I have FINALLY seen this movie, having desperately wanted to do so since I first heard of it 15 or 16 years ago. I like it very much, but it's not what I expected from the name and topic of the movie, or from the glamorous-looking still I saw of our heroine and two men in a bar.
I pictured a story of a woman chasing men in bars, living an empty social life with men who could never love her. Instead, it's all very small-scale and real and domestic, like other Japanese films. Think of that 1960s film where the elderly parents have to be dealt with. It's all small, delicate dramas between family members, in domestic settings.
Yes, there is very sexy and romantic footage at the beginning of our hero and his male lover. But as the film goes on, struggles are introduced and the world conspires against them.
Our heroine, as you have probably heard or would imagine, is still, yes, a confused and deluded woman, scarred by her early experiences and afraid of men. The film actually does explain the meaning of 'okoge,' but I think the implication of saying a woman is a 'fag hag' or like 'burnt rice' is a lot more severe than the film suggests. I think the name doesn't just come about because gay men are called 'okama' or 'rice pot.' I mean, have you ever seen burnt rice in a rice cooker? It's useless! Troublesome! Gross!
But our heroine is very beautiful, and charming, if misled. And we also wish the best for our hero and his boyfriend.
The last 30 minutes of the film had so many soap-operatic elements, and one very, very unbelievable scene of violence, so I have to downgrade the movie to merely an '8' while I would otherwise give it a '10.' I like the fact that film doesn't use stereotypes like pretty much every other American or English film that deals with homosexuality. Yes, there are drag queens here and they're somewhat outrageous, but pretty much everything else here aims not for comedy but truthful and simple acting.
A QUESTION: WHO IS THE WESTERN ACTOR shown in the bar scene at the end of the movie?? He's just an extra, but he looks SO FAMILIAR. Is he Australian? Is he famous? Do I just think I recognize him just because he's so handsome it's playing tricks on my mind??
MY VHS TAPE: I watched this on an ancient used VHS tape I just bought. The trailers for the distributor Cinevista after the movie are OUTRAGEOUS!! Campy, campy cornball stuff I've never even heard of. 'Black Lizard'? 'I Am My Own Woman'? 'Zero Patience,' a low-budget, glitzy AIDS-awareness musical? It's a pretty funny world where the low-budget, outrageous Alexis Arquette offering, 'Jack Be Nimble,' is, like, comparatively 'straight.' (He was kind of good-looking once. Sad.) Also, Cinevista apparently introduced the (American) world to Antonio Banderas in three early movies. Some super-gay stuff, apparently. And he was so exquisitely lovely in his 20s!
I pictured a story of a woman chasing men in bars, living an empty social life with men who could never love her. Instead, it's all very small-scale and real and domestic, like other Japanese films. Think of that 1960s film where the elderly parents have to be dealt with. It's all small, delicate dramas between family members, in domestic settings.
Yes, there is very sexy and romantic footage at the beginning of our hero and his male lover. But as the film goes on, struggles are introduced and the world conspires against them.
Our heroine, as you have probably heard or would imagine, is still, yes, a confused and deluded woman, scarred by her early experiences and afraid of men. The film actually does explain the meaning of 'okoge,' but I think the implication of saying a woman is a 'fag hag' or like 'burnt rice' is a lot more severe than the film suggests. I think the name doesn't just come about because gay men are called 'okama' or 'rice pot.' I mean, have you ever seen burnt rice in a rice cooker? It's useless! Troublesome! Gross!
But our heroine is very beautiful, and charming, if misled. And we also wish the best for our hero and his boyfriend.
The last 30 minutes of the film had so many soap-operatic elements, and one very, very unbelievable scene of violence, so I have to downgrade the movie to merely an '8' while I would otherwise give it a '10.' I like the fact that film doesn't use stereotypes like pretty much every other American or English film that deals with homosexuality. Yes, there are drag queens here and they're somewhat outrageous, but pretty much everything else here aims not for comedy but truthful and simple acting.
A QUESTION: WHO IS THE WESTERN ACTOR shown in the bar scene at the end of the movie?? He's just an extra, but he looks SO FAMILIAR. Is he Australian? Is he famous? Do I just think I recognize him just because he's so handsome it's playing tricks on my mind??
MY VHS TAPE: I watched this on an ancient used VHS tape I just bought. The trailers for the distributor Cinevista after the movie are OUTRAGEOUS!! Campy, campy cornball stuff I've never even heard of. 'Black Lizard'? 'I Am My Own Woman'? 'Zero Patience,' a low-budget, glitzy AIDS-awareness musical? It's a pretty funny world where the low-budget, outrageous Alexis Arquette offering, 'Jack Be Nimble,' is, like, comparatively 'straight.' (He was kind of good-looking once. Sad.) Also, Cinevista apparently introduced the (American) world to Antonio Banderas in three early movies. Some super-gay stuff, apparently. And he was so exquisitely lovely in his 20s!