Madame O

Synapse

All Region NTSC DVD

Madame O was released in 1967 and was directed by Seiichi Fukuda and written by Tomomi Tsukasa. It certainly would have been considered quite confronting for the period. Madame O is quite a unique film in that while it has a large amount of sex; it is not standard exploitation fare, it is a film which has strong character development, powerful performances from all involved and innovative cinematography including an unusual combination of both black and white and colour footage. Much of the film is told in a detached voiceover; Saeko explains her life and actions and narrates her experiences creating a third person view of what is occurring. This reinforces her cold and revengeful behaviour. It also becomes more significant as we realize this story must have been told in retrospect.

Saeko was a young, innocent sixteen year old girl when she was raped by three boys. Not only does she become pregnant but contracts syphilis. Rather than receiving sympathy and support, her father accuses her of leading the boys on. He keeps her isolated from men from that time onwards and this only reinforces her view that men are violent and evil.

Many years later she has become a highly respected doctor in her field, however she has an abiding hatred of men. At night she prowls the street for men eager for sex, she brings them home and then carefully cuts their arms with a scalpel infecting them with syphilis, she then uses an injection to make sure she is not pregnant.

As her practise expands she takes on a new doctor named Teakow, he is dedicated and helpful. However, she has a problem; she is regularly fainting and getting morning sickness. She realizes that one of her nightly escapades has left her pregnant. In a bizarre scene she attempts to terminate the pregnancy herself but faints during the procedure, Teakow finds her the next morning and completes the termination. At first she suspects he will try and blackmail her and so she offers him money, however, it seems he is in love with her and they develop a passionate relationship.

Sadly, things do not go as planned. One of the men from Saeko’s past sees her in a club and attempts to blackmail her for infecting him. After she tries to poison him and he attacks her with a knife, she kills him and disposes of his body in acid. Teakow sees the killing and yet tells her he still loves her and marries her anyway.

But is Teakow everything he seems? What are his true motives ?

This is a quirky and unusual film marked by some very superior use of black and white and colour cinematography and a very funky score which ranges from Jazz to classical. The violence in the film is actually quite understated, it is amazing how much you can infer using changes in music, shadows, the interchange between black and white and colour and a voice over. The climax is unexpected and there is all manner of betrayal and treachery, it seems no one can be trusted.

This really is quite a fascinating visual experience which is presented in a high quality widescreen edition. There is minimal damage to the print and the sound is very clear and in English. Yes, it would have been nice to have a Japanese track with subtitles, but we can’t have everything with these rare gems !

This review will appear in Volume 2:1 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

If you came to this page directly (and missed our menu), click here to go to the Synergy Magazine front page. (http://www.synergy-magazine.com)