Flower & Snake II (2005) Hana to hebi 2: Pari/Shizuko (original title)

Director:

Takashi Ishii

Writers:

Oniroku Dan (novel)
Takashi Ishii (screenplay)

Release Date:

14 May 2005 (Japan)

Plot:

Tooyama, an aging impotent art critic, sends his much-younger wife, Shizuko, to Paris to evaluate the work of Ikegami...

Plot Keywords:

Submission | Japanese Woman | Bondage Ropes | Sex | Ropes

Cast

Aya Sugimoto	...	Shizuko Tooyama
Ken'ichi Endô	...	Ryoosuke Ikegami
Fujiko	...	Sayoko Ikegami (naked girl in Ryôsuke's room)
Mieko Arai	...	Takako, The woman applied to auction
Yôzaburô Itô
Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi
Tôru Shinagawa	...	Oikawa
Shun Nakayama
Jô Shishido	...	Takayoshi Tooyama

Directed by
Takashi Ishii

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Oniroku Dan		novel
Takashi Ishii		screenplay

Produced by
Tôru Ishii	....	planner
Hitoshi Matsuda	....	planner

Original Music by
Goro Yasukawa		(as Gorô Yasukawa)

Cinematography by
Takashi Komatsu
Hiro'o Yanagida

Production Design by
Teru Yamazaki

Production Management
Hiromasa Matsushima	....	assistant production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Takashi Achiwa	....	assistant director

Production Companies

• Femme Fatale
• Toei Video Company

Distributors

• Toei Video Company (2005) (Japan) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Kodak Japan  film stock supplied by
• Sanwa Cine Equipment  camera equipment supplied by
• Sanwa Pro Light  lighting equipment supplied by
• Toei Labo Tech  prints
• Tsudô Kôbô  end title design

Also Known As:

"Hana to hebi 2: Pari/Shizuko" - Japan (original title)
"Flower and Snake 2: Paris/Shizuko" - Japan (English title)

Runtime:

118 min | South Korea:99 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

Japan:R-18 | South Korea:18 | South Korea:18 (cut)

Filming Locations:

France

Company:

Femme Fatale

Movie Connections:

Follows Flower and Snake (2004)

For those who like rope with their raunch.

Aging critic and patron of the arts Takayoshi Tooyama (Jô Shishido) sends his drop-dead gorgeous young wife Shizuko (Aya Sugimoto) to Paris to report on the progress of painter Ikegami (Ken'ichi Endô), whom he has sponsored for the past ten years. To her consternation, Shizuko discovers that Ikegami has been less than prolific, having completed none of his paintings. Things change, however, when the artist adopts Shizuko as his muse, convincing her to pose for an erotic piece based on sado-masochism; soon, the pair become lovers, their passion fuelled by tight ropes and intricate knots.

On completion of the first work, Shizuko is convinced by Ikegami's sister to try and sell the painting to a secret society who deal in erotic art, bondage, humiliation, and human slavery. Unsurprisingly, the arrangement goes terribly wrong and Shizuko is subjected to a series of terrifying sexual ordeals, under the watchful eyes of a familiar-looking grey-haired man in the audience.

Like an idiot, I watched this sequel before the original film, despite also having that in my collection; on the strength of part two, though, I'll definitely be checking out the first one, if only to see more of the incredible Aya Sugimoto, who is unfeasibly sexy and makes Flower and Snake II a pleasure to behold even when the going is very slow.

As erotic Japanese cinema goes, this one is a grade-A trouser-stirrer, with the scrummy Sugimoto happily submitting herself to all kinds of degradation in order to satisfy the viewer's cravings for perversion. Of course, director Takashi Ishii makes everything look as artful as possible to give proceedings an undeniable air of class (his film even resembling Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut towards the end), but when it all comes down to it, Ishii is out to arouse his audience, and does so effortlessly, with endless shots of his naked star in all manner of awkward poses, with only a slip of cloth, a carefully positioned leg, or a bright spotlight preventing the viewer from becoming REALLY well acquainted with her nether regions.

7.5 out of 10, rounded up to 8 for IMDb.