Fascination: Portrait of a Lady

Fascination: Portrait of a Lady (幻想夫人絵図, Gensō fujin ezu) is a 1977 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's Roman porno series, directed by Kōyū Ohara and starring Naomi Tani. Known for an ability to direct well in many genres, it was the pop-art-influenced Ohara's first true S&M film.

Fascination: Portrait of a Lady
Theatrical poster for Fascination: Portrait of a Lady (1977)
Caption: "The fair skin of a modest woman. Coyness and pain gradually open the flower of pleasure!"[1]
Directed byKōyū Ohara[2]
Produced byYoshiki Yūki
Written byOniroku Dan
Seiji Matsuoka
StarringNaomi Tani
Yuko Asuka
Minoru Ōkochi
Music byCosmos Factory
CinematographyShōhei Andō
Edited byAtsushi Nabeshima
Distributed byNikkatsu
Release date
October 1, 1977
Running time
66 min (1.10 h)
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Synopsis

Hisako Ōuchi (Naomi Tani) is the sexually-frustrated wife of the older art academy Professor Ōuchi (Minoru Ōkochi). Ōuchi is a repressed conservative who disdains modern art, and expels Kazuo Kobayashi (Tachiki Bessho), a student who specializes in SM painting. Hisako becomes obsessed with the expelled student, and has an affair with him. Kazuo and Hisako retire to a cabin in the countryside where they indulge in SM activities.[3][4]

Cast
  • Naomi Tani as Hisako Ōuchi[5]
  • Minoru Ōkochi as Professor Ōuchi
  • Tachiki Bessho as Kazuo Kobayashi
  • Yūko Asuka as Akemi
  • Eisuke Izumi as Shimoda

Background

Director Kōyū Ohara had directed films at Nikkatsu in various genres, in his experimental, pop-art influenced style, earning him the nickname "King of Pop Art Porn".[6] Though he had included some SM themes in earlier films, Fascination: Portrait of a Lady was his first true SM film.[3] The script was written by Naomi Tani's frequent collaborator, the noted SM-author Oniroku Dan.[4]

Of his intent in the film, Ohara said, "It represents Japanese stylistic elegance. Needless to say, Naomi Tani's beauty is an integral part of the film, but I totally devoted myself to capturing Dan's luxurious S&M world through art... by placing small art objects throughout the film."[7]

Critical appraisal

In his article "The Films of Koyu Ohara", Graham Lewis notes that Naomi Tani gives a typically excellent performance in the film. He writes that the scene in which Tani proudly displays her new rope tattoo is "both heartbreaking and liberating". "Just with her eyes", Lewis writes, "she conveys all the sadness/excitement and horror/delight of a woman caught in an emotional and sexual whirlwind.[3] Of director Ohara's work, Lewis comments, "Overall, the film looks great. The lighting, widescreen compositions, and editing are all pretension free, but artistic nonetheless. With this first SM film, Ohara had already revealed himself to be a master filmmaker as well as a master pervert."[8]

In their Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films, the Weissers write, "This movie still enjoys all the Ohara idiosyncrasies, solidifying his reputation as the king of pink pop-art."[4]

Availability

Fascination: Portrait of a Lady was re-released on DVD in Japan on March 21, 2007, as part of Geneon's seventh wave of Nikkatsu Roman porno series.[9]

Bibliography

English
  • Gensō fujin ezu (1977) at IMDb
  • "Gensō fujin ezu". Complete Index to World Film. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  • Lewis, Graham R. "The Films of Koyu Ohara" in Asian Cult Cinema, #27 (2nd quarter 2000), p. 24–29.
  • Sharp, Jasper (2008). Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema. Guildford: FAB Press. ISBN 978-1-903254-54-7.
  • Weisser, Thomas; Yuko Mihara Weisser (1998). Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films. Miami: Vital Books : Asian Cult Cinema Publications. ISBN 1-889288-52-7.

Japanese

Notes
  1. Stevens, Chuck; Tetsuya Masuda; Kairakutei Black (2002). "PINK". Japanese Movie Posters. Tokyo: DH Publishing. p. 57. ISBN 0-9723124-5-5.
  2. Infobox data from "幻想夫人絵図". Japanese Cinema Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  3. Lewis, Graham R. "The Films of Koyu Ohara" in Asian Cult Cinema, #27 (2nd quarter 2000), p. 24–25.
  4. Weisser, Thomas; Yuko Mihara Weisser (1998). "FASCINATION: PORTRAIT OF A LADY (1977)". Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films. Miami: Vital Books : Asian Cult Cinema Publications. p. 137. ISBN 1-889288-52-7.
  5. 幻想夫人絵図(邦画) (in Japanese). Kinema Junpo. Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
  6. Weisser, p. 182.
  7. Ohara, Kōyū. Interviewed by Maki Hamamoto. (2000). "Koyu Ohara Speaks Out!" Asian Cult Cinema, #27 (2nd quarter, 2000), p. 37.
  8. Lewis p. 25.
  9. ジェネオン エンタテインメントよりＤＶＤリリース (in Japanese). P.G. Web Site. Archived from the original on 2012-08-05. Retrieved 2011-09-27.
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