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A Taxing Woman (1987)
Oct. 19th, 2021 11:23 amThis is a Japanese comedy film by Juzo Itami (of Tanpopo renown). This movie actually first came into my awareness because there's a Yakuza 0 substory that's a direct reference to it ("The Tax Lady", I think?). I watched Tanpopo a few months ago and was in the mood for a comedy last weekend so turned this on.
I had mixed feelings about Tanpopo, and I have mixed feelings about this movie too. Tanpopo is critically and fan acclaimed, so I wouldn't say I had REALLY high expectations, but I did think I was in for a treat. Tanpopo is an interesting example of a movie where I by turns adored it and also disliked it. There are a few scenes in Tanpopo that I will never forget watching for the first time, I loved them so much. There are also a lot of scenes that I will try my hardest to remove from my memory, if only because I didn't have fun watching them (there's nothing particularly offensive by the way, it's just my taste).
I had a very similar experience with A Taxing Woman except with higher lows and lower highs (lol). So just a more average viewing experience. I would recommend this movie...I like the film-making, I like the main character quite a bit. The movie is not traditionally plotted, in a "hero's journey" kind of way; the movie is more like tightly related vignettes all based around the same character.
Short synopsis, but the main character is a tax inspector, so a majority of the movie revolves around tax evasion and tax inspection. This is the set-up to a well-paced movie with several fun turns. The main character is lovely, very fun to watch at work. She doesn't have that much to do? but that appears to just be Juzo Itami's style (I wouldn't call it style over substance, just that he seems to have little interest in character development as plot). His movies are also filled with love for movies, which I think is a lot of fun. It's less clear here than in Tanpopo, which is basically a love letter to cinema lightly wrapped in a plot about ramen, but there's still the distinct sense of "oh, this guy loves movies". Most obviously there's an influence from film noir and yakuza/crime movies I think.
In conclusion: I recommend the movie, it's not an absolute favorite, but you won't be bored watching. It's primarily a (rather dry) comedy, with major influences from film noir and crime movies that keep the plot moving.
Oh, also, Juzo Itami loves boobies.
I had mixed feelings about Tanpopo, and I have mixed feelings about this movie too. Tanpopo is critically and fan acclaimed, so I wouldn't say I had REALLY high expectations, but I did think I was in for a treat. Tanpopo is an interesting example of a movie where I by turns adored it and also disliked it. There are a few scenes in Tanpopo that I will never forget watching for the first time, I loved them so much. There are also a lot of scenes that I will try my hardest to remove from my memory, if only because I didn't have fun watching them (there's nothing particularly offensive by the way, it's just my taste).
I had a very similar experience with A Taxing Woman except with higher lows and lower highs (lol). So just a more average viewing experience. I would recommend this movie...I like the film-making, I like the main character quite a bit. The movie is not traditionally plotted, in a "hero's journey" kind of way; the movie is more like tightly related vignettes all based around the same character.
Short synopsis, but the main character is a tax inspector, so a majority of the movie revolves around tax evasion and tax inspection. This is the set-up to a well-paced movie with several fun turns. The main character is lovely, very fun to watch at work. She doesn't have that much to do? but that appears to just be Juzo Itami's style (I wouldn't call it style over substance, just that he seems to have little interest in character development as plot). His movies are also filled with love for movies, which I think is a lot of fun. It's less clear here than in Tanpopo, which is basically a love letter to cinema lightly wrapped in a plot about ramen, but there's still the distinct sense of "oh, this guy loves movies". Most obviously there's an influence from film noir and yakuza/crime movies I think.
In conclusion: I recommend the movie, it's not an absolute favorite, but you won't be bored watching. It's primarily a (rather dry) comedy, with major influences from film noir and crime movies that keep the plot moving.
Oh, also, Juzo Itami loves boobies.
