Stray Cat Rock: Films (1970-71)
Dirs. Yasuharu Hasebe / Toshiya Fujita
There are five movies in Nikkatsu's Stray Cat Rock / Alleycat Rock series, but they aren't connected in any meaningful way other than being thematically similar and each one having actress Meiko Kaji in a lead role.
In the first, 01. Stray Cat Rock: Delinquent Girl Boss (1970 / Dir. Yasuharu Hasebe) a group of street-savvy women, really just 'chicks' with knives and razor blades, fight for a purpose when a sukeban (delinquent girl) rides into town and provides guidance.
It's interesting seeing the traditional roles of the sexes reversed in a 70s setting, and exploring how rules are applied and disregarded in the contrasting arenas of the street and the boxing ring, but, ultimately, Delinquent Girl Boss is 80+ minutes of style over substance played out to a soundtrack of funky jazz and psychedelic rock. If Dir. Hasebe had further indulged his willingness to explore a film frame's role in the telling of a story, then things might've been better.
02. Stray Cat Rock: Wild Jumbo (1970 / Dir. Toshiya Fujita). Released just three months later, Wild Jumbo doesn't have much plot for the first hour, or so it seems. Around the 55-60 minute mark the real reason for the gang's goofing around is revealed to both them and us.
The remainder of the movie doesn't change how it goes about things, but it does give the antics a purpose, finally, and in some ways validates part of what came before.
03. Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter (1970 / Dir. Yasuharu Hasebe) was filmed at the same time as Wild Jumbo, but Sex Hunter is a much better film. It gets the mix of funky Jazz, seduction, and gang violence just right.
The gangs are split by gender, which, far from being stereotypical, enables the ladies (The Alleycats) to take the centre stage position they deserve. They aren't all knives at dawn; beneath the fire there's a sensitivity that knows its place, when to retreat and when to rule.
The introduction of a 'half-breed' puts an opposing male gang (The Eagles) on the warpath, facilitating a focus on racism and how it affects even the counter-cultures.
In 04. Stray Cat Rock: Machine Animal (1970 / Dir. Yasuharu Hasebe) three male 'rednecks' try to finance a lowkey boat trip by selling a large stash of LSD, but they draw the attentions of two different gangs, neither of which are much good at keeping secrets.
The Vietnam War has relevance, but I don't know if the story was attempting any kind of commentary on it. It has a fun vehicle chase through Yokohama's docks near the movie's end, but the denouement is pretty grim, generally.
05. Stray Cat Rock: Beat '71 (1971 / Dir Toshiya Fujita) seems like it might've once had the beginnings of a story worth telling — about a woman who takes the blame for a murder she doesn't commit, then ends up on the run — but it devolves into a dumb, wasteful story about vagrant hippies who leave their painted bus in order to rescue a friend, which brings them into conflict with corrupt politicians (is there any other kind?) and asshole cops (ditto).
There's not much dialogue, which isn't a problem if events are driven by actions and/or character, but the movie lacks anyone worth caring or even rooting for - least of all the hippies, who act more like gypsy thieves. Meiko's character comes close, but she's hardly onscreen for most of it.
Events trundle along lamely and eventually start to resemble a Western, for some reason; probably simply because they'd access to that kind of movie set. The ending is piss-poor.
I don't know why Nikkatsu put an end to the Stray Cat Rock series. Perhaps they simply ran their course and became less relevant as the 70s went on, but I'm not upset about it.
- Meiko Kaji in a Promo / Lobby Card photo for Machine Animal. -
