Arrow Video UK Blu-ray Synopsis: Play it Cool is a chic and erotically charged drama starring popular Japanese singer of the day Mari Atsumi as a college girl negotiating her way through the male-dominated hierarchies of Tokyo's seductive but treacherous nightclub culture. Yumi (Mari Atsumi) is a pretty fashion student who shares a cramped home with her mother Tomi (Akemi Negishi, The Saga of Anatahan) and good-for-nothing stepfather Ryoichi. Tomi works at a local hostess bar and hopes for a better fate for Yumi. When Ryoichi violently forces himself upon her blossoming daughter, Tomi is not afraid to take action to protect her, an act which lands her in jail. Left to fend for herself, Yumi is taken in by her mother's former place of employment, where she finds herself fighting off the unwanted attentions of the men who swarm around her. Then one day, a rescue by handsome former lawyer Nozawa (Yusuke Kawazu, Cruel Story of Youth) from a vicious gangster seems to offer an escape into an altogether glitzier world, albeit one that turns out fraught with similar dangers. Arrow Films is proud to release this little-seen gem by one of Japan's most highly regarded directors of the 1960s, Yasuzō Masumura (Giants and Toys, Irezumi), a filmmaker known for his social satires and powerful portrayals of women, as Play it Cool is released for the very first time for the home video market outside of Japan in a brand new high-definition transfer. (94 Mins)

 

Views: Also known as Electric Jellyfish and based on Masayuki Toyama's original novel, this 1970 Daiei Studios production tells the tale of a proud geisha's daughter, Yumi, and the lengths her mother will go to to insure she has a better life than her. But it doesn't take long for this young dressmaker to fall off track. After her step-father rapes her, Yumi's overly protective mother stabs him to death – an act of vengeance that quickly sees her jailed. Now, after her change in circumstances, Yumi sets out to make as much money as she can and becomes a nightclub hostess. But it doesn't take long for her to step on the toes of her female co-workers, as she plays gambling games with her horny male patrons while offering her body as the prize. Naturally, this comes with it's own troubles that soon make Yumi rethink her life choices!

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Just dipping it's toe into Japanese cinema's infamous 'pink genre', Play It Cool holds back from going full exploitation and proves to be quite tasteful in it's execution. While it may not be up there with his greatest works, the film is neatly directed by Yasuzo Masumura, the prolific director behind films such as Blind Beast (1969), Irezumi (1966), Giants & Toys (1958), Afraid To Die (1960), Hanzo The Razor: The Snare (1973), Black Test Car (1962), and An Ode To Yakuza (1970) among many others. Recently released on Blu-ray by Arrow Films (as are a number of the aforementioned titles), Play It Cool is a great addition to the collections of Masumura fans across the UK & Ireland. Aside from a wonderful restoration, the film is accompanied by a great audio commentary from Jasper Sharp and Anne McKnight, as well as a very lengthy video essay from Japanese film scholar Mark Roberts – both of which are hugely informative on the film and those involved – along with the original theatrical trailer and an image gallery...

 

Popular starlet Mari Atsumi, does a great job in the role of Yumi. Having already starred in a number of adult themed thrillers over the years, it's clear she was the right girl for the role, delivering the melodrama and looking good at the same time. While her career with Daiei Studios made the most of her looks and brave approach to acting, her career was put on pause briefly after the company went bankrupt a year after this. Following this, Mari would go on to star in the brilliant Hanzo The Razor: Sword Of Justice (1972) and Sonny Chiba's action-thriller The Bodyguard (1973), but would eventually fade from the film industry soon after. Prolific actress, Negishi Akemi, stars as her doting mother. Starting her acting career in the early 1950s, Akemi would go onto appear in classics such as King Kong vs Godzilla (1962), Red Beard (1965), Snake Woman's Curse (1968), Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972) and it's sequel, Lady Snowblood (1973), and the little seen war-drama, The Setting Sun (1992), that would place her alongside Yuen Biao, Donald Sutherland, Diane Lane, and Kato Masaya.

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As with most of Masumura's films, Play It Cool is beautifully shot thanks to cinematographer Setsuo Kobayashi, the same eye behind Fires On The Plain (1959), An Actor's Revenge (1963), The Red Angel (1966), Blind Beast (1969), Manhunt (1976), and Princess From The Moon (1987) which would also be his last. This is complimented by a great score from popular composer Hikaru Hayashi. With it's surprising ending, which really caught me off guard, it's fair to say that Play It Cool still proves to be an entertaining watch over 50 years later. It's a sad yet all-too-common story of the Japanese hostess world, where exploitation, sex and abuse are rife in a seemingly sexist society – and Yasuzo Masumaru doesa great job in letting us see how!

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Overall: Wonderfully made and brilliantly acted, Play It Cool is a bittersweet tale of a fight for survival, and is definitely worth a watch!

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Arrow Video Blu-ray Extras: Audio Commentary with Jasper Sharp & Anne McKnight, Video Essay by Mark Roberts, Original Theatrical Trailer, Image Gallery​