2004 (Hana to hebi)

Based on Dan Oniroku’s cult novel, here’s a tale that saw a popular adaptation in 1974 starring the legendary Naomi Tani, Nikkatsu Studio’s top S&M queen and a person that I will talk about more in the future. This recent version made the art-house circuit and got mostly favorable reviews. Not for timid souls, the story involves a businessman who chooses to offer his wife as a debt payment to some elderly Yakuza kingpin. The unfortunate woman, a dancing celebrity, will have to endure humiliating S&M sessions under the watchful eyes of a masked audience into what seems to be some sort of depraved coliseum.

Even with sometimes harsh punishment scenes, this remains a fascinating viewing experience, mostly for the complex relationships between the main characters and the convincing performances from its lead stars. And of course, there’s an ending that can only make you evalute your understanding of the whole plot all over. The visual images are simply astounding in their beauty.

Without gorgeous Aya Sugimoto’s intense acting skills in the main role of Shizuko, all this would have fallen apart. Oddly, her body, beautiful as it is, is not the same type that was mostly favored in Japanese bondage movies of the seventies, for example (which preferred more fleshy curves, resulting in seemingly more harsh rope marks). But she indeed looks like a dancing celebrity. In fact, she was ready to endure anything for just the privilege of working with famed director Takashi Ishii. And endure she did, as these scenes required no body double work.

I was curiously more impressed by the presence of Misaki Mori as Kyoko, Shizuko’s bodyguard, who is also innocently trapped in this hellish underground performance club. As a female hard cookie, she conjures toughness and despair with equal skill. I will keep my eyes open for these two excellent actresses and also on the sequel, Flower & Snake II.