Irezumi

Otsuya, the daughter of a wealthy merchant, runs off with Shinsuke, one of her father's employees. Where they take shelter she is noticed by someone else: Seikichi, a master tattooist, for whom her white skin has the value of a canvas. She is drugged and a huge spider is worked into her back. When she wakes, both her body and what she knows about herself have changed. Yasuzō Masumura adapted Jun'ichirō Tanizaki's 1910 story Shisei, with a screenplay by Kaneto Shindō and cinematography by Kazuo Miyagawa. The narrative does not present the tattoo as a curse but as the beginning of Otsuya recognising her own desire and power. From then on she is not used; she uses. Ayako Wakao plays Otsuya, in one of the best-known roles of her long partnership with Masumura. The film was made during Daiei studio's strongest period. Who it's for: Viewers who like 1960s Japanese cinema, Tanizaki adaptations, and revenge narratives. Who it's not for: The sexual violence and the forced tattooing are shown directly. The film's equation of female power with violence is also open to argument.