AKA-TENSHI NO HARAWATA:AKAI MEMAI
(1988/JAPAN)
REVIEWED BY-STEVE GENIER DIRECTED BY- TAKASHI ISHII CAST- MAYAKO KATSURAGI, NAOTO TAKENAKA, HIROFUMI KOBAYASHI, JUN IZUMI, KAZUYO EZAKI and AKIRA OTAKA.
After being raped by a couple of patients at the hospital she works at, Nami leave early to go home. Once arriving she discovers that her boyfriend is not only photographing another women, but he is sleeping with her as well. In disbelief she flees in confusion only to be hit by a car. Muraki, a stock seller/buyer who has gambled himself too deep. His wife leaves him and there are people hounding him for their owing monies. In a constant threat of being watched, he slips out and drives off. Being in a state of confusion himself and not paying attention to the road he hits someone, that someone being Nami. Thinking that he has killed her, his situation goes from being terrible to being even worse. To his surprise, Nami comes through, but he is so elated that he begins to force his self on her until a certain point then she resists him. Her resistance of him lasts for awhile until through conversation she becomes somewhat comfortable with him. Seeing that he too was in a similar situation, that of loneliness and seeking a way out. Something that she can related too and finds a certain comfort in. That comfort leads them into a fiery of love making and a rebirth of sorts that has an equally as stunning ending.
The final installment into the Artsmagic ANGEL GUTS box-set has given me a dilemma, as noted earlier during my review of the third installment NAMI, I’m quoted as saying that that was the strongest entry in the series. Well, I just might be second guessing myself on that one, as after watching Takashi Ishii’s RED VERTIGO I’m in a tough position as to who gets that claim in my opinion. Noboru Tanaka’s direction during NAMI was very stylish and hard edged, Ishii’s direction in RED VERTIGO is equally as stylish though not quite as hard edged. Though he makes up with that his use of symbolisms. Steep in unfolding many of the film’s scenes and situations with symbolisms and expressionalistic manners. Creating moods with lighting, sounds and most of all body language. Something that is very evident transferred from his manga designing expertise.
One scene in particular that really stands out is near the end when Muraki is shot and killed, the camera becomes a point of view of his spirit living his physical body and shoring in search of Nami. This scene is quite eerie but at the same time generates a certain mood the is enlightening. Ishii describes during the discs interview that in the original manga, there are candle lights along the roadside, an almost guide for Muraki’s spirit to follow. Of course due to budget restraints, this was not in the books. Another major element that changes with RED VERTIGO is the intensity level of the rape scenes in comparison to HIGH SCHOOL CO-ED, RED CLASSROOM and even NAMI. Though they are there and they are very effective in conveying a strong enough message, but their down with a more stylish route then a raw edgy way like the others. This doesn’t take away from RED VERTIGO by no means, it just gives the series a different feel and elevates it’s boundaries in which it covers.
Ishii also takes his methods and utilizes it with the actors just as effective as well. Especially in the scenes where Mayako Katsuragi (Nami) and Naoto Takenaka have become more comfortable with each other, they rent a hotel room and explore every possible sexual movement possible. The body language throughout these scenes are both very steamy and mastered all in one. There are many actors who would find these types of scene very tough if not impossible to do, outside the porno scene. Damn the Japanese sensors as well with the softening of the pixels during these scenes. He was also able to show both the main character’s isolationism as each one deal with their inherited problems and more. Out of this loneliness comes a renewed sense belonging.
This disc like the others displays a very in-depth in with director Takashi Ishii who discusses RED VERTIGO in great detail. From it’s birth in his manga, to how the character of Nami was influenced by his wife who sadly died of cancer a few years ago. It runs for about 33 minutes and displays a very energetic Ishii who still looks quite youthful and ready to jump back into his work. Also you are treated to Jasper Sharpe’s highly knowledgeable commentary about RED VERTIGO and it cast and crew.
STORY-4.5 BITCH SLAPS
