Aya Sugimoto is one of the most beautiful Japanese actresses I have laid eyes on. And, she gives a daring and courageous performance, prepared to do whatever her director, Takashi Ishii, desires to bring an authenticity and dramatic depth towards a female character treated with the utmost hostility, sexual degradation, rape and bonafide humiliation through some shocking acts of indecent behavior towards her by a powerful 95 year old Yakuza king whose stoic, deeply serious lieutenant assists in continuing the success of a underground establishment, known as The Coliseum, where they service a secret society of the most wealthy and elite with sex & torture shows. Sugimoto portrays a popular tango dancer, Shizuko Tôyama, whose weak, alcoholic husband, a president of a business going under, has sold her to the elderly Yakuza boss to pay off serious debts. Her husband regrets this decision and plans to bring her home, but discovers that Shizuko seems to be enjoying the depraved and violently sexual conduct performed in front of a costumed crowd. The film before Shizuko is kidnapped, displays how her marriage is quietly dying and that she has been having recurring S&M fantasies. So, in a dark sense of irony, what she had often dreamed is coming true. Her kickboxing female bodyguard, Kyôko Nojima(Misaki), is also kidnapped and sexually molested and mistreated. While the old man and his lieutenant look on from a room through a wide screen at the shows presented for their "entertainment", Shizuko is put through a rigorous and highly exhausting series of "performances", her life in possible danger if she doesn't cooperate. Any attempts to escape seem futile. The ending opens a possibility that the torture shows and those behind them may not be what they seem.
The film seems built to shock, but is incredibly well made and probably the most artistic representation of S&M mistreatment ever made. Or, one of the best. While Ishii doesn't exactly wallow in the fine details, there's enough indecency and deviant behavior to satisfy the kind of crowd yearning for so. The acting by the cast, especially from Sugimoto who is superb, is quite good. But, prepare for a lot of startlingly unpleasant sequences involving Shizuko, including a disturbing "reinactment" of Christ's crucifixion between two thieves, and our heroine's decision to make love with the very old Yakuza sleaze bag who uses his tongue to caress throughout her rope-bound body. A definite signature of torture in this film is how Shizuko, and Nojima, are often bound tightly to wood by rope...you can actually hear the sound and see the expressions of pain which really sell these scenes which are certain to make a few wary viewers squirm. There is a LOT of nudity, and Sugimoto often is featured naked, her fantastic physique put to the test often. It takes a committed performer to put herself through what this role demands.
The film seems built to shock, but is incredibly well made and probably the most artistic representation of S&M mistreatment ever made. Or, one of the best. While Ishii doesn't exactly wallow in the fine details, there's enough indecency and deviant behavior to satisfy the kind of crowd yearning for so. The acting by the cast, especially from Sugimoto who is superb, is quite good. But, prepare for a lot of startlingly unpleasant sequences involving Shizuko, including a disturbing "reinactment" of Christ's crucifixion between two thieves, and our heroine's decision to make love with the very old Yakuza sleaze bag who uses his tongue to caress throughout her rope-bound body. A definite signature of torture in this film is how Shizuko, and Nojima, are often bound tightly to wood by rope...you can actually hear the sound and see the expressions of pain which really sell these scenes which are certain to make a few wary viewers squirm. There is a LOT of nudity, and Sugimoto often is featured naked, her fantastic physique put to the test often. It takes a committed performer to put herself through what this role demands.