MovieChat Forums > Ai no korîda (1977) Discussion > Nothing But Glorified Porn

Nothing But Glorified Porn

posted 17 years ago by spectrx
40 replies | jump to latest

Hello,
First off, let me say that I am a fan of all things Japanese. I speak the language. I also love good movies, and I have absolutely nothing against porn. Unfortunately this movie is neither of those things. It is a string of sex scenes held together by short, MEANINGLESS "dialogue" usually talking about their sex life together. I understand the sex was an important part of the story here, but I think we could get the idea that these two people were in love/obsessed with each other with either "implied" sex scenes, or just a few good ones. We don't need a WHOLE MOVIE of sex scenes to create a "story." As far as that goes, there is literally NONE in this movie, until the last five minutes. It tries to walk a line between "art" and porn, and completely fails miserably at both. If they had made up their mind one way or another, and committed to it, it would've been much better.

The other movie "Sada" which is based on this same event, is so much better as far as ACTUAL story and character development, that once you see it, this movie will be a slap in the face.

[–] Calaverasgrande 9 years ago

have you ever seen porn?
Porn has a few things as part of it's essential requirements that this movie lacks.
First off, porn is for masturbation. This movie has a lot of titillating scenes but they are of short duration. Often these scenes have an unsettling aspect as well. Such as an old person who is staring.
There is also quite a bit to much knives being next to genitalia, and eventually severing said genitalia. I dont know about you, but that is not arousing to me.
I'd also point out that porn is not as well produced as this. The lighting, cinematography, art direction are first rate. Equal of any contemporary cinema from Europe or the US.

If you are really such a fan of Japanese culture I am surprised that you are not familiar with the frequent displays of sexuality in their pop culture, which can also be paradoxically staid in other ways.

Personally I find the story moving in a bittersweet tragic way. Haven't you ever been madly, physically in love with a beautiful, insane woman?

[–] Silitonga 9 years ago

Porn is art!

Remember Kama Sutra?

♍

[–] harrymovie123 9 years ago

I disagree. I thought it was a raw and brave portrayal of two people who become "victims" of their own obsessions. It feels like a film that is portraying sexual addiction without hiding anything, and so it is more of a portrait of the human condition. I understand pornography as being filmic images or photographs of sex that are meant to turn on the viewer. I was honestly not turned on by this film, and I don't think Oshima's goal was to turn on the viewer either, but rather to portray to him, without shying away from the more graphic things, who these characters were and what their lives must have been like. The performances are also excellent, as is the cinematography, production design and costume design.