Directed by Juzo Itami • 1987 • Japan
Starring Nobuko Miyamoto, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Masahiko Tsugawa
Certainly the most exuberantly entertaining film ever made about the intricacies of the Japanese tax system, this delightful comedy stars Nobuko Miyamoto as a fiercely dedicated tax collector who goes to elaborate lengths to nab a tax-evading hood (Tsutomu Yamazaki) operating a string of adult motels. Director Juzo Itami stages the ensuing battle of wills with breathless verve (and a dash of sex) while cleverly critiquing capitalist greed. The film’s success inspired both a video game and an equally inventive sequel.
Up Next in Directed by Juzo Itami
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A Taxing Woman’s Return
Directed by Juzo Itami • 1988 • Japan
Starring Nobuko Miyamoto, Rentaro Mikuni, Masahiko TsugawaNobuko Miyamoto returns to the role of Ryoko Itakura, the tough-as-nails government tax investigator whom you most definitely don’t want to cross, in Juzo Itami’s energetic, genre-twisting follow-up ...
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Tales of a Golden Geisha
Directed by Juzo Itami • 1990 • Japan
Starring Nobuko Miyamoto, Masahiko Tsugawa, Hiroshi OhkochiThis thorny sex satire stars the great Nobuko Miyamoto (star of nearly all of director Juzo Itami’s films) as Nayoko, a good-hearted geisha who brings luck to the men she sleeps with—even though mos...
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The Gentle Art of Japanese Extortion
Directed by Juzo Itami • 1992 • Japan
Starring Nobuko Miyamoto, Yasuo Daichi, Takehiro MurataAn upscale Japanese hotel hires Mahiru (Nobuko Miyamoto), a lawyer adept at dealing with the yakuza, to help them rid their hotel of the local gangsters so they can get a contract for a meeting of impor...
