Madame de Sade

Original title: Madamu Sado: Mesu jigoku 
Japan, 1986
Director: Yoshihiro Kawasaki
Stars: Machiko Wachi, Kazuyo Ezaki, Isshiki Hikaru
IMDB: 6.8

In the 1980s, Nikkatsu produced a bunch of S&M themed Roman Pornos with distinctive airbrush-style promotional posters such as the one shown at right. Naturally one wonders what kinky delights await the intrepid viewer of such material, so I set out to track one down.

Turned out to be no easy task. Madame de Sade, also known as Madame Sado: She Beast in Hell, has not as far as I can tell ever been released outside of Japan. Yeah I know, probably with good reason right? Well, thanks to dedicated amateur aficianados, this masterpiece of cinematic perversion has been resurrected - and subtitles produced - to allow the film to live on and find a new audience worldwide (if you know where to look, that is).

OK, so my liberal employment of the word 'masterpiece' is admittedly playing fast and loose with the Queen's English, and you'd be completely justified in raising an inquisitive eyebrow. I take it back.

So what's it all about? Well hey, it's porno - usually the story would be little more than a flimsy scaffold to support the sexual vignettes, and of no significance whatsoever. Luckily, we're in Roman Porno territory here, a cut above, so actually there IS a story. There's even characterisation, machinations, revelations, and all that other filmic stuff. (In addition to the domination, flagellation, strangulation, fornication, urination, masturbation, etc).

* Note: While Roman Porno is erotic, and contains the word porno, it is definitely not PORN as we would define it in the West. For a start there are absolutely no genitals shown - and along with a reasonable cinematic quality, ensures it belongs more in the genre of Erotica.

The film starts by introducing us to Reiko (Machiko Wachi) as she is jilted at the altar - her fiancee Ryoichi not only failing to appear, but going completely missing. Although she doesn't know it yet, his ex Yumi (Kazuyo Ezaki), in a fit of jealousy has him chained up in her attic, refusing to let him go. Even dressing as a bride to complete her fantasy.

Not only that, as the title implies, she's a bit of a sadistic bitch - dispensing humiliations and degradations on Ryoichi with the aim of forcing him to completely forget his fiancee and become her obedient dog. Hell hath no fury... and all that.

Anyway, months later it seems Reiko has given up on Ryoichi ever returning, and has developed something of a carnal itch. Coincidentally, and rather incestuously, a convenient substitute is on hand in the form of Ryoichi's younger brother Shinji, who works with her in her jewellery business and seems more than a little interested.

Inviting him to a home-cooked dinner after work, soon enough they crack a bottle of wine together and flirt, only to be interrupted by Shinji's girlfriend Midori (Isshiki Hikaru) who has no intention of leaving him alone with Reiko. After all, he's a bit of a dweeb - and Reiko's a certified sex bomb.

After Shinji leaves, Reiko is not only drunk, but moist too. Left with nothing but a half eaten dinner, the dinner table, and an empty wine bottle - what's a poor girl to do?

Get creative! In a completely gratuitous, undeniably redundant, but neverthless astonishing turn of events, she scoops up an unidentified white substance from her plate and lathers it lasciviously over her bright red lips, spilling it all over her chin in what I can only assume is some kind of Freudian metaphor. But that's not all ! After whipping her top off, she spreads the food messily over the rest of her body, before discovering that the table leg is seductively hard, and proceeds to grind up against it.

It's a pretty sexy scene - but that's still not all! Remember the wine bottle? Well in the interest of good taste, I'll leave that to your imagination!

What am I saying? We're no purveyors of good taste here at Twisted Flicks, especially concerning the good bits. Yes, I can confirm that she proceeds to enjoy a rather intimate, extended, and gratifying sexual liaison with the wine bottle - sometimes in close-up, and almost certainly without the benefit of CGI.

I say "almost certainly", because this of course could never be decisively ascertained due to the standard optical censorship that Japan requires by law to cover all genital areas in their films. Consequently this scene, and many others, are blurred by a large foggy patch over the relevant areas which is of no small detriment to the film. Don't get me wrong though, the scene is still hot as hell.

Anyway, Shinji is not going to be denied some of that action, and promptly breaks up with Midori in order to fuck and fall in love with Reiko. Bizarrely, it turns out that Midori works for Yumi (you know, the bitch that has imprisoned Ryoichi?), and has told her about the situation. So Yumi suggests that Reiko and Shinji visit her and Midori to try to find an amicable solution.

But Yumi has an ulterior motive.

Without going into detail - all our main characters (who are all convolutedly related to each other in various ways) end up in Yumi's house together, including Ryoichi of course in the attic. Yumi and Reiko battle it out in a tale of revenge, passion, treachery, and outright debauchery.

By the end of the night, pretty much everyone has fucked everyone else, and in a wide variety of configurations. The imagination involved in cramming so many perversions into one movie is breath-taking, and actually pretty impressive, even if it doesn't always make perfect sense

Interestingly, it is the MEN who are the unwitting pawns of these two powerful women, which makes for an interesting reversal.

For a film containing such highly sexual ideas and situations (of which I've described only a small portion, trust me!) - the story, acting and cinematography is of a remarkably high order. For those who enjoy some titillation in their movies, but cannot put up with the cinematic dross so often exemplified by most adult entertainment, I can most certainly recommend.

Also, and importantly for this type of film, Machiko Wachi is a stone-cold knockout. She not only looks fabulous, but is given plenty of opportunity to show her acting chops as well.

Rating: 7/10

More Screenshots

Erotic Diary of an Office Lady

Japan, 1977
Original title: OL kanno nikki: Ah! Watashi no naka de
Director: Masaru Konuma
Starring: Asami Ogawa, Michio Hino, Tatsuya Hamaguchi

Director Masaru Konuma is widely regarded as one of the foremost exponents of Japanese softcore flicks, or as they're called in Japan, Pinku Eiga. While best known for films such as 1974's Flower & Snake and Wife to be Sacrificed - my first introduction to his work was his 1994 Girls-with-Guns genre flick, XX: Beautiful Hunter (reviewed here).

I figured it was time to check out some of his earlier work. At just over an hour in length, and considering the title, I assumed this would be an easy watch.

Just a quick backgrounder if you're new to Pinku Eiga - the rough approximation with Western 'softcore' is more than a little unfair, as it brings to mind C-grade acting, scripts resembling a daytime soap, and poor technical quality. This is certainly not the case here, nor with most Pinku Eiga.

This film, from acclaimed studio Nikkatsu, is part of their Roman Porno line - and generally speaking this represents a significantly higher quality than the word softcore might suggest. While it's true that Roman Pornos required a sex scene every 10 mins and contain their fair share of nudity and erotic situations, aside from that directors were free to do what they wanted. The films were generally shot on quality widescreen film with highly skilled crews, and represent a veritable golden period for the softcore genre. Which explains its growing popularity today.

What's interesting about Erotic Diary of an Office Lady is that, as the name suggests, it is told from a woman's perspective. We are given insights into how women were perceived in the Japanese workplace in the 1970s ... albeit through the lens of a male director.

So we meet Asami (Asami Ogawa) and Komako (Aoi Nakajima) - both typical Japanese Office Ladies (OL for short) who work together in Tokyo, and are both in their own misguided way looking for love. And this is where Konuma slyly gets his message across, the age old dichotomy of relations between the sexes - with men looking for sexual gratification and women equating sex with love.

To begin with, what we see is sex, sex, sex. The women are attractive, sexually voracious and available ... the male perspective/fantasy.

Asami is banging the boss after work, who treats her as little more than an on-demand sperm bank. Her friend Komako meanwhile has gained a reputation of being willing to screw anyone, and we find her servicing male co-workers in the toilet stall, the stationery closet, the elevator ... you name it. Her availability has earned her the nickname 'public convenience'.

But as the movie continues, we get to know more about these two women and the female perspective is revealed. Asami needs her boss to tell her he loves her before fully unleashing her passion. And, sadly, believes him when he does. While acceding to his requirements as the perfect fucktoy, she has not realised that his words are merely lip-service.

Komako meanwhile is fast approaching 30, and is desperately hoping to find a suitable partner to settle down with - one who will treat her with respect. She has taken to drinking on the job, and screwing anyone who shows interest in the hope of finding Mr Right.

So while at first we thought these women were your typical sexual fantasies (and in a film named Erotic Diary of an Office Lady who can be blamed!) - Konuma masterfully exposes the viewer to the flipside of the coin.

While the sex scenes start off kinky and erotic, they increasingly turn to loveless, and violent affairs, defining an arc from the women's hopes and dreams to a far less romantic reality.

Aethetically speaking, while there are a few stand-out scenes that show what Konuma would be capable of given more time and budget - most of the movie is shot in a utilitarian, realistic mode. Therefore, I wouldn't say that it stands as one of the higher quality Nikkatsu productions in terms of visuals, but the style serves the story well.

What really blew me away though was the final scene - a dialogue-free montage set to some incredible Japanese prog-rock. Neither IMDB nor any other reviews I could find mention the name of this song - a hard-driving rock anthem featuring some fantastic blues/rock guitar, Joplin-esque vocals, and Deep Purple style keyboards. I can now tell you, for anyone that's interested, the song is Watashi wa Kaze (I am the Wind) by Carmen Maki and Oz - an 11-minute opus now on high-rotation on my playlist.

While this film is no masterpiece, it delivered a lot more than I was expecting. Along with the frequent sex scenes, it is also an intelligent and poignant drama.

Rating: 6.5/10

Exploitation Flicks

Grindhouse, R-rated, erotica, euro-sleaze, giallo, pinku eiga, sexploitation, nunsploitation, Category III, etc

Review Archive

2010
Cold Fish	Japan	2010	9/10
2009
Black Dynamite	USA	2009	8/10
2008
Snakes and Earrings	Japan	2008	6/10
Cruel Restaurant	Japan	2008	7.5/10
Sex & Chopsticks	Hong Kong	2008	5/10
2007
Help Me Eros	Taiwan	2007	n/a
Gradiva	France	2007	7.5/10
2006
The Exterminating Angels	France	2006	6/10
Agent Aika: Live Action (short)	Japan	2006	n/a
2000-2005
Color Blossoms	Hong Kong	2004	6/10
To Seduce an Enemy	Hong Kong	2003	3/10
La Belle	Korea	2000	5/10
I.K.U	Japan	2000	6.5/10
1990's
La Blue Girl Live Vol.3	Japan	1996	3/10
Sex & Zen II	Hong Kong	1996	7/10
Spanking Love	Japan	1995	5/10
XX: Beautiful Hunter	Japan	1994	6.5/10
Tokyo Decadence	Japan	1992	7.5/10
1980's
Madame de Sade	Japan	1986	7/10
The Click	France	1985	5.5/10
The Hokusai Manga	Japan	1981	7/10
1970's
To Be Twenty	Italy	1978	7/10
Erotic Diary of an Office Lady	Japan	1977	6.5/10
School of the Holy Beast	Japan	1974	8/10
Sex and Fury	Japan	1973	6/10
Valerie's Week of Wonders	Czechoslovakia	1970	9/10

From tasteful erotica to the downright perverse. Whether you call it grindhouse, euro-sleaze, giallo, pinku eiga, sexploitation, nunsploitation, or Category III - if its naughty, nasty or perverted you'll find it here.