Moonlight Whispers (1999) User Reviews

Muddy Socks

[Meganeguard · 8/10 · 6 September 2005]

The budding relationship between Takuya and Satsuki seems normal enough. Takuya, smitten by the beautiful girl, joins the kendo club in order to get closer to the one he loves, even becoming her personal workout partner a role in which he suffers several smacks upside the head with a practice sword. However, it seems that Takuya's affection will remain unreciprocated because Takuya considers the long-haired Satsuki out of his reach. Yet when Takuya's best friend asks him to give Satsuki a love letter, a letter he had used on another girl a short time before, Satsuki lets her disappoint be known that she would have preferred to have received a letter from Takuya.

Elated by these words, Takuya begins his relationship with the girl of his dreams. They spend their days riding together on Takuya's bike and playing video games. However, one day, when Takuya stays home from school because of a cold, Satsuki visits him and they sleep together for the first time. While this is Satsuki's first sexual experience with Takuya, Takuya has found a number of ways to be "intimate" with Satsuki without her being present. After discovering that his locker key could also open Satsuki's, Takuya indulged his desires by smelling Satsuki's gym shorts and collecting other odds and ends such as used chapstick and tissues. Takuya also has a number of clandestine photos of Satsuki and even goes as far as to record an audio tape of his girlfriend urinating.

Takuya, of course, keeps all of this a secret from his girlfriend, but after discovering one of her socks under Takuya's sheets; Satsuki discovers Takuya's other memorabilia as well. Totally freaked out by the experience, Satsuki does her best to avoid Takuya but he pursues her recently. In order to make Takuya jealous Satsuki begins dating Uematsu, the former couple's senior classman in the kendo club; however, instead of ceasing his pursuit, Takuya continues to follow Satsuki and tells her that he wants to be her dog and that he will do anything for her. Scared of Takuya's ways at first, Satsuki eventually enjoys tormenting the young man her favorite method being to hide Takuya away, sometimes with his hands tied behind his back, where he can watch her make love with Uematsu. This wicked game continues throughout the film.

Taking the mundane high school love drama and giving it a fetishized edge, Shiota's film explores the developing sexuality of two young people who do not fit the average, or what is perceived to be average, mold of young love. There are some quite tender moments such as Takuya's and Satsuki's first sexual encounter, but the most fascinating aspect of the film is Satsuki's discovery of her own sexuality. Desiring to have a normal relationship, Satsuki's discovery that she is a bit of a sadist disturbs her. Numerous times throughout the film, such as when she forces Takuya to lick the sweat of her body, she literally breaks down in varying degrees. An interesting film, but definitely not one for family movie night, hehe.

Frank depiction of an unconventional love relationship

[bratkievich · 7/10 · 30 March 2007]

Frank depiction of the teenage love affair between Takuya and Satsuki, which gets complicated because of Takuya's masochist tendencies. Takuya's pain because he knows he's not "normal" is sensitively rendered, and Satsuki's realization that she enjoys inflicting cruelty on Takuya is also wonderfully handled from the initial revenge-like need to humiliate him (as she felt humiliated, no doubt) to the possibility that she actually feels pleasure (is this the reason why she wants him dead? because he showed her a part of herself that she didn't even know existed and certainly doesn't like?). In an odd way, they're destined for each other. But what starts as an honest depiction of an apparent run-of-the-mill love affair that slowly transforms into a sadomasochistic relationship ends up slightly bordering on melodrama in the encounter between Takuya, Satsuki and Tadashi at the end of the film (it seems a little too much that Takuya would be willing to kill himself for Satsuki). Besides, what's the deal with Satsuki's eye patch? Is she using it as some way of showing sympathy towards Takuya (his bandages include an eye patch)? Did she get hurt, maybe by Tadashi? Nevertheless, the film is a wonderful, non-judgmental portrait of an unconventional love relationship.

Wonderful Coming of Age story

[tommyg · 8/10 · 9 September 2001]

Well, I just saw my first Japanese film [Sasayaki (2000) USA] that showed Japan just as I viewed it last year - the landscape, the city, country, rice patties, trains, canned soda dispeners and the natural hot spa. In essence, a motion visual that in one or more of the 1200 digital images that I captured, had an equivalent that my eye saw as meaningful to my CY2000 trip. I even went to a local high school and took pictures of a martial arts training of local youth in southern Japan.

The only thing missing from my trip was the basic content of this film - its story.

This is a coming of age story with a tinge of Japanese politeness and tradition in social introduction, just skewed by a few years in time backwards to the American experience - perhaps into the 60's when sex during high school was the daring thing to do and then talk or brag about.

As a coming of age story, the script and acting maintains a balance of innocence and exploration as the theme dances around sadomasochism in an increasing eddy that entraps the next experience.

The beauty of this film is its innocence and its honesty in portraying the boundaries of sexual experience and an obsession that can bind innocence into something more permanent outside of those first sexual experiences and beginnings.

It is not a fearful film to watch, but simply a difficult film to describe without creating fear in its next, potential viewer. As the film ends, there is still an essence of innocence and beauty and love between the boy and girl.

A brilliant and disturbing film

[howard.schumann · 9/10 · 1 December 2003]

In Moonlight Whispers, the first film by Akihiko Shiota (Don't Look Back, Harmful Insect), a young Japanese student Hidaka Takuya (Kenji Mizuhashi) will do anything to prove his love for Kendo partner Kitihara Satsuki (Tsugumi). This includes licking the sweat off of her feet, listening to her having sex with a friend, and even jumping over a waterfall. Based on a manga (Japanese comic book) by Masahiko Kikumi, the film is not about kinky sex but about adolescents involved in a love so deep it completely distorts their sense of perspective. Shiota's wry observational camera captures a marginal but valid aspect of the adolescent experience as profoundly as Van Sant's Elephant captured the high school milieu that led to guns and violence.

Takuya and Satsuki are shy students at the same high school and belong to the Kendo club (a sport involving two single combatants who wear padded gear, then try to beat each other with either end of a padded stick). Satsuki is a top player and a most sought-after companion. Backed by the soft guitar melodies of Shinsuke Honda, the two friends begin dating and everything seems normal until she discovers that he is more interested in sniffing her underwear, photographing articles of her clothing, and making audio tapes of her going to the bathroom than in having sex. When Takuya puts a twist on the meaning of "puppy love" and tells her he wants to be like her obedient dog, she calls him a pervert and begins spending more time with another classmate, Uematsu Tadashi (Kusano Kitahara).

With a fast turnaround that seems a bit out of character, Satsuki soon discovers that she finds pleasure in playing the dominating role and begins ordering the compliant Takuya around, asking him to do more and more outlandish things. The two feed off of each other, however, and continue a relationship of domination and submission with Takuya willing to go to degrading lengths to gain Satsuki's approval. In recent years, a number of theorists have suggested that sadomasochism can be a healthy form of sexual arousal among consenting individuals. While there may be a core of truth to this, this film is not a good example. There is a strong element of self-destruction and lack of self-respect in the behavior of the two lovers and Satsuki admits she has thought of suicide.

Although I'm not sure what the director had in mind in making this film, Moonlight Whispers touched me deeply and, even when I was repulsed by the behavior of the characters, I felt a deep compassion for their pain. There is no trace of exploitation in Shiota's film and, while mental health experts might frown, the relationship feels organic to the characters and not pathological. The director makes no judgments, showing only the lengths people with low self-esteem will go to feel wanted and needed. I was reminded of the words of author Georges Bernanos when he wrote, "How easy it is to hate oneself. True grace is to forget. Yet if pride could die in us, the supreme grace would be to love oneself in all simplicity". What this brilliant and disturbing film says to me more than anything else is that we cannot truly love another human being unless we learn to love ourselves.

unforgettable, mind/heart-twisting exploration of obssessive desire

[myownpteidaho · 10/10 · 25 May 2000]

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.

Right on the money

[desertcat68 · 10/10 · 18 December 2005]

As one for years who has repressed my feelings about certain fetishes, this movie was truly liberating. I admire how the director treats the subject so maturely and the manner in which the young woman confronts her boyfriend's desire to "be her dog". For those of you that actively participate in certain fetish lifestyles, this movie is a can't-miss. And for those of you who don't, you will enjoy the complex relationship between the young man and woman and the manner in which they learn to hurdle the obstacles that stand in the way of their love.

BDSM is not just about dragon women in black leather cracking whips and the men who willingly submit. This movie truly captures the subtleties of BDSM and explores deep into the psychology of the characters to find out why they desire to act out their fantasies in such an uncommon manner. Enjoy.

S&M doesn't mean that one is a sick and depraved person

[Nephilim-6 · 9/10 · 21 April 2005]

In it's simplest form this movie is about a boy and a girl who fall in love.

While that could make a good movie this one throws in a realistic problem. The boy gets off on masochism. While many viewers may find this scary it is a realistic and common fetish. I for one thinks it is quite exciting.

But as erotic as some people might find it that's not what the movie deals with. It deals with the psychological impact of that realization.

The girl does not know how to handle that aspect of the relationship and the boy finds himself 'desturbed and perverted' Problems arise and both try to come to terms with the situation in different ways.

Whitout going too much of the story away I want to make clear this is NOT a pornographic movie. It tries to address certain more exotic aspects of sexuality in a normal, non-judgmental way. It shows us what could happen in a relationship when one or both parties has a fetish. It also shows us that having a fetish does not mean that the love for one-another is different than any other relationship. Just the way someone expresses it or experiences it is different.

All in all a very honest and heartwarming movie.

One of those films that could only have come from Japan

[imdbbl · 6 June 2011]

Gekkõ no sasayaki it's one of those films that could have only come from Japan. It's a psycho-sexual drama about two young teenagers who start dating. Their relationship begins innocently enough but when Satsuki(girl) learns that Takuya (boy) is into sadomasochism she labels him as pervert and leaves him. However, Takuya keeps pursuing Satsuki and as time passes by, Satsuki is drawn back by the power Takuya's fetishes give her over him.

This is definitely one of those subjects that Hollywood wouldn't try to tackle, at least not with the subtlety that is so often seen in Asian films. And don't take me wrong, it's subtle but it's also extremely powerful. it's just that everything arises from character development and interaction and not from gimmicks.

The plot is well thought out and the acting was pretty good. I just wish the director had explored Takuya's reasons and motives a little more and also a bit more focus on Satsuki's inner conflict (Her enjoying the s&m games but at the same time feeling it's wrong). Still, it's a good film and probably worth checking if you like Asian cinema.

7/10

Loved those eye patches.

[Sinnerman · 24 November 2003]

What can I tell all about Moonlight Whispers? Hmmm....

I can only offer, what I think is a "mildly spoiling" commentary on this flick. And the reason why I stated it as "mildly spoiling" is because its not the shocking realisation of what the film is about that fascinated me. Its more the process through which this film navigated itself, all the way to its conclusion, that gave me the creeps ........so its up to you now if you wanna read on..........

(VERY VERY MILD SPOILERS)

Come to think of it....Moonlight Whisper might count as one of the most emotionally unnerving films I have ever seen...S&M S&M S&M......oops, did I say that out loud?

So people, it may be helpful to think of it as an S&M flick that's somewhat different from Secretary. Unlike the sugar coated Maggie G starring flick, MW lets you taste the sweet, then the bitter and depending on your moral threshold, the excruciatingly horrid. Its like a teenage romance drama gone completely off-kilter.

But do not be misled by my take. There were very few scenes of outright grotesqueries to offend anyone's "visual" sensibilities. The alllure of this flick is actually its scary ease is making one uncomfortable, without any gratuituous sexploitation.

Like Battle Royale, this film skimmed on the edge of taboo because it explored the realms of S&M (albeit in its lighter shade of fetishistic perversity and what nots) with younger protagonists. Do I want to critique on the questionable psyche of the Japanese culture? I don't think so.

Back to the movie: This time round though, in contrast to Secretary, its the girl that's the master and the boy, her sick puppy. In the beginning, it all looked innocent enough, cleverly packaged like a sweet, almost childfriendly flick. But by the time you realised what you got yourself into, its too late. For not much happened in the first quarter of the movie to suggest we would be watching a film with such mired emotional/ moral complexity.

The Japanese do seem to possess this uncanny urge(and ability) to genre confuse its audience, don't they? But I liked it. Especially those matching eye patches (Don't ask). So will you like it? Its not my call.....

(END OF VERY VERY MILD SPOILERS)

All in, a powerful film "Moonlight Whispers" was. Go watch it and make your own judgement then.