which reviews such long-forgotten gems as "Oriental Evil," "Tokyo File 212," and other films that are less then Oscar-quality as far as plot and acting are concerned, but are beautifully-filmed and offer a great view of Western attitudes towards Japan at the time. KTO has begun to screen some of these films. At the end of March [already gone], they will show the 1959 classic "The Manster, the story of a hard-drinking, womanizing Western reporter who comes to Tokyo on assignment and turns into a two-headed monster. Obviously, the director, George Breakston, wrote the screenplay in the FCCJ bar. The columnist, Matt Kaufman, claims to own nearly every bad English language film ever made on Japan, including my favorite, the early-1980s "Death Ride to Osaka."
Here's a video preview of "Death Ride to Osaka" (starring Jennifer Jason Leigh!) "Based on true events in the life of actor Tom Allard, whose girlfriend answered an advertisement for American singers to entertain in Japan and found herself trapped in a prostitution-slavery ring operated by the yakuza." Click on "Click Here to Watch Preview"
Some of Matt Kaufman's articles are up online
Ocha Cups for Christmas (2002)
Interview with director of "Cotton Candy"
The Lucy Desi Comedy Hour: The Ricardos Go To Japan (1959)
After One Cigarette (1999) and Domo Arigato (1972)
I particularly recommend the interview. Here's an excerpt:
There seems to be a worldwide fascination with Japanese schoolgirls, their uniforms and their sexual habits (especially on the Internet). What do you think are the reasons for this? What type of comments and questions about Japanese schoolgirls have you gotten from people who have seen the film?
I think in many ways there is a fascination with this as it offers an alternative depiction of female sexuality then the typical "bitch woman" of the west. If you look at images of western women in the media, the sexual woman looks like a bitch: tough, hard, confrontational. They stare at the camera like they are ready to attack. I can imagine that this is a rather intimidating idea for many men and the Japanese schoolgirl in the uniform offers the complete opposite: woman as girl, passive, cute, fun, innocent, non-threatening and playful. Any man who has issues of masculinity would be drawn to the image of a woman who can be dominated. I can see how it could be very attractive to a man to feel that he has something to give or teach a young girl who is on the verge of budding sexuality. It's very empowering. The irony lies if the fact that it's just all show. These girls know exactly what they are doing and are manipulating the "idea" of innocent schoolgirl for their own sense of power.
