(1979/JAPAN)
REVIEWED BY-STEVE GENIER DIRECTED BY-SONE CHUSEI CAST- YUUKI MIZUHARA, KEIZO KANIE, JUN AKI, KENJI KAWANISHI, RYOICHI KUSANAGI and MINAKO MIZUSHIMA.
This the second installment of the famed Japan’s series ANGEL GUTS once again takes us into the dark heart of extreme realism of rape and brutality. Directed by Sone Chusei who also directed the first installment HIGHSCHOOL CO-ED. Though for the most part the two films are quite different, though share a very story and well developed storyline. The characters are explained in great detail as they begin to unfold. From the opening scene of the viewing of a old pornographic "blue film", where a school girl is gang raped by three male students in a school class room. Drenched in the sadness of blue gels and stark reality, one of the viewers, Muraki is taken by the girl’s looks and wants to pursue her further. He himself the publisher of dirty magazines. Though taking time to find, he eventually stumbles upon her a few years later as she has matured into an adult.
To his surprise though he finds that she is mentally destroyed by what actually happened in the "blue film" which turns out to be a real event in her life and not just an act. She has become consumed with her the shame she had gone through to the point of no turning back, there is no life beyond the dirtiness she now drowns in. Still Muraki wait to take her away, but first they must meet once again under better terms. They set up another meeting for the next day. When the time comes for the meeting, the police arrive at Muraki’s office and arrest him for child pron, something he swears he is innocent of. This interferes with his meeting with Nami until three years after. Muraki is now unhappily married, out with some co-workers getting drunk. He leaves and stumbles home, only to be side tracked by a club. He goes in and right away notices that the girl at the bar is Nami. Thus, this isn’t a friendly encounter as she has moved on, but not for the better, but for the worst.
It’s incredible how something so rare and has so little exposure here in North America can be both so effective and ring so true to our own culture. Yet there is a massive amount of differences between our views. RED CLASSROOM exploits Japan’s pinku genre, pinku meaning low-budget porno of women being raped, degraded and in some cases brutally tortured. These films w ere the bread and butter of the Japanese film industry for many years simply because of how cheap they were to make, in a time where Japan’s economy and film industry were hurting and in need of a major boost. Though RED CLASSROOM isn’t a pinku film, it however gives the viewer a hint of what does go on in some of these films., hence the exploit.
There is your fare share of nudity and brutality, it is done with a sense of style. One would say, can something of this nature be done with style, not really, but still it’s done with taste. That taste being a very effective script, one that is very mature in nature and really has the viewer enthralled with the whole picture. This is only capped by some very strong performances as well, especially from the two main cast, Yuuki Mizuhara (Nami) and Keizo Kaine (Muraki). Both seem to extend everything they have, given the nature of the roles. RED CLASSROOM is certainly a very worthy full up to HIGHSCHOOL CO-ED, actually I would classify it as more of a successor.
The disc includes two separate interviews with Takashi Ishii, the series creator and writer. In the first interview he discusses the ANGEL GUTS series as a whole and it’s production studio Nikkatsu. In the second interview he discuss about RED CLASSROOM’S director Sone Chusei and his methods in directing. The film is once again supplied with a very in-depth and very interesting commentary provided by Jasper Sharpe. The usual bios and filmographies, along with trailers round out the rest of the disc.
STORY- 4 BITCH SLAPS
