Before reading my review, I highly recommend reading something about Sada Abe – yes, this movie is based on a real life incident, and her life seems exactly the way you’d expect after watching this movie.

I’ve heard a few things about this movie, so I thought I was prepared for it.

I wasn’t.

Forgive me, if my sentences are shorter than usual, but I’m still trying to process what I’ve just watched.

In the Realm of the Senses is not a movie for everyone. It’s definitely on the artsy side of movie-making, where it’s not hard to follow (the story couldn’t be more simpler) but you need to get over all the nudity, sex, devotion, passion… Let’s put it this way, if you are one of those people, who blush easily during a Hollywood “sex scene”, prepare to be as red as communist’s flag on 1st of May, as boy, oh boy… This movie isn’t about anything else than two people being devoted to each other, where both take it too far (but arguably Sada took it way, way further).

The version I’ve seen was 109 minutes, but I guarantee you, if somebody was to cut all the non-sexual scenes from the movie (and I’m almost 100% convinced somebody’s already done that) the movie would still be around 85/90 minutes. That tells you everything you need to know. In a way, it’s fascinating.

So, is this just a porn movie that somehow got theatrical run? I am going to say no, and yes, I know it sounds weird, especially with everything I wrote up until this point, but bear with me. It’d be really easy to discredit this film as nothing but dirty porn movie about nymphomaniac with some mental issues, but that’d discredit everything the movie is trying to convey.

I feel like this is more about what the movie is trying to make you feel, rather than the visuals. Because after a while, you become desensitised to all the nudity and sex, and start noticing how by each act, each new day, the stakes between the couple are getting higher, the passion/devotion these two had for each other, there was something special about that. I’m not saying something healthy, or something we should all be aiming for, dear god no. But when you focus on the story/character of Sada, and her passion to control the love of her life to the point where it results in one really disturbing scene most men would love to never see again in their lifetime, that’s when you either understand the method to the madness, or not. Because at the end of the day, she was extremely sad, somewhat mentally broken character, and the way I read this movie, she was just looking for somebody to help/sympathise with her, somebody she could feel safe with.

I was a bit mesmerised by this movie, I thought Eiko Matsuda gave chilling performance and it’s s shame what happened to the actress after (basically she was shamed and almost banned in Japan, forced to life in France for most of her life) she made this film.

Is this a movie I need to see again? Probably not, but when comes to this I do have a rule, which is to never say never. But it’s definitely not something that you’d just pop in one Saturday afternoon for some quality family time (if yes, what the fuck is wrong with you? :-D)

This is it for this controversial movie. Have you seen it? If so, what did you think? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke

Wow. Where to start with a movie like that…

Antiporno is one of only a few movies I’ve ever seen, where after it was over, I wasn’t sure how to rate it, let alone what to say about it. So I’ve watched a different movie right after, and in the back of my brain, I was trying to make my mind up about this one.

Because this is the very definition of artsy movie, to the core. Sharp, pastel colors, some over acting that serves the main concept/idea of the movie… well, judge for yourself, slightly NSFW (not safe for work) trailer here:

When I’ve re-watched the trailer, something struck me – this could very well be made by David Lynch who’s one of my favorite directors of all time. The atmosphere is unique, the story is VERY unique and the message/point of the movie…?

That’s the thing I couldn’t comprehend when I finished it. I knew I felt something, and I knew I liked most of it, but I couldn’t put my finger on what it was. And then it struck me.

I believe these artsy movies always have a scene or two where they give you a key on how to “read” that movie and with this one (to me) the key was that lunch (?) scene where the main protagonist, her sister and her parents are REALLY openly talking about sex, but when the daughter asks about videos or pictures, she’s shamed for it, as it’s considered “indecent”, even though, as she says to her parents (paraphrasing here) “I hear you fucking every night, so why videos or pictures of sex are indecent?” This scene has “unlocked” the movie for me, to a certain extent.

I’m not Japanese but from the stories I hear, it seems like everybody is horny and wants to fuck all the time, but porn and everything about it is shamed upon, censored etc.. And when you realize that, how weird is it that somebody is trying to shame you for watching something they do later that evening, it’s hypocritical and it must feel confusing. And I think the movie’s title isn’t that IT is trying to be “anti” porno, it’s about the hypocrisy of trying to look like you are against it while watching/consuming it yourself.

It’s also trying to say something about a woman’s role in their society, as the main protagonist says several times throughout the movie “I’m a virgin. A virgin, but a whore.” I feel like the director tried to say something about how Japanese men expect their woman to be pure, only serve (read fuck) them, but once they do that, they NEED to be their little toy for them to do whatever they wish. How men are trying to control what women can and can’t do, the expectations they are putting on them. And to be fair, I don’t think that applies to Japanese men/women only, I feel this is more of a global message.

Then again, this is the way I’ve read it, and it might be completely wrong, and maybe it was supposed to be about seeing some women naked, while there are pretty colors around, what do I know?

I feel like even though I did like this movie, the overacting (however necessary) killed some of the “enjoyment”, especially at the end with the cake (which I guarantee you, that scene has some much deeper meaning, I was just too stupid to understand).

I would only recommend this movie to somebody who’s quite adventurous and doesn’t mind movies where the narrative might not be as straightforward as with mainstream movies. And be comfortable with some amount of nudity, that’d definitely help too.

That’s all for this hell of trip. What did you think of it? Did you see this movie, or it doesn’t sound like your cup of hot cocoa? Let me know!

Until next time,

Luke