Ai no shinsekai (1994)

Director:

Banmei Takahashi

Writers:

Nobuyoshi Araki (story)
Sho Kenzan (writer)

Release Date:

17 December 1994 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

A look a the lives of two sex workers in Tokyo: Rei, who works as an S&M dominatrix, and Ayumi, in the more straightforward profession of call girl...

Plot Keywords:

Sex | Dominatrix | S&M | Nudity | Sadomasochism

Awards:

6 wins

Cast

Sawa Suzuki	...	Rei
Reiko Kataoka	...	Ayumi
Aya Sugimoto	...	Saeko
Hiromitsu Suzuki	...	Doctor
Tomorowo Taguchi	...	Man with a knife
Takashi Matsuo	...	Journalist
Toshi Shioya	...	Master
Suzuki Matsuo	...	Matsuki
Yoshihiko Hakamada	...	Host
Shinji Takeda	...	Toru
Shô Aikawa	...	Jiro
Nagare Hagiwara	...	Sawanobori
Tetsu Watanabe
Shirô Shimomoto
Nobuyoshi Araki	...	Photographer

Also Known As:

A New Love in Tokyo

Runtime:

115 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Certification:

Japan:R-18

Company:

G Company

Trivia:

First official Japanese production to be shown in theaters uncensored and with full frontal nudity unfogged.

plenty of flesh and SM on show but also more tender moments and comedy

I enjoyed this a lot, although it is a little uneven and could have been trimmed a bit. Nevertheless and particularly if you are a fan of photographer extraordinaire, Nobuyoshi Araki, this is most watchable. I see Araki is credited with the story, if not the script and the film does seem to reflect the photographers interests. The man himself appears snapping away gleefully as the wondrous Sawa Suzuki, cracks her whip. Throughout this free flowing movie the b/w photos of Araki punctuate the various scenes and on occasion this is almost a film based around those stills. On the one hand there is a sex agency for which several girls offer various services, including SM from the aforementioned lovely Sawa. On the other is an aspiring acting group both practising their art and rehearsing for a forthcoming production. There is much cross over and we see various 'actors' in their real life jobs, including call girl and police man, often practising their lines as they go about their work. This is not a Tokyo and Shibuya district in particular that anyone who has not visited will be aware of and yet I can confirm that this is a fantastic swirling and impressionistic vision of that part of that fantastic city. There is plenty of flesh and SM on show but also more tender moments and comedy. The very extent of the mix might be too much for some but provided you don't mind edgy cinema, surely there is something here for everyone. And what a fantastic ending.