I'm looking for some really well-made, stylish erotic Japanese movies, S&M flicks included.
I have no deeper insight into the "Roman Porno" stuff, but if there is any quality films there, then please recommend me some flicks from that genre. However, I would rather not go throgh 10 movies of sleazy crap. I'm looking for anything that is more in style with 'In the Realm of the Senses", but anything not too sleazy and stupid will suffice as well.
Don't get me wrong, I am just asking out of curiosity, because I keep reading that there should be some classy cinematic works in erotic Japanese cinema. Maybe something more up to par with the cinematic quality of Maria Beatty's Erotic movies.
I'd appreciate your help to get me started.
Thanks!
Could you recommend me some movies...
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Tenchu1998
- Jade Tiger
- Posts: 134
- Joined: 30 Apr 2012, 23:44
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HungFist
- Bruce Lee's Fist
- Posts: 11938
- Joined: 14 Dec 2005, 15:50
- Location: Japan
Re: Could you recommend me some movies...
I wrote this post for another forum a while ago - and got called "ego tripping buddha (asshole) setting pompous lists in stone" for it... But I figure that was because there wasn't enough T&A on my list. I should start by pointing out I think sex is the most boring thing you can have in movies, and 95% of pink films are utter crap (in case of SM films 99%).
So, those in mind, here comes my Top 10 Nikkatsu Romam Porno list. The films vary from brilliant character drama to rape nastie and hugely popular youth film... not all may be for your taste, so please read what I wrote about them.
top-10 Nikkatsu Roman Porno
1. Love Hotel (Shinji Somai, 1985) (character drama)
By Shinji Somai, the best Japanese director of the 80's, this Director's Company production only became a Nikkatsu film when it was acquired for distribution by the pink giant. With a stunningly good screenplay by Takashi Ishii, terrific cinematography by Noboru Shinoda (Shunji Iwai's cinematographer) and typical Somai character drama played in long takes (Somai is famous for his legendary tracking shots), the film deservedly cleaned the table at the Yokohama (mainstream) Film Festival: best film, best director, best screenplay, best cinematography, best leading actor and best new actress. Not much of a sex flick, but brilliant cinema.
2. Retreat Through the Wet Wasteland (Yukihiro Sawada, 1973) (cop thriller)
One of the reasons why Japanese pink cinema is such a unique genre is that it holds movies that, by any common sense, should not be there. Retreat Through the Wet Wasteland is a case in point. Written by the legendary Kazuhiko Hasegawa (the director of The Man who Stole the Sun), this nihilist action thriller following beast cops on a manhunt was a political hand granade that no mainstream studion would dare to tackle. It only saw the light of day after being disguised as Nikkatsu Roman Porno - and even Nikkatsu tried to pull off the cord in fear of causing a scandal! While slightly compromised due to pink requirements, the film should be mentioned in the same breath with Serpico, The French Connection, and other seminal 70's cop films!
3. Pink Hip Girl (Koyu Ohara, 1979) (youth film)
This trendy piece of pop-cinema was a hit among youngsters and female audiences. The irresistibly cute film is sweet and catchy, with adorable leads and superb pop soundtrack. A great youth film free of any such sleaziness that would typically be related to Nikkatsu's pink films. Director Ohara, on the other hand, is also responsible for such memorable efforts as White Rose Campus: And Then Everyone Gets Raped, and several other violent pink movies which vary wildly in terms of quality.
4. Beauty’s Exotic Dance: Torture (Noboru Tanaka, 1977) (psychological drama)
Noboru Tanaka was another one of Nikkatsu's critically acclaimed "real filmmakers". While his famous Abe Sada film is a bore, the misleadingly titled Beauty’s Exotic Dance: Torture is a terric character drama of mad love. With minimalist style and terrific acting it's a quietly harrowing movie set against beautiful snowy wilderness. Other terrific Tanaka films include the Angel Guts: Nami and Secret Chronicle: She-Beast Market, the former introducing surreal imagery to the long running series, and the latter being an arthouse fair shot in strikingly beautiful b&w.
5. Painful Bliss! Final Twist (Tatsumi Kumashiro, 1977) (pop film)
Tatsumi Kumashiro was a critic favorite who shot realistic slice of life films while on a pink payroll. Many of his pink movies are considered some of the best Japanese movies ever made. Personally, though, I find his maniacal Painful Bliss! Final Twist the real triumph. Based on a winner contribution by fan screenwriting competition, it's a mad film full of sex, violence, transvestites, movie references, and a soundtrack that rips pinky violence tunes, yakuza movie songs, even funeral march! Imagine Pedro Almodovar, Takashi Miike and Noboru Tanaka having a threesome and you'll get an idea.
6. Angel Guts: Red Classroom (Chusei Sone, 1979) (psychological drama)
This is a strong series, starting from the nasty but thought provoking original which appears to be underrated because it doesn't provide easy moral answers. All films are based on Takashi Ishii's mangas, and the 5th film, Red Vertigo, is actually a modification of the same screenplay that Shinji Somai shot as Love Hotel. The 2nd film, Red Classroom, is an especially powerful psychological drama with strong audio-visual touch, though Noboru Tanaka's Nami (the 3rd instalment) is just as good.
7. Rape! 13th Hour (Yasuharu Hasebe, 1977) (thriller/nastie)
Nikkatsu's former action specialist Yasuharu Hasebe hit a bittersweet gold mine when he, against his own wishes, tacked the violent pink genre. His rape films, ranging from truly nasty pieces to black comedy, remain fan favorites despite being somewhat flawed efforts for the most part. Rape! 13th Hour, is the best of the bunch. It's a film so mean even Nikkatsu thought they had crossed the line - and ordered their directors to tone down the violence from then on. But what is suprising about this tale of a serial rapist and his protégé on a crash course with a homosexual killer gang is that the nastiest bits of violence are towards at men, rather than women. In addition, it's a slick, well made thriller with tons on metaphoric context (that the director denies being intentional) and an ending that is identical to a famed, later made William Friedkin movie!
8. Woman in the Box II (Masaru Konuma, 1986) (horror)
The rumor has it that crap director Masaru Konuma only agreed to direct the (boring and repulsive) hard-core original in order to finance this gem of a sequel. Playing out like a pink-Psycho set in a ski resort, it's an atmospheric horror movie with beautiful landscapes and harrowing soundtrack. Even includes a chainsaw!
9. Zoom In: Rape Apartments (Naosuke Kurosawa, 1980) (pink-giallo)
A pink giallo! Naosuke Kurosawa's extraordinary film overloads the sex, but rivals the Italian productions in its technical brilliance. The cinematography and framings are jaw dropping, supported by impressive audio design and one of the wildest wtf-moments near the end in recent memory. Released on R1 under the title "Sex Apartments".
10. Woman of the Afternoon: Incite! (Nobuyuki Saito, 1979) (pop film)
Here is a film that is hard to review as it is best watched without knowing anything about it! A well made movie with a breath of fresh air as its female protagonist dumps the boyfriend and heads to a countryside roadtrip. Not quite the best roman porno film, but a surprising little movie that reminds of the variety that one could come across when exploring the genre.
** as you probably noticed, the list was limited to one entry per director. Other recommended films from the forementioned directors include Angel Guts: Nami (1979) (surreal thriller/drama by Noburu Tanaka), Secret Chronicle: She Beast Market (1974) (visual very stylish, b&w shot slice of life drama, again by Tanaka), Secret Chronicle: Prostitute Market (1972) (fun and light hearted period comedy by Chusei Sone) and Angel Guts: Red Vertigo (1988) (Takashi Ishii's own adaptation of his screenplay that Love Hotel is also based on)
To get both sides of the coin, here's my Bottom 5 Better Known Roman Porno films
1. Wife to be Sacrificed and Flower & Snake
Tame S&M dramas lacking style and balls. Crap (literally) is plenty, though. Director Masaru Konuma's career is filled with such films, though he did succeed with the unexpectedly interesting Image of a Bound Girl. From the Flower & Snake series that contienued in the 80's under new directors, the only one that succeeds is the final 80's film, Flower and Snake: Ultimate Rope Discipline, which comes with a hell of a groovy soundtrack.
2. A Woman Called Abe Sada
Noboru Tanaka is quite a good art house director, but his filmography does have its share of misses where the wicked visual style and psychological depth fall short. The over-rated A Woman Called Abe Sada is such a film. Both the film and Junko Miyashita suffers in comparison to Nagisa Oshima's later take on the same story. Miyashita was one of Nikkatsu's better actresses, but she needed the right role in order to shine - this wasn't it.
3. The Woman with Red Hair
Critic champ Tatsumi Kumashiro could just as well have been an ATG director. His slice of life dramas are bleak and realistic, quite understandly loved by many, but never made much of an impression on me. The Woman with Red Hair revels in muddy misery, with characters merely serving this specific purpose, rather than being genuinely interesting. Other complete misfires by Kumashiro include The World of Geisha and Black Rose Ascension.
4. Sengoku Rock: Female Warriors
A lazy historical action pink by Yasuharu Hasebe - with overloads of sex and no action to write home about. The lack of any exitement is almost staggering considering Hasebe's track record in action films in the late 60's and early 70's. Similarly, while many of his later violent pink movies are somewhat over-rated, they at least established far more interesting and outrageous scenarios, and came with far more punch.
5. Katsuhiko Fujii's filmography
Fujii was a pink-machine who churned out tons of films, mainly S&M flicks. What is noteworthy about his output is the utter lack of any such creativity that Nikkatsu officially claimed to be supporting (and that indeed could sometimes be found in the studio's films). It took me more than half dozen attempts to discover a Fujii film that wasn't one star trash: Catholic Nun's Rope Hell (*½). Now I can die happy.
Nikkatsu Roman Porno in Images
*******
If you're not familiar with Koji Wakamatsu's output you should maybe inspect his filmography. I'm not a specialist, but his politically charged youth pink films might be the closest you can get to Nagisa Oshima. Go Go Second Time is famous one, for example.
Also, I suppose you are not looking for Toei's action packed pinky violence films? If you are, let me know, they are my specialty
So, those in mind, here comes my Top 10 Nikkatsu Romam Porno list. The films vary from brilliant character drama to rape nastie and hugely popular youth film... not all may be for your taste, so please read what I wrote about them.
top-10 Nikkatsu Roman Porno
1. Love Hotel (Shinji Somai, 1985) (character drama)
By Shinji Somai, the best Japanese director of the 80's, this Director's Company production only became a Nikkatsu film when it was acquired for distribution by the pink giant. With a stunningly good screenplay by Takashi Ishii, terrific cinematography by Noboru Shinoda (Shunji Iwai's cinematographer) and typical Somai character drama played in long takes (Somai is famous for his legendary tracking shots), the film deservedly cleaned the table at the Yokohama (mainstream) Film Festival: best film, best director, best screenplay, best cinematography, best leading actor and best new actress. Not much of a sex flick, but brilliant cinema.
2. Retreat Through the Wet Wasteland (Yukihiro Sawada, 1973) (cop thriller)
One of the reasons why Japanese pink cinema is such a unique genre is that it holds movies that, by any common sense, should not be there. Retreat Through the Wet Wasteland is a case in point. Written by the legendary Kazuhiko Hasegawa (the director of The Man who Stole the Sun), this nihilist action thriller following beast cops on a manhunt was a political hand granade that no mainstream studion would dare to tackle. It only saw the light of day after being disguised as Nikkatsu Roman Porno - and even Nikkatsu tried to pull off the cord in fear of causing a scandal! While slightly compromised due to pink requirements, the film should be mentioned in the same breath with Serpico, The French Connection, and other seminal 70's cop films!
3. Pink Hip Girl (Koyu Ohara, 1979) (youth film)
This trendy piece of pop-cinema was a hit among youngsters and female audiences. The irresistibly cute film is sweet and catchy, with adorable leads and superb pop soundtrack. A great youth film free of any such sleaziness that would typically be related to Nikkatsu's pink films. Director Ohara, on the other hand, is also responsible for such memorable efforts as White Rose Campus: And Then Everyone Gets Raped, and several other violent pink movies which vary wildly in terms of quality.
4. Beauty’s Exotic Dance: Torture (Noboru Tanaka, 1977) (psychological drama)
Noboru Tanaka was another one of Nikkatsu's critically acclaimed "real filmmakers". While his famous Abe Sada film is a bore, the misleadingly titled Beauty’s Exotic Dance: Torture is a terric character drama of mad love. With minimalist style and terrific acting it's a quietly harrowing movie set against beautiful snowy wilderness. Other terrific Tanaka films include the Angel Guts: Nami and Secret Chronicle: She-Beast Market, the former introducing surreal imagery to the long running series, and the latter being an arthouse fair shot in strikingly beautiful b&w.
5. Painful Bliss! Final Twist (Tatsumi Kumashiro, 1977) (pop film)
Tatsumi Kumashiro was a critic favorite who shot realistic slice of life films while on a pink payroll. Many of his pink movies are considered some of the best Japanese movies ever made. Personally, though, I find his maniacal Painful Bliss! Final Twist the real triumph. Based on a winner contribution by fan screenwriting competition, it's a mad film full of sex, violence, transvestites, movie references, and a soundtrack that rips pinky violence tunes, yakuza movie songs, even funeral march! Imagine Pedro Almodovar, Takashi Miike and Noboru Tanaka having a threesome and you'll get an idea.
6. Angel Guts: Red Classroom (Chusei Sone, 1979) (psychological drama)
This is a strong series, starting from the nasty but thought provoking original which appears to be underrated because it doesn't provide easy moral answers. All films are based on Takashi Ishii's mangas, and the 5th film, Red Vertigo, is actually a modification of the same screenplay that Shinji Somai shot as Love Hotel. The 2nd film, Red Classroom, is an especially powerful psychological drama with strong audio-visual touch, though Noboru Tanaka's Nami (the 3rd instalment) is just as good.
7. Rape! 13th Hour (Yasuharu Hasebe, 1977) (thriller/nastie)
Nikkatsu's former action specialist Yasuharu Hasebe hit a bittersweet gold mine when he, against his own wishes, tacked the violent pink genre. His rape films, ranging from truly nasty pieces to black comedy, remain fan favorites despite being somewhat flawed efforts for the most part. Rape! 13th Hour, is the best of the bunch. It's a film so mean even Nikkatsu thought they had crossed the line - and ordered their directors to tone down the violence from then on. But what is suprising about this tale of a serial rapist and his protégé on a crash course with a homosexual killer gang is that the nastiest bits of violence are towards at men, rather than women. In addition, it's a slick, well made thriller with tons on metaphoric context (that the director denies being intentional) and an ending that is identical to a famed, later made William Friedkin movie!
8. Woman in the Box II (Masaru Konuma, 1986) (horror)
The rumor has it that crap director Masaru Konuma only agreed to direct the (boring and repulsive) hard-core original in order to finance this gem of a sequel. Playing out like a pink-Psycho set in a ski resort, it's an atmospheric horror movie with beautiful landscapes and harrowing soundtrack. Even includes a chainsaw!
9. Zoom In: Rape Apartments (Naosuke Kurosawa, 1980) (pink-giallo)
A pink giallo! Naosuke Kurosawa's extraordinary film overloads the sex, but rivals the Italian productions in its technical brilliance. The cinematography and framings are jaw dropping, supported by impressive audio design and one of the wildest wtf-moments near the end in recent memory. Released on R1 under the title "Sex Apartments".
10. Woman of the Afternoon: Incite! (Nobuyuki Saito, 1979) (pop film)
Here is a film that is hard to review as it is best watched without knowing anything about it! A well made movie with a breath of fresh air as its female protagonist dumps the boyfriend and heads to a countryside roadtrip. Not quite the best roman porno film, but a surprising little movie that reminds of the variety that one could come across when exploring the genre.
** as you probably noticed, the list was limited to one entry per director. Other recommended films from the forementioned directors include Angel Guts: Nami (1979) (surreal thriller/drama by Noburu Tanaka), Secret Chronicle: She Beast Market (1974) (visual very stylish, b&w shot slice of life drama, again by Tanaka), Secret Chronicle: Prostitute Market (1972) (fun and light hearted period comedy by Chusei Sone) and Angel Guts: Red Vertigo (1988) (Takashi Ishii's own adaptation of his screenplay that Love Hotel is also based on)
To get both sides of the coin, here's my Bottom 5 Better Known Roman Porno films
1. Wife to be Sacrificed and Flower & Snake
Tame S&M dramas lacking style and balls. Crap (literally) is plenty, though. Director Masaru Konuma's career is filled with such films, though he did succeed with the unexpectedly interesting Image of a Bound Girl. From the Flower & Snake series that contienued in the 80's under new directors, the only one that succeeds is the final 80's film, Flower and Snake: Ultimate Rope Discipline, which comes with a hell of a groovy soundtrack.
2. A Woman Called Abe Sada
Noboru Tanaka is quite a good art house director, but his filmography does have its share of misses where the wicked visual style and psychological depth fall short. The over-rated A Woman Called Abe Sada is such a film. Both the film and Junko Miyashita suffers in comparison to Nagisa Oshima's later take on the same story. Miyashita was one of Nikkatsu's better actresses, but she needed the right role in order to shine - this wasn't it.
3. The Woman with Red Hair
Critic champ Tatsumi Kumashiro could just as well have been an ATG director. His slice of life dramas are bleak and realistic, quite understandly loved by many, but never made much of an impression on me. The Woman with Red Hair revels in muddy misery, with characters merely serving this specific purpose, rather than being genuinely interesting. Other complete misfires by Kumashiro include The World of Geisha and Black Rose Ascension.
4. Sengoku Rock: Female Warriors
A lazy historical action pink by Yasuharu Hasebe - with overloads of sex and no action to write home about. The lack of any exitement is almost staggering considering Hasebe's track record in action films in the late 60's and early 70's. Similarly, while many of his later violent pink movies are somewhat over-rated, they at least established far more interesting and outrageous scenarios, and came with far more punch.
5. Katsuhiko Fujii's filmography
Fujii was a pink-machine who churned out tons of films, mainly S&M flicks. What is noteworthy about his output is the utter lack of any such creativity that Nikkatsu officially claimed to be supporting (and that indeed could sometimes be found in the studio's films). It took me more than half dozen attempts to discover a Fujii film that wasn't one star trash: Catholic Nun's Rope Hell (*½). Now I can die happy.
Nikkatsu Roman Porno in Images
*******
If you're not familiar with Koji Wakamatsu's output you should maybe inspect his filmography. I'm not a specialist, but his politically charged youth pink films might be the closest you can get to Nagisa Oshima. Go Go Second Time is famous one, for example.
Also, I suppose you are not looking for Toei's action packed pinky violence films? If you are, let me know, they are my specialty
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Tenchu1998
- Jade Tiger
- Posts: 134
- Joined: 30 Apr 2012, 23:44
Re: Could you recommend me some movies...
Whoah! Thank you for the list, man! I will definitely check some of this stuff out.
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luckystars
- Royal Tramp
- Posts: 1893
- Joined: 12 Sep 2005, 08:01
Re: Could you recommend me some movies...
This probably is way off, it's very tame in comparison but has a very 'interesting' adult theme.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warm_Water ... Red_Bridge
Great film
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warm_Water ... Red_Bridge
Great film
2010 - The return of the HK movie industry
