A Taxing Woman (1987) [Film Review]

A Taxing Woman; or, Extreme Auditing

     A tax officer shall take all steps necessary for prosecution when he discovers that an offense has been committed.

National Tax Offenses Act, Article 12, Clause 2

Continuing my binge-watch of Jūzō Itami’s films from the last week, I would like to focus on his third directional hit (after The Funeral (1984) and Tampopo (1985)) simply called A Taxing Woman, starring Nobuko Miyamoto and Tsutomu Yamazaki in the leading roles.

Release Info

Directed by: Jûzô Itami Starring: Nobuko Miyamoto, Tsutomu Yamazaki, Masahiko Tsugawa, Mariko Okada

Language: Japanese Original Title:マルサの女 Runtime: 127 min

 

Synopsis

Ryōko Itakura (Miyamoto) is a tax auditor who is extremely devoted to her profession. Even though she usually chases after small-time offenders, Ryōko is determined to go against the big shots. One day, she investigates Hideki Gondō (Yamazaki), the owner of a string of love hotels, who allegedly avoids tax, but his books are clean. After meeting the bizarre entrepreneur, Ryōko gets a promotion to Inspector at Tokyo Regional Tax Administration, a place where things get serious in terms of taking down extreme tax offenders. Eventually, the inspectors begin a meticulous investigation of Gondō and his business.

How not to hide your income

A Taxing Woman was a major financial and critical success upon its original release in Japan. However, I think that it’s mistakenly labelled as a comedy. Rather than throwing jokes and slapstick, the movie attempts to document a genuine work of a Japanese tax auditor, but in a very light manner. As a result, Nobuko Miyamoto makes the character of Ryōko believable as a single mother and workaholic. Having to deal with restaurant owners, casino managers, and gangsters raiding the office, she demonstrates disturbing determination which can only be equalled to that of a police officer.

On the other hand, the character of Hideki Gondō serves as the release of dramatic tension in the story. Tsutomu Yamazaki’s relaxed performance makes Gondō seem eccentric, yet cool and swell at the same time. Watching this “gentleman thief” embezzling money is sheer enjoyment (love that victory dance!). As the focus of the narrative shifts from Ryōko to Gondō, he ceases to be the anti-hero and becomes the story’s true protagonist. He is not presented as a two-dimensional greedy bastard, but a caring parent (similarly to Ryōko) who has lost his way. Even towards the end of the film, I caught myself cheering for Gondō and hoping that the tax inspectors won’t catch him. Nevertheless, A Taxing Woman had to respond to the economic boom of its times, and thus ended with a message that nobody can escape the long arm of the law.

Interestingly, Jūzō Itami came up with the idea of making a movie about tax evasion after entering a high tax bracket following the success of The Funeral (1984). Also, the original title is intriguing. Apparently, the word Marusa is not a technical term for a tax inspector, but slang. Full explanation of the term is available on wikipedia.

Additionally, apart from the dynamic performances of the two leads, other merits of the film include: engaging story (I was really afraid before watching that a movie about tax evasion may be boring), great music score (catchy theme improves the light tone of the story), and touching ending (I will never look at a handkerchief the same way again).

Recommendations

I recommend A Taxing Woman to anyone who would like to spend a quiet evening with a rare Japanese gem from the 1980s. It’s interesting, funny, entertaining, and easily palatable. If you liked Tsutomu Yamazaki in Departures (2008), you will surely like his performance in this picture. I can also add that I enjoyed this film a little bit more than The Funeral (1984) and Minbo (1992).

Overall score: 8/10