustachioed lover Robert (Hanno Pöschl). Into this heady equation saunters the handsome sailor Querelle (Brad Davis) - Robert’s brother - in town to execute an opium deal. Querelle catches the eye of Nono almost immediately, and rolls a game of dice with him to determine if he will get to sleep with Lysiane, or whether Nono will get to have sex with him. This precipitates a heady tale of murder, rivalry, lust and madness, played out under the constant sickly haze of an eternal sunset.Based on a novel written mostly in prison in the waning days of the Second World War by the influential Jean Genet, this stagebound adaptation takes place in a tightly constructed set, as Fassbinder layers the stately-paced action with layers of narration that hew closely to the dense, poetic, metaphysical phrasing of the author. An intense exploration of the nature of masculinity and its intersection with homosexuality, it’s an unlikely discussion for our panel, but was chosen by Patrick after an illuminating early brush with the film while a visiting student at Prague’s prestigious FAMU some 15 years ago. First-time viewers Gali, Devlin and Matt join him in diving into this difficult, opaque feature from one of European cinema’s most prolific proponents, as we each discuss our attachments to arthouse cinema, and whether the film set sail into our imaginations, or if were sunk by the anchor of its intellectual weight.Head over to our Teemill store for merchandise, movie shirts, art prints, stickers, totes and more, including our Schwarzenegger Bingo Trope Tote. You can also find an exclusive Terminator shirt at our Redbubble shop.If you’d like to support the podcast, a review or a quick rating on your platform of choice is the best way you can help us get the word out and keep the conversations flowing. Get in touch with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and if you'd like to submit a request, correct our constant mispronunciations, or have a chat about whatever is on your mind, you can email rewindmoviepodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening!
2/2/2023

Terminator 2 : Judgement Day (1991) - Episode 101

Season 5
Chill out. Dickwad. We’re on the run with James Cameron’s all-conquering, pioneering 1991 action sequel Terminator 2: Judgement Day.Over a decade on from the events of the first movie, the weight of knowing that the end of the world is coming up fast has weighed on Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) so heavily that she has been institutionalised. Her son John (Edward Furlong), the future leader of the human resistance in the war against the machines, is a pre-teen petty crook living in foster care. Skynet, the artificially intelligent defence system that will eventually launch its missiles and wipe out billions of people, has sent another Terminator to kill him before he can ever rise up against it - this time, a hyper advanced, near-impervious liquid metal android. Once again, a protector has also been sent back - this time, in the guise of the same murderous T800 model that tried to kill his mother before he could ever be born (Arnold Schwarzenegger). A brutal race against time (and fate) ensues as the trio attempt to avert Judgement Day and save an uncertain future.What better film to mark episode 101 than with this seminal, state-of-the-art blockbuster. We examine James Cameron’s approach to sequels, his inversions and embellishments of his lean, stark original feature, and the impact that star Schwarzenegger’s public persona had on its creation and impact. And we discuss its enduring appeal, from how its revolutionary visual and special effects have aged, to how it stands up against the ensuing franchise that inevitably flourished in the years that followed. Come with us if you want to listen.You can find more on what we’re calling ‘The Jim Commandments’ over at rewindmoviecast.com, with a wonderful introductory essay by Matt, along with a video playlist packed with features, clips, behind-the-scenes material and more. Head over to our Teemill store for merchandise, movie shirts, art prints, stickers, totes and more, including our Schwarzenegger Bingo Trope Tote. You can also find an exclusive Terminator shirt at our Redbubble shop. If you’d like to support the podcast, a review or a quick rating on your platform of choice is the best way you can help us get the word out and keep the conversations flowing. Get in touch with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and if you'd like to submit a request, correct our constant mispronunciations, or have a chat about whatever is on your mind, you can email rewindmoviepodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening!
1/20/2023

The Golden Sandwich Awards

Season 5
Polish up your spats, grab your best frock out of the vacuum bag, and clip on your bowtie as The Rewind Movie Podcast sashays down the red carpet for our very own awards show! To mark the milestone of 100 episodes, Gali, Devlin, Patrick and Matt take some time out to discuss the very best (and worst) of the movies we’ve covered over the last 4-and-a-bit years, and present some of our favourite films their very own fictitious, ostentatious, thick cut statuette. Yes, it's awards season fever, and we've only gone and got ourselves a temperature of 103°. We want to thank everyone who has either popped in for an episode or two, or stuck with us through the entire century, as we ventured back across our formative films and indulged ourselves in a big old chat about them. While I’m sure the four of us would be rambling on regardless, it’s been heartening to connect with so many listeners and share some of our fondest, and not so fond…est, memories of our movie-going lives. Here’s to the next hundred! Now, we go live to the red carpet, so the E! Network can be duplicitously nice about your awful shoes.Head to rewindmoviecast.com for an introductory essay by Matt, including a YouTube playlist of clips and behind-the-scenes videos for the film - and for those last minute gift ideas (they won't arrive in time, but don't worry about that) why not check out devlindoesdrawing.teemill.com for our merchandise store - you'll find Rewind Movie Podcast shirts, hoodies, totes, stickers, and a whole lot more, plus posters and shirts based on many of the films we've covered on the podcast (and a whole lot more).If you’d like to support the podcast, a review or a quick rating on your platform of choice is the best way you can help us get the word out and keep the conversations flowing. Get in touch with us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook, and if you'd like to submit a request, correct our constant mispronunciations, or have a chat about whatever is on your mind, you can email rewindmoviepodcast@gmail.com. Thanks for listening!