The Film:

Man. Where to start. Well, my expectations going in were that it would be a portrayal of pre-War Japanese culture and its taboos, with some explicit sex thrown in. While I certainly got the latter, the former was almost no where to be found.

Apparently, it is a re-telling of an historical event in which a young woman, Sada Abe, engages in an affair with an older, wealthier married man, and eventually kills and castrates him. Well, the affair, a bunch of sex, and the climactic assault are present, but that's about it. There is a 30 second scene with soldiers marching down the street, and that's about it for context. Mostly, it is a terminally boring parade of sex scenes which, while explicit, don't even function to titillate my prurient interests.

Sada fellates and fornicates in various combinations, has sex with a few other men in order to raise money, and they secret themselves away from his wife in resorts and are served wine by geisha. Lather, rinse, and repeat for 1 hour and 42 minutes, and then get the knife out for the ending. The plot, such as it was, was completely and totally uninteresting, not to mention extremely difficult to empathize with or understand the pseudo-human emotions involved. Is this woman a nymphomaniac? Is this man stuck in a suicidally boring marriage? Why are they so enraptured by each other? Is it physical? Spiritual? Some sort of inter-class cross-pollination which adds so much excitement to the coupling that it becomes irresistible? We are left only to speculate as minute after minute of excruciating sex play unfolds.

To be fair, some of the compositions are nice, and some images are beautiful. Frankly, the most interesting image of the film was the couple walking down a riverbank in the rain, their umbrella twirling ahead of them. The amphitheater scene before the finale is well composed, as well.

So I wouldn't call it utterly worthless as a piece of cinema. But 2 or 3 minutes of interesting images surrounded by more than 1.5 hours of pointless inanity doesn't strike me as a worthwhile bargain.

I was glad my PS3 has a function that allows watching films in 1.5x speed while keeping the sound on. This means I saved about 34 minutes of my life for other more important things, such as clipping my toenails, watching paint dry, or playing "Freecell" on my laptop. Let me say, though, that I did my level best to watch the film on its own merits and let it breathe. I just appreciate the ability to compress a lost evening once it becomes clear that the merits are too few and far between.

The Blu-Ray:

The video transfer gives us a roughly 16:9 (very slightly pillarboxed on the sides) color image which has much to recommend it. Detail isn't knock your socks off, but it is certainly better than most DVDs, especially of 1970's material. Colors are very deep, especially reds, and black levels, though spotty in some interior scenes, are superb in outdoor scenes.

This is yet another respectful and reference quality Criterion transfer of an older film. Grain is present but not obtrusive, edge enhancement is not noticeable, detail is good, color is spot on. Kudos to Criterion for another job well done.

Extras include some interviews with director and cast, a commentary by a British film historian, some deleted scenes (none of which were interesting or provided the much needed context this film was DYING for), and a trailer.

******

Overall, I give this Blu-Ray 2 stars, mainly for its quality and faithfulness to the material. I  found the film almost completely worthless. I imagine there are some "cineastes" out there who will go on and on about how meaningful or profound or erotic this film is. Well, they are in for a treat. This is the best, most faithful presentation of the film I can imagine. Their Blu-Ray dollars will be well spent.

But that doesn't mean you ought to be fooled by their pretension. This film is just plain dumb, terminally boring, completely un-sexy, and frankly pointless. I didn't learn anything about early 20th century Japan, I didn't understand the human condition any better, I hadn't grown as a person from watching this film.

My point in reviewing this is not to denigrate the opinions of others. It's to warn people that they shouldn't dive in blindly because it's by Criterion, who have put out many, many CLASSIC "art films" in wonderfully high-quality editions (a few that spring immediately to mind: Spartacus. The Third Man. Seven Samurai. M. The Ice Storm.) Well, this is an art film, sure. But it's also a bad film. Really, laughably bad. I'd hate for someone to buy this based on reputation alone without even considering the various opinions out there (including all of those here) and get turned off to art cinema, or Criterion, altogether. So I write a review, as someone who enjoys film as art, to contribute to the dialogue.

Check out the films of Wong Kar-Wai if you want similar themes with better acting, editing, and writing. Just don't dive in and shell out the money based on reputation alone, or on Criterion's lovely packaging. With feeling: Rent it before you buy it.
The Film:

Man. Where to start. Well, my expectations going in were that it would be a portrayal of pre-War Japanese culture and its taboos, with some explicit sex thrown in. While I certainly got the latter, the former was almost no where to be found. Apparently, it is a re-telling of an historical event in which a young woman, Sada Abe, engages in an affair with an older, wealthier married man, and eventually kills and castrates him. Well, the affair, a bunch of sex, and the climactic assault are present, but that's about it. There is a 30 second scene with soldiers marching down the street, and that's about it for context. Mostly, it is a terminally boring parade of sex scenes which, while explicit, don't even function to titillate my prurient interests. Sada fellates and fornicates in various combinations, has sex with a few other men in order to raise money, and they secret themselves away from his wife in resorts and are served wine by geisha. Lather, rinse, and repeat for 1 hour and 42 minutes, and then get the knife out for the ending. The plot, such as it was, was completely and totally uninteresting, not to mention extremely difficult to empathize with or understand the pseudo-human emotions involved. Is this woman a nymphomaniac? Is this man stuck in a suicidally boring marriage? Why are they so enraptured by each other? Is it physical? Spiritual? Some sort of inter-class cross-pollination which adds so much excitement to the coupling that it becomes irresistible? We are left only to speculate as minute after minute of excruciating sex play unfolds. To be fair, some of the compositions are nice, and some images are beautiful. Frankly, the most interesting image of the film was the couple walking down a riverbank in the rain, their umbrella twirling ahead of them. The amphitheater scene before the finale is well composed, as well. So I wouldn't call it utterly worthless as a piece of cinema. But 2 or 3 minutes of interesting images surrounded by more than 1. 5 hours of pointless inanity doesn't strike me as a worthwhile bargain. I was glad my PS3 has a function that allows watching films in 1. 5x speed while keeping the sound on. This means I saved about 34 minutes of my life for other more important things, such as clipping my toenails, watching paint dry, or playing "Freecell" on my laptop. Let me say, though, that I did my level best to watch the film on its own merits and let it breathe. I just appreciate the ability to compress a lost evening once it becomes clear that the merits are too few and far between. The Blu-Ray:

The video transfer gives us a roughly 16:9 (very slightly pillarboxed on the sides) color image which has much to recommend it. Detail isn't knock your socks off, but it is certainly better than most DVDs, especially of 1970's material. Colors are very deep, especially reds, and black levels, though spotty in some interior scenes, are superb in outdoor scenes. This is yet another respectful and reference quality Criterion transfer of an older film. Grain is present but not obtrusive, edge enhancement is not noticeable, detail is good, color is spot on. Kudos to Criterion for another job well done. Extras include some interviews with director and cast, a commentary by a British film historian, some deleted scenes (none of which were interesting or provided the much needed context this film was DYING for), and a trailer. ******

Overall, I give this Blu-Ray 2 stars, mainly for its quality and faithfulness to the material. I  found the film almost completely worthless. I imagine there are some "cineastes" out there who will go on and on about how meaningful or profound or erotic this film is. Well, they are in for a treat. This is the best, most faithful presentation of the film I can imagine. Their Blu-Ray dollars will be well spent. But that doesn't mean you ought to be fooled by their pretension. This film is just plain dumb, terminally boring, completely un-sexy, and frankly pointless. I didn't learn anything about early 20th century Japan, I didn't understand the human condition any better, I hadn't grown as a person from watching this film. My point in reviewing this is not to denigrate the opinions of others. It's to warn people that they shouldn't dive in blindly because it's by Criterion, who have put out many, many CLASSIC "art films" in wonderfully high-quality editions (a few that spring immediately to mind: Spartacus. The Third Man. Seven Samurai. M. The Ice Storm. ) Well, this is an art film, sure. But it's also a bad film. Really, laughably bad. I'd hate for someone to buy this based on reputation alone without even considering the various opinions out there (including all of those here) and get turned off to art cinema, or Criterion, altogether. So I write a review, as someone who enjoys film as art, to contribute to the dialogue. Check out the films of Wong Kar-Wai if you want similar themes with better acting, editing, and writing. Just don't dive in and shell out the money based on reputation alone, or on Criterion's lovely packaging. With feeling: Rent it before you buy it.