A Woman Called Abe Sada/Comments
From The Grindhouse Cinema Database
- Noboru Tanaka's view of the famous true story is, unfortunately, rather bland. This despite the fact that it's considered as one of the very best films in the genre by some. The visually talented director is trapped with a script that takes place almost fully in one room. Tanaka still manages to create some stylish images, but the music choices are weak. The lead role is played by genre legend Junko Miyashita, but this time her acting isn't on the level this story requires. The characters feel distant, which partly the director's fault. The little impact the film might have had in 1975 was all gone only one year later when Nagisa Oshima's notoriously graphical but psychologically challenging adaptation of the same story hit the screens, under the title Ai no corrida. --HungFist
