Tokyo Decadence

Rating:
Summary: unsatisfied purchase
Review: not worth your money and waste of time to watch.

Rating:
Summary: Tokyo represents decadence
Review: On the surface, Tokyo Decadence is a film about S&M, prostitution, drug use, and the odd nature of some people in general. Ai, the lead character, played by actress Miho Nikaido, is a young prostitute trapped in a life with no future, hopelessly devoid of spirit or direction. She wanders through her life only moment to moment, realizing little about herself, having only an intuitive sense of her own misery.

Yet underneath there are other elements at work. Tokyo Decadence is aptly titled for it is more about the decadence of material wealth, which Tokyo represents to many Japanese, and the abusiveness and emptiness such decadence evokes. Ai is a victim of those elements, and her lost innocence, emptiness and directionless wandering are the elements of modern Japanese tragedy.

Tokyo Decadence has been packaged as a titillating sex film, exploiting the myth of Asian exoticism, especially since the actors are not always acting. But the film is not a documentary and the characters are not typical of the Japanese sex trade, though Nikaido is excellent in her portrayal of an S&M call girl. Underneath the story is a broader theme that is rather familiar to modern Japanese literature and cinema; the surface elements, such as S&M, are vehicles to a larger theme concerning the absence of a soul or inner spirit in contemporary Japanese society. Hence, if you are not turned on by the erotic subject matter, perhaps you were not intended to be.

The thematic elements of Tokyo Decadence have been recurring in Japanese literature and cinema over the last century. From the beginning of Japan's rise to modern power over a hundred years ago, up through the present, there has been a popular theme among writers and filmmakers that Japan's soul has become empty or lost in Japan's quest to become modern, powerful, and imitative of the West. Tokyo Decadence is, I believe, another installment in that theme.

Having lived and worked in Japan, I understand the elements that Tokyo Decadence presents: feelings of a spiritless wanderer, life lost in anonymity, and of the desire for anything peculiar or unorthodox just to interrupt the cold momentum of daily life. But there is perhaps another theme in the film. It is interesting, in a society as safe and seemingly drug-free as Japan, that sex and violence are so popular among the video renting public; themes such as bondage, S&M and even rape are not unusual for men's magazines; and alcohol abuse, gambling and the sex trade are somewhat commonplace with ordinary Japanese businessmen. Maybe this is not strange to some Americans, but such things are seldom discussed openly in Japan, and Tokyo Decadence just may be a discussion of such things.

On a critical note, the film's final sequences tend to be rather confusing or irrelevant to many viewers, especially to those wanting to see a sex picture. Despite the problems, I still defend the final scenes because they express how absolutely pathetic and lost the main character really is, not for some trite reasons of morality, but because she is ultimately void of any sense of self-worth. My only real criticism has to do with the DVD itself, which is a poor transfer of the original film image, though this has nothing to do with the film's story and shouldn't discourage interested viewers.

Rating:
Summary: Impressive film, but bad DVD production
Review: The film could take place anywhere. While it is Japanese, nearly all the action is inside exchangeable hotel rooms, corridors, malls that could be in any country around the globe. Is this where society is going? Watch the film in your local repertory cinema first to see whether this is for you.

The DVD production is not the best. While the DVD is not region-coded (which is good since you can't get in Europe), it is not the rated version that Amazon claims it is but an unrated one that is missing four minutes. You can't switch of the subtitles, which is very annoying, especially since there is an English dubbed track on the DVD - which doesn't match the subtitles.

Get this, if you liked it in the cinema and build up a collection. Leave it otherwise.

Rating:
Summary: Good movie... shame about the DVD
Review: The merits of the movie aside - and I consider it to be a very good film - this DVD is horrible. I understand that the care (normally) taken by the major studios cannot be lavished on small movies such as this, but there is really no excuse for how bad this film looks. The dark scenes, in particular, look just plain horrible.

It's a shame, as this really is a good movie. If you're desparate to own this film, then go ahead. But if you're looking at this as an impulse buy I'd recommend leaving well alone.

Rating:
Summary: A documentary feel to the humiliating life of a Toyko hooker
Review: The movie transcends the usual hooker line by usually staying within the groundwork of sado-masochism. A story of sex, life & survival in Toyko, detailing a young girls life as a hooker. A girl with a taste for the finer things in life that can only be had by the humiliating & dangerous - yet sexy life of a high priced hooker who specializes in sado-masochism. The sex scenes are not graphic, however, they may leave the viewer with mixed feelings as they portray scenes of domination and submission. The rating of NC-17 is appropriate as it does not fall into an X rating, yet its adult content is full throughout the whole film. The viewer may be glad that their life does not approach that portrayed by the actress in Tokyo Decadence.

Rating:
Summary: A documentary feel to the humiliating life of a Toyko hooker
Review: The movie transcends the usual hooker line by usually staying within the groundwork of sado-masochism. A story of sex, life & survival in Toyko, detailing a young girls life as a hooker. A girl with a taste for the finer things in life that can only be had by the humiliating & dangerous - yet sexy life of a high priced hooker who specializes in sado-masochism. The sex scenes are not graphic, however, they may leave the viewer with mixed feelings as they portray scenes of domination and submission. The rating of NC-17 is appropriate as it does not fall into an X rating, yet its adult content is full throughout the whole film. The viewer may be glad that their life does not approach that portrayed by the actress in Tokyo Decadence.

Rating:
Summary: about this movie Tokyo Decadence.....
Review: There is, in fact, no story in this movie but only ro say that the actress, in the first opening shot of the movie, finding finding the actor in the last part of the story. All the sex scene performed are 'crazy' and the last sex scene showed that the men were forced to drink the pee of the woman!....I would say that this is not a nice film to watch.

Rating:
Summary: edge play
Review: This film exposes the abusive nature of society by playing the edge of film-as-documentary against film-as-pornography. It stalks the male viewer to examine his own attractions to the S&M scene, as it begins with erotic situations that place the male as the master; but the story unfolds, the table turns, and he is forced to face his own humiliation.

I rate this film highly for its ruthlessness towards the viewer who is mistaken about what he is getting into.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty hot Japanese bondage erotica
Review: This is a softcore Japanese bondage erotica film; it contains some scenes that are sure to repulse some viewers, some that others will find extremely erotic. Personally, I thought that there were some scenes that rated high on the orgasm scale... and others were a turn-off. But everyone's taste differs. Essentially the movie is a tour through the Tokyo sex underground. There's no more "there" there, if you get my drift... it's not art, it's softcore porn. There is a "plot" of sorts, but that's mainly just the director's fig leaf to cover the various sex scenes.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty hot Japanese bondage erotica
Review: This is a softcore Japanese bondage erotica film; it contains some scenes that are sure to repulse some viewers, some that others will find extremely erotic. Personally, I thought that there were some scenes that rated high on the orgasm scale... and others were a turn-off. But everyone's taste differs. Essentially the movie is a tour through the Tokyo sex underground. There's no more "there" there, if you get my drift... it's not art, it's softcore porn. There is a "plot" of sorts, but that's mainly just the director's fig leaf to cover the various sex scenes.