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I've seen some bizarre films in my time, but the Japanese meta-comedy, R100 has to be one of the most bizarre. It opens with a young lady kicking the hell out of a man for no apparent reason in a restaurant. She leaves, but for some reason he goes after her and she turns around to beat him up some more and throws him down stairs. She then removes her clothes to reveal a highly skimpy leather fetish outfit underneath whilst the man looks up and his face disturbingly distorts into a manic grin with some atrocious Moviemaker ripple effects. That's when you realise that this film is going to be weird. However, it only gets weirder!

In a plot similar to David Fincher's The Game, R100 centres on the idea of a family man joining a club which promises euphoric pleasure by hiring attractive young women to beat the crap out of you at any random moment. The catch is that membership lasts a year and you can't cancel. You also can't touch or hurt any of the girls. That's the intriguing premise of this delightfully wacky film. Anyone expecting a clear narrative can leave now. The less you know the better, I knew virtually nothing about this film and came out feeling highly amused and bemused in equal measure.

Not everything in R100 does work. I found it a tad too sentimental at times with the relationship between the dad and son being rubbed in our faces. The whole wife in a coma thing was also over-played to get a heart-warming reaction from the audience. A lot of things in the first hour also start to feel a little repetitive with the same jokes being played again and again. However, things take an interesting turn when events turn darker by involving the innocent family. I also really liked the postmodern aspect by showing that this is just a film directed by a 100 year-old man who says that no one will understand the film unless they're 100, hence the film's title!

Things turn seriously koo-koo in the last 30 minutes and the film completely rips up the film school rulebook in an infectiously anarchic manner. All kinds of loopy ideas are thrown at the screen and we're left with a big puddle-like mess on the floor, however it's a mess that's hard to shake out your head. I'm not going to forget the dominatrix army marching to Beethoven for quite a while! It's surreal to say the least and lacks any kind of explanation, although I'm pretty sure that there is some kind of hidden political message in there somewhere. Trying to find it is high-on impossible though!

R100 won't be everyone's cup of tea. The best thing to do is to leave your brain outside the door and just go along for the big barmy ride! It turns out to be quite an ambitious little number, however not all of its ideas are effective or explored enough. One thing's for sure though, you won't forget it in a hurry! I for one would much rather see a film I'm going to remember the next day than some throwaway action film that will be forgotten in minutes. I admired R100 quite a bit.

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R100 is an exceptionally weird movie, but then I wouldn't expect anything else from Japanese cult cinema (and, truth be told, I'd be disappointed if I got otherwise!). The story sees a middle-aged businessman visiting a dominatrix bureau, where he signs a contract that will see him randomly beaten and abused by a succession of beautiful women over the course of a year.

The premise is as preposterous and nonsensical as it sounds, and yet it's mighty funny at the same time. Watching this poor guy walking down the street before being half kicked to death by a leather-clad lady is certainly memorable, and if the narrative seems repetitive then that's part of the intent. Still, the stakes are raised as the story progresses, leading to a half-mad climax full of cheesy action and attacks from a giant westerner. Warning: a strong stomach is needed for the lengthy spitting sequence.

The thing that has always bugged me with regards to films about sadomasochism pertains as to how those primarily interested in such things are depicted, that is to say as unbalanced; deranged and generally mentally ill. Filmmakers often see things such as sadomasochism, I think, as outsiders to the pursuit, and thus deem it detached from the mainstream, which in mainstream language means that it is strange and perverted. Away from this, S&M is often the butt of a joke; rendered a 'go to' event for cheap laughs and engaged in by cartoon characters as well as those out for cheap kicks by writers. This is no better evident than in 2004's Eurotrip. The fact is, I am yet to see a film which accurately puts across the sense that the people depicted have genuinely reached a decision to undertake this activity. The characters are often skittish or disturbed. This is in ways that those very much into pulling members of the opposite sex in a loud, rowdy bar for one night gratification never are.

R100 seems to fall somewhere smack bang in the middle of all this – it does nothing to deconstruct the head of an S&M enthusiast, yet resists the easily obtained own goals upon which a director can doom his work. In a sense, it has nothing to do with S&M – this is in spite of its promotional material and the fact after seeing it, critics could talk of nothing else BUT its S&M content. In actuality, the film is a well-meaning and ambitious piece which aims, although fails, to deliver the sort of controversial avant-garde punch a Gaspar Noé film might otherwise succeed in doing. Instead, it comes off as a blend of "Being John Malkovich" and "The Player" with bits and pieces of famous Japanese auteur Ozu thrown in for good measure. Nao Ōmori plays Katayama, a low level department store salesman with a routine existence in a standard Japanese suburban town which he shares with his young son and elderly father, who comes around to visit every so often. This is punctured by the fact his wife is dying in a coma and he is on the brink of losing his job, although this second pointer is not explored later on as much as the film has you think it might.

For reasons that remain unclear, indeed so hazy that we must question as to whether they even happen, Katayama visits an underground club known as "Bondage" (an English word in a Japanese film, no doubt designed to distort the viewing experience for native viewers) where a deal is forged whereby various dominatrices of varying ages and sizes, but all with unworldly abilities, will randomly visit him for flash-sessions. Thereafter, the women will appear and disappear; they will beat him up in the street with nobody batting an eyelid; they will be there, wherever he may be, waiting for a spot-session. Do the patrons of a sushi bar look on in disgust at the fact a dominatrix smashes up Katayama's food with her bare hands prior to him eating it? Or is it Katayama's own grotesque eating habits which infuriate them, and the woman isn't even there. I notice a heavy insistence for the film to have us focus on the pills the Bondage club owner has in his possession when first visited. Was he just a drug dealer the whole time?

But none of this really tells you all of it. There are several ideas and films going on here at once: the fourth-wall breaking narrative about the producers who don't like the veteran director doing what he wants in his final film (which, it seems, doubles up as the film WE'RE watching); the tale of a middle aged man losing his mind through what appears to be an ecstasy addition and a bog-standard kitchen sink drama about a man and his son soldiering on through domestic strife. Try to imagine Ozu's "Good Morning" propped up by "My Neighbour Totoro", as imaginary friends and blurred lines between escapism and realism take centre stage. In ways that do not entirely make sense, Katayama ends up falling afoul of this organisation, whose earlier eerie ability to see people on the other sides of doors without the aid of CCTV lives up to its promise as his family become wrapped up in a postmodern series of life threatening games.

Why it is that this organisation goes from operating out of a grotty, pokey headquarters in a dilapidated apartment blocks to being able to boast CEO's flying in on private jets from abroad, is never explained. Nor too is as to why this indomitable "Hostel"-like underground gang do not merely hit the switch on his wife's life support machine as she lies there defenceless in a hospital. As it wears on, deliberately I'm sure, the piece falls apart at the seams; becoming stranger and stranger although maintain the ability to make total sense.

The ultimate problem with the film lies with the fact it doesn't have enough of a leash on it. I like the idea of there never being any mistresses in the first place, and that the women are essentially a metaphor for how drug addiction at a time of domestic angst can lead on to very bad things: hallucinations and the neglect of one's loved ones. There is a scene with a police man about half way through, where he outlines nothing can be done for the fact adults beating on adults in controlled environments is something they must get on with. He compares the relationship between master and slave as being akin to pro-wrestler and pro-wrestler: when one hurts the other, they do not sue for assault. I looked up the actress who played the aforementioned CEO: the leanest, meanest dominatrix-cum-brothel running yuppy type in history. It turns out she has a wrestling credit to her name. Is there something wrapped up in that?

I have an extremely high tolerance for weird films and have seen many movies that the average person would never watch due to the oddness of the films. However, these weird pictures tend to fall into two categories: those which are weird but ultimately fun and those which are just weird and are not enjoyable in the least. In the former category, I'd put the films of Minoru Kawasaki. Such oddball films as "Rug Cop" (about a crime-fighting detective whose partner is a sentient wig) and "Executive Koala" (about a giant koala working in corporate Japan) are a hoot...as are a few of Takashi Miike's (such as "Happiness of the Katakuris" and "Zebraman" are a lot of fun). But then there are the odd films which are simply a chore to finish...such as a few of Miike's violent films ("Ichi the Killer"), David Lynch's "Eraserhead", Jodorowsky's "El Topo", and "R100" from Hitoshi Matsumoto. These latter films are just plain unpleasant and you wonder why they were made in the first place. And, finishing the film was NOT easy!

The film begins with a goofy premise but as the film progresses, it gets weirder and weirder...and totally confusing. A Japanese man has agreed to join a club for masochists. However, there is no nudity in the film and the club is odd in many ways. First, none of the activities take place in the club but in the real world. Second, once you join you cannot quit for the first year you are a member. Soon, leather-clad dominatrices come out of no where and begin abusing the heck out of the guy....smashing his food, beating him up in his company bathroom and even beating him on the street. There is no sexual element to it...just violent beatings. Later, when one of the women from this club dies, the hellish fury of the club is unleashed on the man and the ending is a long and violent confrontation....ending with an ending that will likely give you a headache!

To say I didn't enjoy watching the movie is an understatement.... I hated it. While the film didn't merit a 1 because it was competently made, the script is such that I cannot imagine many people enjoying it. Strange....just not good and strange is the best way to describe it.

Sometimes it's nice to watch a movie for its mere shock value. R100 is exactly one of those. On the other hand it never was able to transcend the provocative imagery and content like Fight Club or Luis Buñuel (with which the film was compared) did in their time. Director Hitoshi Matsumoto tells the tale of a masochistic man who experiences supernatural orgasms by being extremely humiliated. After a while reality and fiction begin to merge and the man starts to discover his sadistic side. Luckily this isn't a pretext to make a softcore SM movie, but it also doesn't surpass the level of a superficial b-production. The final twenty minutes are a bit too ridiculous for my taste (because they're so out of sync with the rest of the movie), that I can't say I've enjoyed R100 that much. Nevertheless it had some great moments because of the dark humor, meta-jokes and entertaining twists.

I'm a huge Matsumoto Hitoshi fan, mostly of his show Gaki No Tsukai and the annual Batusu "No Laughing" Show. I was excited to see that he also made some movies and immediately went to watch them

Big Man Japan was a really funny and odd take on the Kaiju movies like Godzilla and such. It was really creative and a funny take on the genre.

I then watched R100...and I was like what the hell...

It's about a guy who is bored with his life, who signs up for a service where women will randomly find you throughout your day and perform BDSM acts on you.

Obviously the dominatrix stuff is a bit weird to begin with, but that mixed with the rest of the boring narrative just doesn't work at all.

It's not really funny at all and it's just awkward to watch all of this stuff happening to him. The ending is kind of funny with the battle at the end, but the rest of it is just hard and awkward to watch.

I still like Matsumoto and his comedy, but besides Big Man Japan, his filmmaking outside of Gaki leaves much to be desired.

A businessman, raising a young son with the help of his father in law while his wife lies in a three year long coma, takes out a one year subscription to an S&M club. His life is soon complicated by dominatrices who abuse him unexpectedly, in restaurants, on the street, at his work. Just when you think "where exactly is this going?" things take a whole new turn into weird. By the time the film "climaxes" you'll either have left the audience long ago or be sitting with a wide grin on your face enjoying the spectacle. At a time when American cinema has descended into predictability, special effects, superheroes and remakes it's great to see a genuine imagination at play. It's not for everyone but, if you enjoy creativity, humour and going along for the ride then it's one hell of a ride. Recommended.

2/10 guy seems to be only interested in CGI, special effects and such. Must be a Gamer. Or Marvel Studios nut. Ever seen any Harryhausen? Amazing stuff with zero computer work. Did Orson Welles need those toys? Anyway, oddball movies in no discernible genre always draw me in. I see that more often in Asian films than US Corporate productions. This one did have some slow moments, but "slow moments" are not a bad thing! And some sly nonsense. Was there a moral, a wrapping up of loose ends? When did this become a necessity?

This movie was weird, even by Japanese standards.

I enjoy Asian cinema, and it is only rare that a movie turns out to be not worth really spending time on watching. And I must admit that "R100" turned out to be one such movie. I managed to get through two-thirds of the movie before I had to give up out of sheer boredom.

The storyline was unfathomably lacking appeal and anything interesting. It is about a man who join an exclusive club in which he is committed for one year, without the chance of breaking his contract during that time. The club, which is a gentleman's club, provides bondage services, and the dominatrix women start showing up at odd places, abusing the man.

And that was basically it. It was just one step away from being softcore pornography. Sure, there is an audience for this particular movie, but wow was I bored.

The above-mentioned storyline was just ridiculous and unappealing. As you sit there and watch the movie, you can't help but think "what is the purpose of this movie?".

The scene with the Queen of Saliva is without a doubt one of the most disturbing filmed sequences I have seen in a long, long time. Not that it was bizarre or horrific in any real sense, but the way that it was shot, the contents of the scene, and the use of repetitive shots, it just culminated in something really, really out of the ordinary.

"R100" is not one of the brightest moments in Japanese cinema history. I didn't even make it to the end of this movie, and I can honestly say that I will not attempt to give this movie a second chance and try to make it to the end. Watched, bagged and tagged...

A reticent, stiff and introverted office worker, Takafumi, joins a secret BDSM club. He is thrilled to discover that not only do the club's offerings include a wide variety of ways in which he is beaten and humiliated, the treatments are compulsory and unexpected as to time, place, manner and mistress. Everything and anything appears to be on the menu including public humiliation, pain, submission, spitting, bullying, personal insults, blindfolds, ropes and much more. When enforcers from the club invade his office, hangouts, and home, and make it clear that not even Takafumi's relatives are immune from abuse, he doesn't know whether to be scared or thrilled. In truth he seems to be both. When one of the club's mistresses is killed by accident while administering a beating, Takafumi invites the wrath of the gigantic, powerful and temperamental company CEO. This quirky, kinky, unconventional, offbeat and irreverent offering from one of Japan's most popular icons, is delightfully crude. While lacking in depth, the films is playful and fun to watch. Seen at the raucous midnight madness series of the 2013 Toronto International Film Festival.

Storyline is about some S&M females whose roles are to surprise, whenever and wherever, a sales clerk who has signed up for this experience at a bondage club. If you have ever seen a '50s scifi remastered film on the tele (they were really bad, mostly to inexperience, but also lack of CGI special effects) then that is what this film will look like. You keep waiting for the film's S&M females to morph into aliens and a couple sort of did with slightly differently shaped bodies towards the end. Cheap special effects include a film overlay of a pulsation emanating from the head of our salesman whenever he is being surprised and a case of grenades (why they are in the film was cheap, dumb and pointless) left behind by the females. Used, also with really cheap explosion effects, upon the S&M females as they seek to attack our poor salesman at his home. Not funny/comedic, unless you expand that definition to include every activity imaginable. No hidden deep message. I worry a little about Japanese culture with its male obsession with how females should convey themselves sexually, e.g. commonly found in animė.

The first hour was pretty good, but then it went crazy. I don't think the movie had to devolve to the point of utter lunacy. 7 for the first hour and 3 for the ending. That is B+ and D in my rating system.

This film made little sense. The last 30 minutes were excruciating when I just wanted to get to the end. It doesn't entertain, no laughs, little drama that's incomplete anyway & fails to offer any erotic entertainment. About halfway thru I lost any sympathy for the characters. With a nonsensical story and no one to care about it just was too bizarre to watch.

Anyone that enjoyed this film is too easily entertained.

You might not like this movie and as the movie itself states several times, that might be because you're too young for it ... Obviously that is meant to be a joke. And if you don't like the nature of the joke wait til you see the rest of it. It only gets weirder and is difficult to explain in a nutshell.

A man is responsible for things going crazy for him, because he hires someone for that exact purpose. You have to really get into the mood of the film to like it and to enjoy it. Something that cannot be said about the main character. On the other hand ... who knows what is really going on with him? You also get "breaks" from the movie, with some weird analysis that kind of stops the flow ... but on the other hand is a perfect fit, if you think about it.

If you like weird and not really predictable, you will love this. Otherwise stay clear

As in "Symbol" Matsumoto leaves you philosophically baffled after having finished the movie, and not in a David-Lynch-weird-just-for-the-sake kind of way. "R100" will stay with me for a long time challenging me to decode what the message really is. No matter what answer I will come up with it is rare to find these kind of movies, that offers the diametrical opposite of Hollywood movies that gives even the most ignorant person answers to all his questions.

I could give you a number of reasons why you should watch this movie, but if you, like me, is one of those people who doesn't necessarily need a linear plot in order to enjoy a movie, but rather evaluates quality by the directors capacity to surprise you, you will already want to see this movie - and you should.

Five minutes into R100, our main character is explaining to a tall woman in a trench coat what his favorite part of Beethoven's "Symphony No. 9," is. Mid-sentence, she stands up and delivers the man a roundhouse kick to the jaw. And from that moment on, the madness and manic energy of writer/director Hitoshi Matsumoto's (Symbol, Big Man Japan) latest film continues to pick up momentum, further spiraling outward into something truly unique and twisted. But let's compose ourselves and wind things back a bit.

R100 introduces us to department store salesman Takafumi Katayama, played with wide eyed longing by Nao Ohmori (Ichi the Killer). Katayama's wife has long been comatose and he takes care of their young son with help from the boy's grandfather on his mother's side. It's a loving family dynamic that exists in the shadow of the matriarch's impending death. Katayama visits his wife in the hospital daily, bringing her fresh flowers and making promises of the future, but he knows there isn't one. They all know.

And so, to help relieve the heartache and make him forget his woes, Katamaya joins a strange club known only as "Bondage." The rules of the club are simple: membership lasts one year in which various dominatrices will visit you at random and you must always be submissive and you may never cancel the contract during that year's span. As wonderful as all this sounds, things take a turn for the worse at the halfway point and Katamaya finds himself, as well as his family, in grave danger.

Matsumoto plants us into Katamaya's shoes for nearly the entire run of the film. We explore a Japan that is almost completely drained of color, save for the sickly jaundiced grays and yellows that cover everything. As dreary as that sounds, it makes for the perfect canvas for his parade of unique set pieces and characters to be introduced. We meet these otherworldly dominatrices (The Queen of Voices, The Saliva Queen, The GOBBLER!) one by one and the strangeness never feels alienating because Matsumoto's sense of humor is always present. It transcends any language and cultural barriers by just being outlandishly funny as well as consistently surprising. Without giving too much away, there exists a subplot that calls into question the film's very existence. It's funny and, again, surprising. You're always on your guard during R100, never knowing what will be the next logical step the people in this world take.

Building its foundation on the central ideas of David Fincher's The Game and Fight Club, R100 continues to string together ideas seen in western cinema, somehow resulting in a completely original piece of art. Roger Moore-era James Bond, Kill Bill and countless 70s kung-fu films make up the DNA of R100, but rather than coming off as derivative and lazy, it's clear that these nods are meant as a homage to the films that inspired a young, imaginative director to tell new and exciting stories. It's actually kind of sweet in its own deranged way.

This is a film you have to see to even begin to fully comprehend anything I can say about it. That said, it is also admittedly, "not for everyone." But if you have a passion for the bizarre and unexpected, this is certainly your movie. R100 manages to be shocking without insulting its audience's sensibilities. It's an exploitation film for the 21st century; a patchwork of ideas from every corner of western (and eastern) cinema made into a single, wonderfully told story of pleasure and grief. Also, there are dominatrices with guns.

This is one of the weirdest and most enjoyable movies I've seen in quite some time. I did watch it in installments, which may have been the result of its extremely unusual nature, I'm not sure. But persistence in watching and finishing the film really pays off. The film gets funnier and more absurd and creative as it progresses.

Would highly recommend it to those who like black comedies. Highly original and I can't think of another movie I've seen that is remotely similar. If you like stuff that's well off the beaten track - all the formulaic remakes, etc. - this one is definitely worth a try! One of a kind!