Cinema Retro staff writers are humanitarians at heart who selflessly sacrifice to put the needs of our readers before their own interests. For example, Dean Brierly had to subject himself to watching hours of Japanese erotica simply to bring you this report. It was a dirty job but someone had to do it. We'll send him your thanks as soon as he emerges from the cold shower.
Odd Obsessions
by Dean Brierly
Thanks to the advent of DVD, Western film fans have become
familiar with such iconic Japanese genre directors as Seijun Suzuki (surreal
gangster satires), Kinji Fukasaku (nihilistic yakuza films) and Teruo Ishii
(erotic-grotesque epics). The director Masaru Konuma, although an equally
gifted visual stylist, has yet to enjoy similar name recognition. That’s understandable
given that he has spent virtually his entire career making roman porno
(romantic pornography) films, beginning in the early 1970s. Pioneered by
Nikkatsu Studios to pump up sagging box office receipts, the roman pornos were
glossier, classier versions of the independent pink films of the previous
decade. If they have been slower to penetrate the American home video market,
it’s because these films explore aspects of sexuality from a darker, distinctly
Japanese perspective that’s often discomfiting to Western critical
sensibilities.
The classic roman pornos encompassed a broad range of sexual
situations, preferences and perversions. But because Japanese censorship laws
make it illegal to depict hardcore representations of intercourse, filmmakers
like Konuma have had to resort to creative visual strategies to avoid sanction
while still measuring up to audience expectations. The films’ transgressive
nature resides therefore not so much in their visuals as in their thematic
exploration of such taboo subjects as rape, bondage, sado-masochism,
humiliation and necrophilia. That the roman pornos proved extremely popular
with the public says much about the gulf between Western and Asian attitudes
towards sex. Americans have generally viewed such films as politically
incorrect, while Japanese have tended to enjoy them as release from the
stresses of their buttoned-down culture.
Konuma himself had this to say about his films: “In general,
the roman porn audience wants to see something they can’t experience in
everyday life. These people get excited about seeing acts which they may or may
not want to do to their wives or mates. Things they would never be able to
really do without ending up in jail or divorce….I was the dream weaver.â€
Ironically, the most subversive aspect of roman porno films
in general, and Konuma’s work in particular, is how often the narratives unfold
from the perspectives of their female protagonists. Moreover, while the
heroines typically suffer extremes of bizarre and sadistic treatment from men,
the women are often seen to be subtly in control of the proceedings at all
times, no matter how submissive they may appear. Feminists might disagree, but
the films are invariably more sympathetic and sensitive to the female characters,
portraying the males in distinctly unflattering terms. Pink queen Naomi Tani,
who appeared in several Konuma films, had no issues with submission and
humiliation themes. “The woman’s naked body must not only be seen as a sensual
object, but must also be able to express emotion,†she once said.
Thanks to KimStim and Kino International, which recently
partnered to bring four of Konuma’s erotic classics to DVD, Western viewers can
judge for themselves the merits of these challenging and controversial films.
These particular titles exhibit considerable variations in tone and texture
while adhering to recurring narrative prerequisites, and reveal Komura to be a
world-class talent who lent this outlaw genre an artistry, depth and
sophistication equal to anything in mainstream Japanese cinema.
Wife to be Sacrificed (1975), Komura’s fifth feature, was
one of the most extreme roman pornos of the decade, yet proved to also be a
commercial and critical triumph. Komura favorite Tani plays a woman named Akiko
who has divorced her husband for sexual battery. Her tranquil existence in a
small town is suddenly shattered when he reappears out of the blue, kidnaps her
and spirits her off to a house in an isolated forest. There he embarks upon a
series of sexual subjugation games that run the gamut from shocking to surreal.
Akiko at first seems merely an unwilling victim, but midway through the film
she reconnects with her long-dormant sexuality and begins to subtly influence
and control subsequent events. Based on a famous novel by noted erotic writer
Oniriku Dan, Wife to be Sacrificed doesn’t pull any punches in its depiction of
twisted obsession and unexpected master/slave reversals, yet doesn’t presume to
judge its characters. Apart from its sensational elements, the film, like many
of Komura’s pink epics, is ultimately about a woman’s sexual reawakening and
the choices she makes in her pursuit of erotic and emotional fulfillment.
Naomi Tani also appears in Tattooed Flower Vase (1976) as a
widow named Michiyo who makes paper dolls to help pay for the upbringing of her
sexually inexperienced yet curious daughter Takako. Michiyo’s chaste existence
takes a sudden detour when an unwanted seduction rekindles memories of a past
relationship with a famous Kabuki actor. When Takako becomes sexually involved
with a man who turns out to be the actor’s son, Michiyo aggressively—and
transgressively—attempts to relive the past by competing for his affections.
Her transformation from pursued to pursuer is symbolized when she gets a
full-body dragon tattoo. This lengthy sequence, in which Michiyo’s skin is
repeatedly violated by the tattooist’s needle, is somehow more erotic than her
numerous sexual encounters, such is the skill and intensity with which Komura
films it. Fully emblazoned with her body art, Michiyo becomes increasingly
unbalanced as the romantic/erotic triangle is pushed to its logical, fatal
conclusion. Konuma artfully weaves Michiyo’s erotic flashbacks into her
present-day encounters to suggest her growing instability. The director’s
highly stylized visuals and documentary-like observation combine to make Tattooed
Flower Vase an unforgettable foray into forbidden desires.
Komura trains his sights on religious hypocrisy in Cloistered
Nun: Runa’s Confession (1976), a film that begins in typical nunsploitation
fashion before segueing into something a little more profound. A young woman
named Runa joins a convent out of bitterness over her lover’s affair with her
stepsister, only to encounter an unexpected and disturbing form of priestly
comfort. This being a Konuma film, however, ravishment often leads to rapture,
and Runa quickly succumbs to a new world of illicit carnal pleasure played out
within the convent walls. Fast-forward a few years, and Runa returns to her hometown
to present a too-good-to-be-true real estate scheme to her sister and
ex-boyfriend. While these two have forsaken each other, they’ve remained
faithful to their basically corrupt natures. Before you can say, “Hail, Mary,
full of grace,†Runa has initiated a chain of events in which old passions are
rekindled and new ones are lit as various players jockey for sexual and
financial payoffs. A comic sting in the tail at the conclusion finds each
character receiving their justly earned desserts. In addition to the film’s
sexual and political undertones, Konuma layers in a keen satirical edge and a
powerful empowerment angle, largely by prioritizing Runa’s perspective as she
exacts revenge while blazing a bold pleasure path.
Rounding out the collection is Erotic Diary of an Office
Lady (1977), which chronicles the sexual adventures and misadventures of
several young women holding down jobs in an unspecified Tokyo corporation. Asami fronts a demure 9-5
demeanor while carrying on a torrid after-hours love affair with her married
boss. Komako is the office pushover, a slave to her nymphomania who will sleep
with just about anyone. Another girl takes well-timed sex breaks with her
boyfriend in a supply closet. While providing generous amounts of steamy amour,
Erotic Diary of an Office Lady offers a sharp critique of the marginalization
of women in the Japanese workforce. Komako wants to start her own business, but
in a society that regards women primarily in sexual terms, she finds it hard to
be taken seriously. The film also takes aim at sexist attitudes that condone
promiscuous behavior on the part of men, but condemn it when women like Komako
indulge similar drives. Asami is also frustrated with traditional cultural
prejudices and assumptions, but has the strength of character to rebel against
them. She sabotages an arranged-marriage meeting in spectacularly graphic
fashion, and decisively ends her relationship in the face of her lover’s
cynical indifference towards her blossoming independence. All these narrative
threads unfurl with a surprisingly light touch, including a love scene played
out amidst dozens of baby chicks that sublimely projects both innocence and
carnality.
The films of Masaru Konuma are obviously not everyone’s cup
of tea, especially in the current conservative climate. Some will find them
uncomfortable viewing, which is just how Konuma would have it. Throughout his
decades-long career, he has consistently sought to shake up prejudices as well
as provoke libidos. Those who are curious about alternative expressions of
sexuality may just find themselves falling under the spell of this cinematic
Eros.
(For more information on these films, visit www.kimstim.com and www.kino.com.)