Marva
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
missraze
Whatever this guy is talking about, who made the other review, saying you should only see it once because it's not X-rated, I gather. He's entitled to his opinion, but I don't quite understand it. I watch this film repeatedly and enjoy it more and more. It's a rare type of film that's obtainable for a non-Japanese person in how it's filmed at night and in Roppongi, Tokyo, a city that puts New York to shame when it comes to population and bright lights, and Vegas to shame when it comes to partying (ok, maybe not Vegas, but it certainly shares the podium). (An actor also specified that the location of the fictional-I'm guessing-sex club this film takes place in is in the "8th Chome" in Roppongi. There are chomes/wards in Roppongi and Japanese cities but not an 8th in Roppongi.) But still, surely the wise location has some social context and you could appreciate this film for being informative in its own way, especially if you're interested in Japanese culture and subcultures and not just watching this because why the hell not.I'm not sure how the film fared in Japan and I don't care. This film seems to be underrated for its script. It's a good one (and I believe the guy responsible for it is behind the script and direction for Vortex of Love/Be My Baby, a much similar Japanese film, and like Love's Whirlpool this film can easily be found in very high- resolution/crisp quality and vividly colored. I emphasise high resolution because it makes the viewing much easier and enjoyable and makes everyone in it looked darned good as the quality highlights their cool themed wardrobes and extravagant hair that you'd find in a Japanese host club.) These are important personal pluses for me.Back to the script, it's witty and realistic without being cliché and mumblecore/ad-libbing. It doesn't seem like the actors are trying too hard to fill in holes in the script or take the lead and improvise the next line, so I'll assume the screenwriter had their dialogues down to a tea which is kudos to him. There's also stuff that I couldn't help but notice like how two actresses reached for water at the same time but one drank from the bottle and the other poured the water in the cup. I don't know what it is with me but small stuff like this is important. It seems natural but it was probably directed for them to do this. So kudos to the director for having the eye for detail that made this film funny and free- flowing. And for being able to lace an actual film between graphic sex scenes.About those graphic sex scenes: yes, they're graphic but not that graphic. Graphic in sound effects, or how long the dry humping (I hope) lasts in a single shot, or how loud a girl would squeal (it was bad) but nudity went as far as boobs and buttocks. Not even crotch shots and male frontals. And thank God. That would take all the potential this film has to be taken seriously as a work of art, out. However, I'm no editor and I still see things in the sex scenes that could be edited out, which could give this film easily an American PG-13 or Japanese R15+ rating, making it even more popular and obtainable like it deserves to be. (Again I'm not Japanese and it probably was released in cinemas/theaters and sold out for all I know. Or...it's another undeservedly obscure indie film.) Regardless it's quite maturely a "mature film"/film about sex or showing sex. The talent of the writer and the director and actors anchors this film from a pornographic B film and retains its purpose, I assume, to be a mature drama film about characters and how they engage with each other while trying to have sex, in an excitingly underground one-of-a-kind club all about sex. They giggle like little kids when discussing sex and it's not only quintessentially Japanese to maybe have this shame but it's simply what adults do, and it instantly lightens the film up and lets you know it's not just going to be about sex! If you want fullout sex go watch porn!Yes I know the film is about strangers who meet to have sex (that's really it, at first), but then it develops truly into much more than that. How they select each other, it should take you back to social hierarchy in high school and the pecking order back at the sandbox. They avoid the overweight guy and the Gothic swinger eventually if not inevitably, and the very attractive and average lookers stick together, and so do the two nerds. I don't know why this is an under- appreciated theme... Then a couple comes in and they are laughably unique to see on screen. This plug of their appearance is sure to keep the viewer locked in if they could ever have thought of changing the movie beforehand and I don't see why.OK so all in all my take on the film is: it looks beautiful, the idea is cool, the themes are relevant, the actors are great, the sex is not offputtingly graphic but it sates (if you're here for the sex), it's funny, the script is legitimate, the direction is well-done, the plot connects, the film gets increasingly entertaining as it goes along.How can you only watch this once?
dan-843-657853
I just finished watching this Daisuke Miura film. I got this film for my Japanese collection that has a wide range from Ozu classics to Daiei jidaigeki B-films to modern Japanese films made by directors or actors whose works I follow. I say this is no Ai no Corrida (In the Realm of the Senses directed by Nagisa Oshima) because, sensationalism aside in its marketing, I do not think it comes close to depicting the role obsessive sex played in Oshima's rendition of a true historic event. Plus it has not been banned in Japan or anywhere else where R-rated films are allowed.I can imagine how the dialog among the orgy participants must have helped the original stage play experience; the dialog intervening between the sex scenes being the more interesting parts of the filmed version. But I found the chatty portions at odds with anonymous sex, that in my admittedly very personal experience, is "more hot" with the most minimal of conversation or no conversation. Intercourse on a purely physical level without intellectual intercourse.While the chief female role played by Mugi Kadowaki has received good critic reviews, I cannot help wondering whether the old double standard of the Japanese cinema will again prove true? Nagisa Oshima had difficulty casting his landmark film. But in the end Tatsuya Fuji agreed over too many Shinjuku bar drinks and Fuji's career got a huge boost to where he still appears on the screen today. The actress that starred in Oshima's film took a career-shortening role and no one today can recall her name. Cast in this film's starring role, Sosuke Ikematsu has to bare his butt as he does in other current J-films. Seems he has to do this to dispel the idea of "child actor" from his former life. You should not watch this film for the "free wheeling indecency" advertised to attract an audience. It is R-rated and not X-rated. I rate the film a curiosity that should be seen once.
