A lot of fun.

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Blistering performances.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

There's nothing guilty about this pleasure, the best in the Red Peony series and an evocative glimpse into Meji-period Japan. With its genre feel well established, this comes off feeling more like a classic western than a standard yakuza flick. Oryu, a wandering gambler known for her skill and beauty, must deal with corrupt bosses, reform a cheater for the sake of her blind daughter, and try to save a university student from certain doom after the boy falls prey to a cheat. Director Tai Kato, a minor master of genre films, delivers a narrative with texture and emotional impact. The dedicated viewer will notice a few people who played some of the other Red Peony films (all of whom were killed off), but the cast is solid and convincing.

Not only in my opinion, but also in Paul Schrader's, this is the ultimative in Japanese Yakuza movies. All the figures are absolutely brilliantly portrayed, with the wonderful FUJI Yunko in an atypical role which nevertheless made her famous. It's about a professional female gambler who is confronted with a gang war, and who tries to save the love of young couple. Meanwhile, she brings seeing back to a young girl, but cannot help her after that... (This plays a big role in the sequel, HIBOTAN BAKUTO - ORYU SANJO). Seldom had a Gangster movie shown so much humanism, and seldom the japanese Widescreen-Processing, which is even larger than your average Cinemascope, was used more effectively. Kato brings in his stylish mixture of genre film and expressionist pictures not seen since THE BAD SLEEP WELL, and never seen in a colour production before. The only disturbing fact is the director's affection for inhumane rape sequences, but they are here very short. Great stuff for all fans of japanese movies.