Dom Robinson reviews

Distributed by
Nouveaux Pictures

Cert:

Cat.no: NPD 1006

Running time: 98 minutes

Year: 1976

Pressing: 2001

Region(s): 2, PAL

Chapters: 13 plus extras

Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Mono)

Languages: Japanese

Subtitles: English

Widescreen: 1.66:1

16:9-Enhanced: No

Macrovision: No

Price: £19.99

Extras: Photo Gallery, Director's Filmography

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Director:

Nagisa Oshima (Ai No Borei: Empire of Passion, Ai No Corrida: In The Realm of the Senses, Gohatto, Kyoto: My Mother's Place, Max Mon Amour, Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence)

Producer:

Anatole Dauman

Screenplay:

Nagisa Oshima

Music:

Minoru Miki

Cast:

Kichizo: Tatsuya Fuji
Sada Abe: Eiko Matsuda
Toku: Aoi Nakajima
Tagawa Inn Manager: Yasuko Matsui
Matsuko: Meika Seri

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Kichi takes the Period Pepsi Challenge.

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Apparently a true story, it is the tale of a man, Kichizo (Tatsuya Fuji), his wife and his mistress, Sada Abe (Eiko Matsuda) - an ex-prostitute, although not all at the same time. The man himself gets his kicks Michael Hutchence-style, by trying to reach orgasm while being strangled, thus to heighten the stimulation, but be careful not to go too far otherwise... uh-oh, too late. Once the deed was done, the mistress cut off his wedding tackle and, to quote the epilogue :

But before we reach the climax (ouch!), there are scenes involving an egg not quite being shoved where the sun don't shine but next door, the time when Kichizo, or Kichi for short, shags an elderly geisha girl to the point where she dies and another point in which Sada tells him she's on his period and he uses two fingers to take the taste test.

Made in 1976, this film didn't get a UK cinema release until 1991, when it unsurprisingly was given an 18-certificate and it's taken even longer to appear on video and subsequently DVD.

Billed as an uncut version, it almost is. There is one edit to a scene where part of the screen is masked out to hide the part featuring a woman and a small boy where she pulls his Pilsner. Hence, it shouldn't technically be labelled uncut, but it's as uncut as I want it to be. Don't get me wrong in thinking I like to watch films of little Pilsners being pulled, by complaining it's uncut(!)

Go to work on an egg.