Okoge (1992)

User Rating:

7.7/10   

Director:

Takehiro Nakajima

Writer:

Takehiro Nakajima (writer)

Release Date:

2 April 1993 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Sayoko, a young woman, meets Goh and his older gay lover Tochi, and invites them to use a room in her apartment...

Plot Keywords:

Homosexual | Gay Interest | Fag Hag | Gay Asian | Love

Awards:

7 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Misa Shimizu	...	Sayoko Morohashi
Takehiro Murata	...	Goh Yoshino
Takeo Nakahara	...	Tochi, Tochihiko Terazaki
Atsushi Fukazawa	...	Tamio
Takatoshi Takeda	...	Tsuyuki, Bartender
Masayuki Shionoya	...	Kurihara
Kyozo Nagatsuka	...	Toichi, Goh's brother
Mitsuko Oka	...	Tokuko
Michino Yokoyama	...	Manami (as Michiyo Yokoyama)
Noriko Sengoku	...	Kinoe Yoshino, Goh's mother
Toshie Negishi	...	Yayoi Terazaki, Tochi's wife
Yoshiko Kuga
Dump Matsumoto
Toshinori Omi
Casey Takamine		(as Cacy Takamine)

Also Known As:

Fag Hag

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

Int-Group Film

social treatise on gays in society does not forsake drama

Nakajima's take on Japanese attitudes to gays is intriguing to come to 15 years after its initial release. Inevitably, you find yourself asking how much has changed in that intervening decade-and-a-half. The answer is, apart from the hairstyles and fashions, not very much. Gays are still only visible in the public eye in their most effeminate form, and their role in society still seems strictly to be entertaining the straight masses with their raging queen antics. Red-blooded everyday Joe gays like Goh are still in the closet.

It is a paradoxical situation, because most Japanese when pressed express opinions that are tolerant of homosexuality, and out-and-out anti-gay sentiments are rarely, if ever, heard. So why are all the gays hiding?

Of course, the film is more about its characters than social attitudes. Fortunately, Nakajima's nuanced characters and humorous touch ensure that the narrative of lost love and damaged souls redeemed stays on course. The spotlight on social attitudes is never too glaring. Regrettably, the film descends into farce at times, as when the drag queens fight the mobsters, and every time Goh's mother makes her vaudeville-style appearance. But Okoge is enlightening, challenging, moving and still asks uncomfortable questions of Japanese society after all these years. Well worth a look.