Underplayed Gems

Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (1981)

Sailor Suit and Machine Gun poster
Original title
セーラー服と機関銃
Directed by
Shinji Sōmai
Cast
Harada Tomoyo, Takayanagi Ryoichi, Arai Yasuhiro, Fubuki Jun, Bengal, Kaneda Ryunosuke, Shikauchi Takashi, Ato Kai
Genre
teen film, mystery film
Country
Japan
Runtime
2h 11m
Rating
7.1 of 10 from 59 voters
Elsewhere
IMDb
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How it feels

A teenage delinquent girl in a sailor suit uniform inherits her father's yakuza gang. She must navigate the criminal underworld while still attending school.

quirkytongue-in-cheekviolentabsurdfast-pacedsatiricalunexpected

What happens

Sailor Suit and Machine Gun (Japanese: セーラー服と機関銃, Hepburn: Sērā-fuku to kikanjū) is a 1981 Japanese yakuza film directed by Shinji Sōmai, starring Japanese idol Hiroko Yakushimaru as the main character and based on the novel of the same name by Jirō Akagawa. It was released on 19 December 1981. A satirical take on yakuza films, the storyline involves a teenage delinquent schoolgirl named Izumi Hoshi who inherits her father's yakuza clan. The title is a reference to a scene where the main character shoots several rival gang members with a submachine gun, while wearing a sailor-fuku, the traditional Japanese school uniform. Sailor Suit and Machine Gun is relatively well known in its home country, and spawned two television series based on and expanding upon its story, one in 1982, and one in 2006. Outside Japan, it is popular in some cult film circles, but has not garnered much mainstream attention. It has been released on Region 2 and Region 3 DVD, the latter being its first release that featured English subtitles. A "spiritual sequel", Sailor Suit and Machine Gun: Graduation, was released on March 5, 2016. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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