A Sadean study of victims and predators
5 May 2002
The second part of the ALL NIGHT LONG trilogy is a truly Sadean film. Every character is subjected to appalling humiliation and torture, inflicted for the gratification of the torturers. The only comparable Western picture is SALO O LE 120 GIORNATE DI SODOMA. But where Pier Paolo Pasolini's movie is a political allegory, writer-director Katsuya Matsumura focuses on his characters. He's interested in what drives them, why some are predators and others victims, and how certain victims ultimately become predators.

A gang's protection racket victimizes a high-school student with whom the gang leader becomes obsessed. The leader makes every effort to seduce the

student. When his advances are rebuffed, the leader tries to force the student into acts of degradation and violence. The student's friends are also captured and brutalized. The leader's efforts are finally successful: the student becomes every bit as savage as his tormentors.

ALL NIGHT LONG 2 is exceptionally graphic, with explicit and realistic depictions of every outrage, but what makes the movie so disturbing is the believability of the characters. All of the cast delivers powerful and convincing performances, although many of them (like most of the technical crew) didn't allow their real names to be used in the credits.

Certainly not for all audiences, OORU NAITO RONGU 2: SANJI is nonetheless seriously-intentioned, and amongst the most effective studies ever of the darkest recesses of humanity.
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