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.
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.
