Pink Ribbon

DIR: Fujii Kenjiro | PROD: Asai Takashi | Japan | 2004 | 118 min
In Japanese with English Subtitles.

SHOWTIMES:
Mon. Sept. 27 | 8:45pm | Granville 7 Cinema, Theatre 5
Tues. Sept 28 | 3:00pm | Pacific Cinematheque

I recall reading that Japan produces more adult videos per capita than any other nation. And yet, its predecessor, the pink movie, is a waning medium. Even in Japan, the art form is kept alive only by an esoteric and stalwart subculture of afficionados, most of whom are from an aging generation out of their prime.

Before the screening of Pink Ribbon, the director Fujii Kenjiro emphasized the demarcation between "pink movies" and "porn". In Western terms, think of the pink movie as softcore. The sex is simulated, though realistic, and driven by storyline (with dialogue every bit as cheesy as its Western counterpart). Another distinctive quality: the pink movie is made for the silver screen. For the audience, it is an experience that is at once both private and communal. Today, younger audiences overlook the pink movie in favour of reality-based, straight-to-DVD, porn — a fact lamented by many of the interviewees probed in the documentary.

Part cultural studies and part film history, this documentary is exhaustively researched and produced (a.k.a. 30 minutes longer than what would’ve been ideal). Nonetheless, it is a seminal film that captures the rich history of the genre and raises an array of issues, any of which could be turned into documentary on its own. For example, interviews with industry veterans like Kurosawa Kiyoshi explain how many legendary Japanese directors got their start in commercial films through pink movies. Meanwhile, an interview with a former pink movie starlet turned director provides an unspoken feminist reading to the genre. Between giving a behind-the-scenes look at the production of a pink movie and exploring the social psychology behind the rape motif, this documentary successfully chronicles a bygone paradigm of Japanese sexuality.

Reviewed by Jason Lee