The Pornographers

JAPANESE SEX DOLL, the making of. I've seen my share of crazyweirdhonest2thepointof mysticism japanese films (Birdy Hilltop ring a bell with anyone?), films that start off ok but then become deranged. (This review, as well as future subsequent reviews under my name, will be incoherent, but please stay with me.) But it is that very crazy honesty, or crazy surrealism, that whets my appetite for more Japanese films. Or maybe I am simply very into black/wht films of the 50s and 60s. "The Pornographers" are a group of men who make pornographic films and literature. But they are not slimy at all. In fact, one of them is effeminate, possibly asexual, possibly gay. The main operative is a devoted boyfriend/husband and step-father/father figure. He considers the distribution of porn to sexually hungry Japanese men a public service. (One scene in which a group of Japanese businessmen screen a porno flick involving a Caucasian male lead is particularly revealing. One of them cracks a joke when he sees the size of the white male endowment. The group laughs. Either the Japanese have very good self-deprecating humor or they know that size is no indicator of sexual prowess/pleasure. Or maybe both. Anyways, I was surprised when that topic was addressed, and from the Asian male perspective.) His, um, occupation is the least scandalous part of the movie. The movie also addresses the dynamics in a claustrophobic lower middle class four-member family, such as the sexual and domestic potentials between a coming of age young woman and her mother's live-in boyfriend/second husband. Surreal (but real) scenes include an orgy, a recurring carp, and yes, not to disappoint, a sex doll. Watch it if you've ever found yourself asking, "what is the japanese's fascination with sex/ roricon?" 4.5 out of 5 stars.