GIRL TRASH: CELEBRATING THE GODDESSES OF EXPLOITATION CINEMA

Don your designer prison garb and your chicest revenge looks – GIRL TRASH goes arthouse with avant-garde Women in Prison flick FEMALE PRISONER #701: SCORPION aka Joshû 701-gô: Sasori (1972). Our cellmate this week is the iconic Meiko Kaji, the composed, contained, quietly explosive Queen in our GIRL TRASH GODDESS pack.

When Nami Matsushima (Kaji) is betrayed by her lover, a corrupt police detective, her failed attempt at revenge sees her slammed behind bars. Sadistic guards, bullying inmates, back-breaking labour: nothing cracks her. She’s silent, she’s deadly, and she’s got a score to settle.

Nami was a defining role for Meiko Kaji, but she defined the role in turn. Her strength is her silence – and that was all Meiko's idea. "When I first read the script, it had a lot of prison scenes and scenes where the protagonist goes through a lot of torture and so on. There were a lot of obscenities in the script, and when I read that, I thought, “This is meaningless, just shouting obscenities all the time.” So my important condition was that she wouldn’t say anything... I’m confident that the reason the world continues to be so intrigued by [Scorpion] is because of my decision not to have dialogue."

SCORPION may not be the Meiko Kaji film that inspired Tarantino, but there's still plenty of feet plenty to love about it – from its haunting theme song (sung by Meiko of course) to its stylised, psychedelic look and kick-ass female performances.

Polite notice: We are screening FEMALE PRISONER #701: SCORPION in its original Japanese with English subtitles from the best available digital source. The BBFC has rated the film “18” as it “contains strong sexual violence, violence and sex”. You have been warned…

/// GIRL TRASH celebrates the femme filmmakers of trash and exploitation cinema, hosted by Zodiac Film Club and Token Homo. All films are served with introductions, intermissions, prize giveaways, and subtitles / captions where possible. Tickets from £3.50 + fees. Adults 18+ only. Follow @zodiacfilmclub and @tokenhomo on Instagram for info and updates. Please contact the venue for access information. ///