Sensual Classroom: Techniques in Love (Japan, 1972) [DVD] - 1.5/5
Despite the title, this early Noboru Tanaka film is very much an arthouse affair; only not a very good one at all. Tanaka actually manages quite a few stylish visuals and good musical choices throughout the film. Unfortunately none of this helps when he completely misjudges what passes as serious art and what is just plain ridiculous. Half of the film comes out unintentionally funny. For a far more successful effort see Tanaka's Midnight Fairy (1973), which had the same artistry but none of the clumsiness that sinks this movie.
Naked Resume: True Story of Kazuko Shirakawa (Japan, 1973) [DVD] - 2/5
Nikkatsu's first pink queen Kazuko Shirakawa stars in this entirely fictional true account supposedly based on her life. It was her farewell role before retiring and marrying a Nikkatsu executive. Chusei Sone helmed the film. Despite making up events at every turn, and featuring such exotic ideas as sex with clowns, the film feels oddly ruotine effort by director Sone. It's a shame the film barely touches her film career at Nikkatsu. Indeed, the filmmaking parts, and especially the ending which features many cameos and film clips from her movies, is the film's best part.
100 High School Girls: Secret Motel Report (Japan, 1975) [DVD] - 1/5
The 1973-1975 period is often referred as a mid-career slump in director Chusei Sone's filmography. It is a good generalization; however, there were occasional inspired films during this period as well. Unfortunately this isn't one of them. The film opens in black & white, which reminds of Sone's wrongfully bashed 1974 movie Modern Prostitution: Lust Under Uniform. Unfortunately none of that film's stylish cinematography and decent plotting can be found here, and the use of black & white film for the first 15 minutes serves no actual purpose. The plot shows a little bit of promise at first - a reporter begins investigating a motel where illicit high school girl activity is supposed to take place - but it doesn't go anywhere and the whole movie is directed without any kind of passion or inspiration. Oh, and there aren't nearly 100 high school girls in the film - 10 would be a better guess.
Kindan: Seifuku no modae (Japan, 1976) [DVD] - 1/5
There are so many terrible movies in the Roman Porno genre that it's always a bit sad when you come across one that actually wouldn't be so bad if it only had something going for it. This is the case here. A school girl falls in love with her cousin, who first has a skiing accident and then turns out to be an asshole, and finally his friend seduces her. Whatever. This could be a passable melodrama as far as music and acting goes, but there's very little reason to care about anything that's going on. The only point of interest is the snowy mountain locations featured in the opening scene. Sadly, the rest of the film takes place in boring suburbs.
Teacher Deer (Japan, 1978) [DVD] - 1/5
Chusei Sone was a frustratingly uneven director who could deliver a dull misfire like this even during the most innovative era of his career (1978-1981), which contained several excellent films like Red Violation (1980) and Taiyo no Kizuato (1981). This one is about a mixed race teacher who enters a high school in order to pursue revenge on a man who did wrong to his father decades ago. It's an overlong erotic thriller with no thrills. Style is severely lacking, characters have zero depth, and the storyline is quite pointless. It should also be noted that the film has nothing to do with SM, despite the usual fairytale review by the Weissers claiming otherwise. Only if they'd actually watch the movies they review. Then again, they can consider themselves lucky they didn't have to endure this one.
Zoom Up: Sexual Crime Report (Japan, 1981) [DVD] - 1/5
The 4th film in the loosely linked series was directed by Nikkatsu's worst filmmaker, Katsuhiko Fujii. Rape queen Yuki Kazamatsuri stars as a radio DJ who has married a rich businessman. One night on her way to work she's gang raped by a motorcycle gang. It turns out her innocent looking maid was behind it all, and soon the gang pays her another visit. Despite the film's title, there is no crime report or any investigation aspect. Nor is the film much of a thriller. It's simply a badly written excuse for sex scenes, some consensual, some not. Those viewer expecting something in line with the first two films in the series need not bother. Nor does anyone else.
Female Teacher Hunting (Japan, 1982) [DVD] - 2.5/5
A surprisingly decent storyline that suffers from a boring main character and Nikkatsu's usual minimum sex scene quota. A delinquent schoolboy is accused of raping a female classmate. He didn't do it, in fact no one did, but he decides rape her since he's being accused of it anyway. He then quits school, gets into further trouble, and is taken in by a yakuza couple who run a bar in the seaside. His teacher goes looking for him while also having an affair with a married man - a side plot that no one could care less about. Rape queen Yuki Kazamatsuri is the film's official star as the female teacher; however, the real interest lies in the youngsters who thankfully get at least as much screen time as she does. There's is cruel irony as well as slight psychological and existential tones to the film, quite well handled by director Junichi Suzuki, who also helmed the terrible Women in Heat Behind Bars. If it wasn't for the main character and boring sex, this could even be called "good".
I have to say, the film features some quite nice shots:
Cabaret Diary (Japan, 1982) [DVD] - 2/5
Kichitaro Negishi returned to Nikkatsu for one final movie after his successful Art Theatre Guild production Distant Thunder (1981). Unfortunately it is not one of his best efforts, despite a screenplay by top scripter Haruhiko Arai. It's a corporate satire and a sex biz overview in equal proportions, following a guy working at a pink salon as a waiter. He constantly gets slapped, hit, and shouted at by his yakuza-like, power-abusing and patriotic superiors who are somewhat exaggerated versions of traditional Japanese company bosses. The film initially seems to have some bite, but the satire wears off, there's too much sex, and the characters aren't all that interesting. Negishi did much better with the superb, misleadingly titled Rape Ceremony (1980), also written by Arai.
Spectacle of Buds (Japan, 1986) [DVD] - 1/5
If the ever so unreliable Thomas Weisser is anything to go by, singer Yoko Kon stayed in the headlines not only because of her musical performances but also for rumours about her inverted nipples. Nikkatsu's former star director Noboru Tanaka came out of Roman Porno retirement to reveal the mystery in this slice-of-life film starring Kon. Yes, she had strange boobs. But whose idea was it to build a 100 minute movie around those boobs?! Director Tanaka could make a technically competent film with his eyes closed, but this one just doesn't have anything going for it, except for one truly bizarre scene where Kon is looking at a photo of a naked baby and then starts touching herself.
Waiting Wet Woman (Japan, 1987) [DVD] - 3/5
An interesting late Roman Porno scripted by top writer Haruhiko Arai (Distant Thunder, Vibrator, It's Only Talk). The film takes place in a small town during a typhoon. A woman living alone is visited by her ex-husband. At the same time a young couple who are about to break up get trapped in the town as public transport is cut off. Director Yasuaki Uegaki is best known for the over-rated Pink Curtain films. He does much here, paying a lot of attention to characters, visual details, and nature. The first sex scene doesn't come until around the 30 minute mark. The film feels more like the work of Kichitaro Negishi or Shinji Somai than your typical Roman Porno product. Unfortunately the film doesn't quite hold till the end. The last 20 minutes is the weakest, with a long dull sex scene, and quite an underwhelming finish for the storyline.
The film's title - Machi nureta onna - features some terrible wordplay, though. Not only do we have the ever so popular Nikkatsu buzzword "nureta" (wet) for once applied to a film where it actually rains, it's combined with "machi" with means "wait" in its written form but is pronounced just like the other "machi" which means "town". So, Waiting Wet Woman - Wet Town Woman. If I was 13 years old I'd probably find this funny and cleaver. Now my brain just hurts.
Getting ready for...
rain
more rain
enough rain to make a woman wet
Young couple
A rarity in Roman Porno: a good sex scene. The first one I see this year, I think.
Recognize her? Ako!
I really like some of the cinematography, like this
and this
and this
