TOKYO DECADENCE

(A.k.a. TOPAZU)

We first meet demure young hooker Ai (Miho Nikaido) virtually naked and tied to a chair, as a client injects her with a disabling drug and prepares to seriously abuse her while singing to himself.

Ai, we quickly learn, is a prostitute who seems to almost unwittingly cater for the needs of those with a sado-masochistic bent.

At one with nature in her free time, enjoying the solitude of either sitting alone in an empty coffee shop or savouring the tranquillity of resting in a quiet park, Ai is clearly desperately unhappy with her lifestyle – but something compels her to continue.

For a time, it’s difficult to say what it may be – such is Ai’s insular mentality. A woman of few words and fewer facial expressions, she gives precious little away about what may be troubling her ... or of the impact the vile people she lets abuse her may be having on her.

However, thanks to snippets of guarded conversations and moments of Ai prizing a discarded wedding ring it gradually transpires that she has a former lover who she wishes both to forget and someday meet again.

In the meantime, of course, she continues to perform demeaning acts for money at the hands of sadistic perverts and yakuza henchmen alike.

One likes to plaster her hair back in gel before having her perform kinky acts in leather for him. He’s quite open about the fact that she will be humiliated by his requests. "You’re aching for a good fuck" he tells her, presumably knowing something about her that she doesn’t. Anyhow, this suggestion gets her to writhe semi-naked at the huge windows of his penthouse suite and open her arse to him while proving that he’s made her wet.

The degradation continues through a couple more episodes with similarly afflicted clients, Ai remaining largely silent as she witnesses this late-night world of drugs and taboo sex without comment or reaction.

But then, following one particular evening with a curious fellow who loves the humiliation to be aimed at him, she meets Saki (Sayoko Amano) – another high class whore who invites Ai to her luxury apartment for a taste of the good life. As the night progresses, Saki gets more and more fucked up on hard drugs – with Ai partaking to a small extent – and the scene is set for our anti-heroine to finally make an effort to track down the love she once lost and put an end to this punishment she seems to have doled out on herself in the meantime.

But, can she overcome the trials she’s been through – and stay clean long enough to reclaim the man from her past?

TOKYO DECADENCE is slow going and filled with pregnant silences. If you’re in the right mood you’ll get the vibe straight away and be enthralled by its very deliberate style, the typically Asian meshing of softcore perversions with immaculate lighting and framing, and the awkward tone that suggests none of the borderline graphic sex scenes in this film are erotic.

If not, you’ll most likely dismiss this as tedious shite.

Performances are good, camerawork is imaginative and lighting works with the editing to create some seriously arty compositions in the most immoral of situations. Which is never a bad thing, of course.

But the film as a whole never rises above the merely ‘interesting’. It’s a diversion, not a pleasure – and a fleeting one at that. Nikaido is alluring but isn’t given the scope by director Ryu Murakami to evoke sympathy. And each set-piece scene is so cold, so staged that they can’t help at times but comes across as flat renditions of stage drama.

All told, TOKYO DECADENCE is no doubt a well-made film – a tad Argentoesque visually at times - with best intentions at heart, but it drags on and on and doesn’t end up saying much about the human condition at all. However, moments of it are kinky, and it’s certainly stylish – so don’t write it off.

Part of Arrow’s new budget priced Arrowdrome series, TOKYO DECADENCE is presented uncut (American version: 112 minutes) in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1. The transfer is enhanced for 16x9 television sets. Colours are somewhat muted and there is a dark, blueish taint to proceedings at times. But this is in line with all previous renderings of this film: I doubt it’s ever going to look great, and as a result this transfer feels adequate. Images are soft and sometimes quite blurred. With minor print damage and some ghosting issues also worthy of mention, this isn’t a great presentation. But, in Arrow’s defence, this film has never looked good.

Japanese 2.0 audio suffices throughout. Optional English subtitles are provided, and are easily readable if occasionally prone to errors.

A static dayglo main menu page leads into a static scene-selection menu allowing access to TOKYO DECADENCE via 12 chapters.

The only extras provided are trailers for BATTLE ROYALE, THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY, DEEP RED, THE CHEERLEADERS and OBSESSION. These come with the option of either watching them individually or as a whole via the "Play All" function.

The disc is defaulted to open with the now-customary Arrow showcase of gory clips from films in their roster such as STREET TRASH, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD, MARTIN etc. It remains stirring stuff.

A weird piece of non-erotica from 1992, I find it odd that TOKYO DECADENCE should become part of the new Arrowdrome series. Nevertheless, it’s a decent if flawed film that explores Japanese excesses in the 1990s, in a cold and detached style. It’s not great, but is worth a watch.

Review by Stuart Willis