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the audience applauded

Excellent but underrated film

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

A lot of perfectly good film show their cards early, establish a unique premise and let the audience explore a topic at a leisurely pace, without much in terms of surprise. this film is not one of those films.

A TAXING WOMAN / TAX INSPECTOR WOMAN (Lit) (MARUSA NO ONNA). Viewed on Streaming. Director Juzo Itami's satirical take (he is also credited as story writer) on the eternal battle between taxing authorities and tax cheats especially involving yakuza run/affiliated businesses. Itami's star is his wife Nobuko Miyamoto (a stunningly gifted comedienne) who plays a sweet-looking, but relentless and hard-nosed government tax agent for Japan's version of the US IRS. Apparently, she is only one of two women in the Tokyo office. Like rust, Miyamoto's character "never sleeps" and employs a unique (and amusing) set of tools and techniques to sniff out hidden income and tax evasion (such as counting cars and turnover in the parking lot of a love hotel). She is fearless and ferocious as her character ventures alone into dangerous situations armed only with an ID badge, writing notepad, and hand-held calculator! The Director also adds a touch of romantic farce here and there. Miyamoto almost manages to tie together what is really a collection of shorts (or skits)--labeled by the seasons--into a movie that smoothly progresses and builds to a climax. Unfortunately, she often disappears or is lost in the huge cast (including the Director's stock company) Itami deploys whose members are decidedly not funny! Loss of focus (and opportunities) results in a drifting film that is much too long with gratuitous soft-porn and nudity making it still longer (and unfunny)! "Score" is monotonous and quickly becomes irritating due to alto sax overkill. Disappointing, but worth watching once. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD. Details: streaming/restoration = 9 stars; cinematography (narrow screen, color) = 7 stars; lighting and color correction = 7 stars; subtitles = 7 stars; direction = 6 stars; score = 3 stars.

This is a charming film about a tax collector in Tokyo pitted against a gangster. They fall in love. Directed and written by Juzo Itami, "A Taxing Woman" stars his wife, Nobuko Miyamoto, as the tax collector and Tsutomu Yamazaki as the tax-evading criminal.It's a fascinating glimpse into Japanese culture in 1987, when the picture was made. Yamazaki plays the owner of a chain of love hotels, and he hides his income. Miymato plays a recently-promoted tax auditor, and she is given the job of ferreting out his hidden income so that the proper tax is collected. The cat and mouse game begins.The opposing actors have a real chemistry between them, and their blossoming love comes as no surprise. Since the plot involves love hotels, we get some nudity, and because the cops and crooks are involved, there's a chase scene, too. Miyamoto is shown as a tired woman with bags under her eyes, but she's an attractive and worthy opponent to our tax cheat. That the crook is a complex man capable of - and worthy of - love takes the movie out of the ordinary comedy genre.If you like this comedy, there's an even lighter farce with the two lead actors you might enjoy: "Tampopo," which preceded "A Taxing Woman." "Tampopo" involves setting up the perfect raman restaurant, with chefs closely guarding their noodle recipes and other such nonsense. An amusing movie with food eroticism."A Taxing Woman" was so popular, they did a sequel, but I liked the original so much I didn't see the sequel.

I watched this movie with a friend from Japan who had a very high opinion it. I must say it was helpful to have her watching the movie with us (in our college dorm), however, because she explained a number of things about Japanese tax code and evasion as well as the Japanese mafia that made the plot (and politics) of the story much easier to follow. Aside from potential confusion in that area, I must say that I enjoyed the movie. Yes, there is sex, suspense, and the mafia, but don't expect it to flow like a mindless crime thriller (read: it isn't mindless, and it isn't non-stop action). It is about a tax woman, after all--the only woman amongst her coworkers. The characters are interesting and the story keeps you thinking. A smart movie with a few things to say along the way. Overall, I thought it was a good, but not great, movie. However, if you like this genre in general, you might enjoy it more than I did.

This is one of my favorites of all time. It concerns the years-long quest of a tenacious Japanese Revenue Service assessor to uncover the misdeeds of a crooked businessman. The tax evader finds himself increasingly attracted to her brains and persistence, even as she gets closer to blowing his cover and getting him in hot water with the government. The viewer can also see just where this man is coming from, since the tax system in Japan is painted as any Republican's worst nightmare. This has the same director and central cast as the even more wonderful "Tampopo." The only problem I have with this film is the unbelievably annoying soundtrack; it's loud, piercing and doesn't leave my head until several days after I've seen the movie.