Sasayaki (1999)
"Gekkô no sasayaki" (original title)

Two seemingly innocent school kids are obsessed in fetishistic s&m games.

Director:

Akihiko Shiota

Writers:

Masahiko Kikuni (comic), Yôichi Nishiyama,

Stars:

Kenji Mizuhashi, Tsugumi, Kouta Kusano

6 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Kenji Mizuhashi	...	Takuya Hidaka
Tsugumi	...	Satsuki Kitahara
Kouta Kusano	...	Tadashi Uematsu
Harumi Inoue	...	Shizuka Kitahara
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Shino Aizawa
Chika Fujimura	...	Satsuki's Friend
Ako Kawakami
Kei Marimura
Yoshiki Sekino	...	Maruken
Kiriko Shimizu
Sachiko Shinozaki
Hideaki Yamaura

Storyline

An offbeat study of the adult games that men and women play filtered through the actions of two seemingly innocent Japanese school kids, Satsuki and Takuya, two 17-year-olds who first meet practising kendo but later fall head over heels in love. They then discover the ways they can most exuberantly express their love for one another, no matter how perverse. It all starts with Takuya stealing Satsuki's belongings like socks, secretly photographing her beautiful legs, and... When Satsuki discovers this, she takes revenge by dominating him and forcing him to watch her having sex with a schoolmate...

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Plot Keywords:

love | school | socks | schoolmate | japanese | 

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Taglines:

Takuya wants to be Satsuki's dog. Satsuki likes to see Takuya cry. Love hurts.

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Genres:

Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for aberrant sexual behavior

Details

Official Sites:

Viz Films

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

23 December 2000 (Hong Kong)

Also Known As:

Sasayaki

Company Credits

Production Co:

Nikkatsu

Technical Specs

Runtime:

100 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

User Reviews

unforgettable, mind/heart-twisting exploration of obssessive desire

this film left me reeling. A simple enough film, it draws the viewer deeper and deeper into a Japanese schoolboy's masochistic obssession and the slow steady conversion of a girl into the sadistic mistress that he needs.Yet the film is not about sex or lust. It is about a passion so deep that it defines one's being. The boy is blessed with that rare honesty - he will not deny himself his passion. He risks exposure, humiliation, hatred, and worst of all, the loss of the one he loves, just to live his way. It makes one feel inadequate when one considers how much we willingly censor our own desires and passions just to 'fit in'. There are moments of exquisite pain in this film, when you can hear hearts shattering, and from these come some of the film's most beautiful moments as well. His seemingly endless devotion to her, her traumatic attempt to rationalize his desire - these are extremes that perhaps each of us have tasted to a lesser degree at some point in our lives. Here, watch them played out to the maximum. If his love is to be called perverse, then let it be so, for maybe love is too great to be normal, to intense to be sane. Performances are riveting from the two leads. Sensitive, sharp and burning with unspoken emotion. The two are infinitely desirable because they are so passionate, so afire. Sensuality and sexuality are redefined, and if you are neither sadistic or masochistic at the start of the film, you will long to be one or the other, or maybe both, by the end.