This film is currently unavailable
Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion
The iconic Meiko Kaji's career-defining turn as 'Scorpion', an unjustly imprisoned young woman who must escape to exact revenge upon the man who betrayed her.
Crime 1972 87 mins
Director: Shunya Ito
Overview
After being betrayed by the detective she had fallen in love with, young Matsu (Kaji) is sent to a female prison full of sadistic guards and disobedient prisoners. Enduring gruelling conditions, She becomes determined to escape in order to exact revenge upon the man who betrayed her.
Shunya Ito's heavily stylised take on the 'women in prison' picture kickstarted a hugely successful four-film Female Prisoner Scorpion series. While Kaji, building on her roles in the Stray Cat Rock series, establishes her career-defining character, 'Scorpion', an avatar of vengeance and survival and an unlikely symbol of female resistance in a male-dominated world. Sporting the black trenchcoat and hat that would become her trademark, Kaji's Scorpion character and her near-silent, single-minded pursuit of revenge would later be a key influence on Quentin Tarantino's Kill Bill.
Contains strong sexual violence, violence and sexRelated
Crime
Polytechnique Polytechnique
Crime 2009 77 mins Director: Denis Villeneuve
Denis Villeneuve’s profound dramatisation of the tragic Montreal Massacre.
Drive Drive
Crime 2011 97 mins Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Ryan Gosling plays the stunt double leading another life as a getaway driver in Nicolas Winding Refn's timeless cult thriller.
Gosford Park Gosford Park
Crime 2001 138 mins Director: Robert Altman
Robert Altman’s foray into the world of the British aristocracy of the early 1930s combines social comment, satirical comedy and a murder mystery to dazzling effect.
Pusher Pusher
Crime 1996 105 mins Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
The debut film of both Nicolas Winding Refn (Drive) and Mads Mikkelsen (Casino Royale) is a ferociously gritty crime thriller about a drug dealer's dizzying descent into self-destruction.
Pusher II Pusher II
Crime 2004 96 mins Director: Nicolas Winding Refn
Nicolas Winding Refn's sequel follows Tonny (Mads Mikkelsen) on the path to redemption, as he balances a life of crime with the demands of a new family.
Kansas City Kansas City
Crime 1995 115 mins Director: Robert Altman
Robert Altman revisits the 1930s city of his childhood, vividly recreating its jazz clubs, speakeasies, political corruption and lively crime scene.
Cult Japan
Audition Audition
Horror 1999 115 mins Director: Takashi Miike
Takashi Miike burst to international prominence with this deeply disturbing tale of a deadly young woman who turns the tables on her middle-aged suitor.
Love Exposure Love Exposure
Comedy 2008 237 mins Director: Sion Sono
Japanese cinema's enfant terrible, Sion Sono, unleashes this demented, whirlwind tale of cults, love, violence and perversion.
Tetsuo: The Iron Man Tetsuo: The Iron Man
Fantasy 1988 67 mins Director: Shinya Tsukamoto
Shinya Tsukamoto's wild cyberpunk tale of a businessman's agonising transformation into a walking scrap heap is a jaggedly dehumanised vision of the future.
The Happiness of the Katakuris The Happiness of the Katakuris
Comedy 2001 113 mins Director: Takashi Miike
The Sound of Music meets Dawn of the Dead in Takashi Miike's deranged mix of grotesque stop-motion animation, surreal musical numbers, and zombie melodrama.
House [Hausu] House [Hausu]
Horror 1977 88 mins Director: Nobuhiko Obayashi
An unforgettable mixture of bubblegum teen melodrama and grisly phantasmagoria, Obayashi’s deranged fairy tale House is one of Japanese cinema’s wildest supernatural ventures and a truly startling debut feature.
Stray Cat Rock: Delinquent Girl Boss Stray Cat Rock: Delinquent Girl Boss
Drama 1970 81 mins Director: Yasuharu Hasebe
Japanese cinema's kick-ass heroine Meiko Kaji made her name as leader of a ruthless girl gang - which takes on a crime syndicate - in Yasuharu Hasebe's riotous rebel biker flick.
New
As Above, So Below As Above, So Below
Documentary 2020 70 mins Director: Sarah Francis
A poetic reflection on sovereignty, perspective, space and futurisms.
Let's Talk Let's Talk
Documentary 2021 99 mins Director: Marianne Khoury
An exploration of identity, as told by the women in family of the great Egyptian filmmaker, Youssef Chahine.
200 Meters 200 Meters
Drama 2019 96 mins Director: Ameen Nayfeh
In Ameen Nayfeh’s accomplished feature debut, a Palestinian father navigates the complexities of life under occupation, where the wall separates him from his family.
Beauty and the Dogs Beauty and the Dogs
Drama 2017 100 mins Director: Kaouther Ben Hania
Kaouther Ben Hania’s bold and defiant fiction debut tells the story of a sexual assault in nine stunning single-take sequences.
Siberia Siberia
Drama 2020 91 mins Director: Abel Ferrara
Abel Ferrara returns with an extraordinarily vivid, visually dazzling and characteristically strange rumination on sex, dreams and death.
Talking about Trees Talking about Trees
Documentary 2019 94 mins Director: Suhaib Gasmelbari
Beautifully shot documentary about four members of the 'Sudanese Film Club' who decide to revive an old cinema.