Home | Movies By Year | Movies from 1972
Ichijo's Wet Lust
Buy Ichijo's Wet Lust now from AmazonFirst, read the Wikipedia article. Then, scroll down to see what other TopShelfReviews readers thought about the movie. And once you've experienced the movie, tell everyone what you thought about it.
Wikipedia article
'aka' 'Ichijo's Wet Desire', 'Drenched Passion', 'Sayuri Ichijo: Moist Desire', 'Following Desire' 'and' 'Sayuri Ichij: Wet Lust' is a 1972 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's 'Roman porno' series, directed by Tatsumi Kumashiro and starring the famous stripper Sayuri Ichij as herself, and co-starring Kazuko Shirakawa and Hiroko Isayama. Considered one of the best films in the series, in 1999 Japanese critics voted it one of the 100 best Japanese films of the 20th century.
Synopsis
Famous real-life stripper Sayuri Ichij appears as herself in this fictional account of her daily life. The story involves Ichij's relationships with two men: Her boyfriend, and the strip-club owner. Ichij considers her work in striptease to be an art-form and pushes the boundaries of legality. Harumi, a younger stripper determined to outdo Ichij, contributes to the ever-increasing extremity of the strip acts, which result in continuous problems with the police, and numerous arrests.Mosk. "Ichijo Sayuri: Nureta Yokujo". 'Variety' (0042-2738), 16 January 1974, p.40.
Cast
* Sayuri Ichij: Herself
* Hiroko Isayama: Harumi
* Kazuko Shirakawa: Mari
* Go Awazu: Daikichi
* Akira Takahashi: Isamu
* Tamaki Komayama: Jir
* Tetsusen Nakahira: Drunk
* Shichi Ozawa: Ramen shop owner
* Moeko Ezawa: Police woman
* Kafusu Nakada: Barker
* Botan Nakada: Barker
Critical reception
'Ichijo's Wet Lust' was a huge box-office hit on its first release.Johnson, p. 2. It was also popular with critics. The mainstream Kinema Jumpo gave Tatsumi Kumashiro awards for Best Director and Best Screenplay for the year. Kinema Jumpo also gave Hiroko Isayama, who played Ichij's young stripper rival, the award for Best Actress.Johnson, p. 8, n. 13. Critics continue to hold the film in high esteem, and in 1999 the mainstream cinema journal 'Kinema Jumpo' voted 'Ichijo's Wet Lust' one of the 100 best Japanese films of the 20th century.
Lead actress Sayuri Ichij has been singled out for praise for her performance in this film. A contemporary 'Variety' review wrote that Ichij, "has grit, good-natured rebelliousness and a comic verve that raise the pic into a comedic drama that transcends its type and milieu for some regular as well as grind chances abroad..." Allmovie writes of lead actress Ichij, "Her brilliant and humorous performance, and her dedication to stripping... lift this picture out of the mainstream." In their 'Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films', the Weissers give the film three and a half out of four points, and write that Ichij "delivers another delightful performance here, especially in the highly erotic striptease numbers which include generous portions of candle-wax S&M, bondage and perverse sexuality ...but no pubic hair."Weisser, p. 205.
Style and themes
'Ichijo's Wet Lust' was director Tatsumi Kumashiro's second 'Roman Porno' film. In depicting the life of a sex industry worker, the film fits into one of Kumashiro's recurring subjects, foreshadowed in his early, unsuccessful film 'Front Row Life' (1968). Kumashiro's 'Wet Lust: Twenty One Strippers' (1974) was an unofficial sequel to 'Ichijo's Wet Lust', and was even more successful than its predecessor.Sharp, p. 139.Weisser, p. 204. A later Kumashiro film with a real stripper playing herself in the title role is 'Madoka Mika: The Woman Who Wets Her Finger' (1984).Sharp, p. 27-28.
Sayuri Ichij had become notorious in 1970 for creating the 'tokudashi' or "open stage" form of striptease. Ichij involved the audience in her act by passing out a magnifying glass, with which selected members of the audience were allowed to perform a "genital inspection" on the dancer. Much of Ichij's act is portrayed in the film, such as an elaborate strip routine in which she sheds a kimono with the use of a samurai sword. Other routines simulate lesbian masturbation, and show the stripper dripping hot wax on herself, and, afterward, soothing her skin with lemon.Sharp, p. 28.Johnson, p. 4. Because of the censorship of Japanese pornography, Ichij's most famous routinethe "genital inspection" could not be shown in the film. According to 'Film Quarterly', Kumashiro instead "conjures up the physicality of the vagina" in a scene in which Harumi, the stripping competitor, raises one leg and sprays milk onto the face of a mesmerized member of the audience.Johnson, pp. 5-6.
Kumashiro's long battles against censorship are also part of the framework of the film. The women in the film are the objects of police attention, while the men who make a living off them and are entertained by them are left alone. 'Film Quarterly' writes that Kumashiro portrays this situation, "without any hypocritical moralizing."Johnson, p. 5. Ichij's troubles with the law are shown both in her arrests within the narrative of the film, and in a caption which informs the audience that Ichij was under prosecution for obscenity during the filming. 'Film Quarterly' notes that Ichij's and Harumi's 'tokudashi' performances, as presented in the film, can be seen by U.S. audiences as demeaning to women. It is pointed out that the actual Ichij fought for the right to do these performances as a form of freedom of expression. In the context of the film, Harumi's final 'tokudashi' performance, in which she ejaculates on the face of the audience member, is seen as a form of triumph.
Availability
'Ichijo's Wet Lust' was released on home video in VHS format on December 12, 1988, and on DVD on July 27, 2001.
It was re-released on DVD on December 22, 2006, as part of Geneon's sixth wave of Nikkatsu 'Roman porno' series. On March 23, 2010, Kino International released three Tatsumi Kumashiro films on DVD in the U.S. Along with 'Twisted Path of Love' (1972) and 'Yakuza Goddess: Lust and Honor' (1973), they released 'Ichijo's Wet Lust' under the title 'Sayuri Ichijo: Following Desire'.
References
Notes
Bibliography
;English*
*
*
*
;Japanese
*
*
*
*
*
Buy Ichijo's Wet Lust now from Amazon
<-- Return to movies from 1972