Kikareta onna no mirareta yoru (2006)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Masashi Yamamoto

Writers:

Fumihiro Yamada (story)
Masashi Yamamoto (screenplay)

Release Date:

2007 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Some fantasies should never be fulfilled.

Plot:

When Ryo, a young magazine reporter, moves into a new apartment he is greeted by the passionate sounds of his astonishingly beautiful neighbor Satsuki...

Plot Keywords:

Apartment | Wall | Reality | Sexual Fantasy | Female Nudity

Cast

Hiroto Kato	...	Yuta
Shô Nishino	...	Imaginary Satsuki
Takashi Oda	...	Hide
Keita Ohno	...	Ryo
Rumi Ôtori
Aoi Sola	...	Satsuki
Mutsuo Yoshioka

Also Known As:

Kikareta onna (Japan) (recut version)
Man, Woman & the Wall (International: English title)
Man, Woman and the Wall (International: English title) (alternative spelling)
Man, Woman, and the Wall (International: English title)

Runtime:

84 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Color

Infatuation or Menace?

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

A semi-odd film coming straight from Japan. But it ends up a being a fairly interestingly presented story, a film which offers more than one's preconceived notions. On a very low budget, Autuer director Masashi Yamamoto offers up an interesting tale about fantasy and reality told through the medium of a stalker, though two are involved, and the female of interest, none other than Adult AV star Sora Aoi. After viewing the film some could write this off as nothing but soft core adult entertainment. But this is where I believe, like many Japanese directors before, Yamamoto has blended in enough of an interesting plot to go beyond such a simple structure. There is actually an intriguing character study employed - in this case, which stalker will win (or lose) ..and why? What's the difference between a simple case of overly played infatuation and menace? Is there any?

This film is definitely not for everyone, especially for casual film go'er. There's enough skin, and two particular soft core scenes that should be satisfactory for those interested parties. This is actually the biggest flaw in my opinion due to the potential it attempts to erase. But it's reality, therefore I can only detract so many points. But for those that can handle it ..and the slightly unusual subject matter, I think there is enough of a thought provoking message to take back home with.

If you end up getting something out of this film then I would recommend a few others to seek out: Tokyo Trash Baby by Ryuichi Hiroki, Raw Summer by Keisuke Yoshida (which also stars Sora Aoi), Moonlight Whispers by Akihiko Shiota (just be wary of the Kino release as there is a problem with the DVD mastering which causes about a third of the film to be missed - grrrrr!)