A Taxing Woman

In this, his third helter-skelter satire on modern Japanese mores, Itami turns his witty attention to the subject of Money, with tighter construction and deeper characterisation making it his most entertaining yet. Miyamoto plays divorcée Ryoko, an Inspector for the Japanese National Tax Agency whose considerable energies are channelled into the collaring of tax evaders. Her tenacious, seemingly heartless exposure of the scams, perks and false expenses of small-time gambling arcade proprietors, corner-shop owners and the like, trades beautifully on the guilty pleasures to be had in seeing the other guy get his deserts. But success gives her the chance to go for the big fish: Rachmanesque hoodlum and 'entertainment' hotel boss Gondo (Yamazaki). As the movie gears up for the final bust, Itami exploits and inverts every known cliché of the detective thriller with a breathless style, and a sexual excitement in criminal minutiae reminiscent of Bresson's Pickpocket.