Cold Fish

aka Tsumetai Nettaigyo
Japan, 2011
Director: Sion Sono
Starring: Denden, Makoto Ashikawa, Megumi Kagurazaka, Asuka Kurosawa

I've been a fan of director Sion Sono's films ever since Suicide Club introduced the world to his signature style. And his later effort, Strange Circus is one of my all-time favourite horror movies. If you're in the market for films inhabiting the twisted fringes of Japanese Horror cinema, or Ero Guro¹, Sono is your guy.

So it was with much anticipation that I caught his latest flick at a Film Festival this weekend. I was expecting something surreal and gory, and I knew it was based on a real-life serial killer. But what I didn't expect was the funniest movie I've seen this year.

That is, if you prefer your humour black. While it may seem unlikely, harvesting comedy from the serial killer sub-genre actually makes dark sense. Films such as Happiness of the Katakuris and American Psycho have mined this field before ... and Cold Fish is about as gut-wrenchingly hilarious as they get.

There's also a lot of blood. But where films such as Hostel could be categorised as gore for gore's sake, here it's employed in the service of humour, which is certainly the way I prefer it. Sono even manages to turn a rape scene into a comedic opportunity. And while that might sound quite twisted .... well yeah I guess it is. But its also deliriously, eye-wateringly funny.




If that isn't enough to satisfy your twisted sensibilities, this Japanese production also goes the extra mile that Hollywood rarely travels - by throwing in an abundance of sex and nudity as well. Considering most of the characters in the movie have little or no moral compunction, not only is life cheap, but sex is too.

Wanton licentiousness abounds - infidelity, partner-swapping, exhibitionism - even a charmingly cute lesbian interlude. All of which makes for the exact kind of envelope-pushing cinema pundits of Japanese genre movies will appreciate.




The humour is helped along substantially by ex-comedian Denden (Uzumaki, Juon) whose larger-than-life character dominates the film, as well as the characters within it. Charming and vicious by turns, his ebullient good-nature is infectious and infuses the film with dark humour.

Inspired by true events known as the "Saitama serial murders of dog lovers", the movie transposes proceedings to a pair of rival Tropical Fish shops, one run by the meek Shamato (Mitsuru Fukikoshi), the other by the gregarious Murata (Denden). Their paths cross when Shamato's daughter Mitsuko is caught shoplifting, and Murata suggests she come and work in his shop.




Murata is a wildly successful entrepreneur in stark contrast to Shamato. Irresistably charming, the Shamato family are quickly drawn into his web, with little realisation of the darker side to his personality. At least at first. But extricating themselves won't be so easy.

The film won't dazzle with its visuals or production values ... but has a tight script that builds momentum ensuring you'll barely notice its 2.5 hr running time. This is a definite highlight of the year for genre fans, and is highly recommended.

Rating: 9/10

More screenshots

For an interesting interview with the director, check out Channeling Chaos - An Interview with Sion Sono

The Hokusai Manga

aka Edo Porn
Japan, 1981

Director: Kaneto Shindô
Starring: Ken Ogata, Toshiyuki Nishida, Yûko Tanaka, Kanako Higuchi
IMDB: 7.1

Katsushika Hokusai was an Ukiyo-e (woodblock) artist in Japan's Edo period, most well known for his 36 Views of Mt Fuji, especially the iconic Great Wave off Kanagawa (shown below). In Japan this film is known as The Hokusai Manga, as the film is basically a historical drama about the artist's life and work.

If you're wondering how a historical drama fits under the auspices of this blog, note also that Hokusai is widely believed to be the originator of Tentacle Porn. And indeed, in the West the film is known as Edo Porn - which I guess neatly enfolds its key aspects, if somewhat simplistically. While Hokusai was known for much more than his erotic art, its the Tentacles that earn it a place here.




As a young man, unable to make a living for himself through his painting, Hokusai (Ken Ogata) envies the success of contemporaries who are painting erotic pictures. One evening he comes across a beautiful young woman, Onao (Kanako Higuchi), and brings her back to his house to pose naked for him.

In an example of the film's minimal exposition, its never explained why she so willingly, and wordlessly accompanies him. Even less so, why she happily complies when he gives her to his father as a gift! Her oddly accommodating nature, sexual availability, and a habit of noisily chewing a local fruit makes for a beguiling and enigmatic character, more than befitting the woman who was the artist's muse.




Nevertheless, Onao mysteriously disappears, and both Hokusai and his father are distraught. Especially Hokusai who spends the rest of his life yearning for her. Over the coming years, he returns to painting landscapes and enjoys great success, even being asked to paint for the Shogun. But by his twilight years is living in relative poverty with his daughter Oei (Yuko Tanaka).

One day, being a thoughtful and devoted daughter, she brings a young woman back to the house, also named Onao, to be a new model for her father. She's a dead-ringer for her namesake, and it seems has the same free-wheeling sexuality. With a new muse to inspire him, Hokusai resumes painting with renewed enthusiasm.




This brings about my favorite part of the film, a live-action re-enactment of his famous work The Dream of the Fisherman's Wife, which features his model in a highly erotic ménage à trois with two Octopi ¹. The original is shown below, along with its cinematic representation. Now there's something you're not likely to see at your local multiplex!

In the film, Hokusai makes it clear that his work does not represent Octopi violating a woman, but rather the woman fondling Octopi. Ie: This was not a rape scene as might commonly be imagined, but depicts a woman's sexual fantasy, a theme that Hokusai enjoyed exploring.




Let's just say that if there were an Academy Award for Best Live-Action Tentacle Porn Sequence, then this film would surely own it. Although I can't profess to have seen much in this sub-genre, it certainly has way higher artistic validity than the tentacle-themed La Blue Girl series. But if any readers out there want to suggest another contender, please leave a comment.

For those interested in Japanese art and culture, this biopic gives an interesting account of the artist's life, and the times that he lived in. Although slow and ponderous when judged by modern sensibilities, the film is thematically rich, covering themes such as aging, lost love, and the artistic impulse. It is also beautifully filmed.

It was nominated in multiple categories at the Japanese Academy Awards, winning one. Perhaps the only instance of an Academy-Award winning film featuring Tentacle Porn!

Rating: 7/10


Unfortunately this is not an easy film to get hold of, however an R3 DVD has been released by Panorama in Hong Kong, and can be found at most online Asian DVD specialists.

¹ ref: the correct plural of Octopus

A few more screenshots

The first two are Yuko Tanaka, who won a Japanese Academy Award (Best supporting actress) for this film. The 3rd pic is Kanako Higuchi (who didn't - despite her valiant Octopi entanglement.)

 

Japanese Movie Poster:

Preferring to accentuate the titillation over the art, this 1981 film poster is certainly a product of its time. Featured is Academy-Award-winning actress Kanako Higuchi who went on to feature in such films as Zatoichi, Casshern, Kagero and many others. Click here to see a larger version.

XX: Beautiful Hunter

Japan, 1994
Original title: XX: Utsukushiki karyuudo

Director: Masaru Konuma
Starring: Makiko Kuno, Koji Shimizu, Johnny Okura, Katsuo Tokashi
IMDB: 4.5

In a culture where women are traditionally demure and reserved, its surprising how many Japanese movies feature strong-willed women kicking ass! This lethality combined with femininity is a potent combination, and perhaps goes some way to explaining the increasing popularity of Japanese exploitation.

The rampant nudity doesn't hurt either, of course ... something notably missing from most Hollywood action flicks (which is kinda strange given that males must surely be the target audience). But that's another story ... here we have a Japanese exploitation flick that ticks all the right boxes for its intended audience. And what might that be? Well, take a closer look at the DVD cover above...

Masaru Konuma was a prolific director of Pinku films in the 1970s, including titles such as (the original) Flower & Snake, and Wife to be Sacrificed, often with an S&M theme and highly sexualized. This direct-to-video action film from 1994, towards the end of the director's career, retains a sexy and perverse aesthetic that will be of interest to genre fans, and in particular Girls with Guns aficionados.

The film opens inside a convent, where the young orphan Shion is forced to execute a man at the prompting of the Father (Koji Shimizu) - part of her training to become a Holy Warrior. Exactly what the Holy Warriors are supposed to be fighting for or against, is never really explained - although the Father's modus operandi seems closer to the Yakuza than the Holy Roman Church, perhaps indicating that the church is itself little more than a Yakuza front.



Cut to 10 years later, and Shion (Makiko Kuno) has grown up. The director's method of visually portraying this fact is the epitome of elegant simplicity ... the gratuitous boob shot! And we only had to wait 4 mins and 43 seconds.



She is now the group's most accomplished assassin, and it's during one of her jobs that photographer Ito (Johnny Okura) secretly captures her on film executing one of his colleagues. Shion quickly realizes the threat he poses and hunts him down intending to kill him. However, a chance remark from Ito exposes the vulnerable and needy side of the young woman ... she has never had a boyfriend. And she's horny!

Ito-san is a smooth dude with a penchant for white suits, and while kneeling at her feet begging for his life, he manages to save himself through the remarkable technique of ripping her clothes off and administering a little oral gratification! Poor Shion is in two minds ... she knows she needs to kill him, and her boss is insisting upon it ... and yet it seems she has fallen in love.



On returning home her mind wanders back to Ito as she proceeds to masturbate with her gun. While this may seem like a cheap and gratuitous excuse to show more nudity, this subtle scene actually contains many shades of allegorical meaning that poignantly foreshadow Shion's change of heart.

In addition to being a cheap and gratuitous excuse to show more nudity!




However, as previously foreshadowed, Shion decides to follow her heart and goes on the run with Ito to escape her boss. Said boss however, is not likely to let her off that easy.

If you thought the film was freaky enough up to this point, well that's just the first half hour. What follows are more killings, more sex, more nudity, and some fairly exploitative S&M-based torture featuring foreign objects and the indiscriminate placement thereof.





All in all its a good time. Which is not to say that its a great film. Other reviewers have noted that without the beautiful Makiko Kuno in the title role, the film has little to offer. Admittedly, Makiko is a total sex-bomb and is often naked - elevating the film considerably with her looks alone.

But to say that the film would suck without her, would be equally unfair. This is a competent action flick - while not overly deep, how many action flicks are? It also features some creative photography - with certain scenes featuring fantastic Girls with Guns imagery.

 

On the downside, its quickly apparent that this is a film from the 80s, despite being made in 1994. The music, the clothes, the hair - all seem quite dated. But give yourself 15 minutes to settle into the groove and you won't really be noticing.


6.5/10

More screenshots (click to enlarge)