Tears of Ecstasy
Entry updated 2 September 2024. Tagged: Film.
Japanese film (1995). Original title Ekusutashi no namida: Chiin. KKokuei (Tokyo). Directed by Hiroyuki Oki. Written by Hiroyuki Oki and Kiyomi Ito. Cast includes Hiromi Fujita, Hiroyuki Oki, Akiko Osugi and Tomoki Taguchi. 62 minutes. Colour.
A singular figure in contemporary art, Oki (1964- ) is a highly regarded artist and architect, as well as a documentary filmmaker, and director of mostly gay themed low budget experimental erotic films. Of these, Tears of Ecstasy received some attention in critical circles, partly due to its conceptual rigour, partly due to the striking score by renowned avant-gardist John Zorn. It is a film very difficult to synopsize or describe. An eccentric (to say the least) family living in northern Japan may or may not be Aliens, or have perhaps travelled from another time (see Time Travel), or possibly neither of those things. The parents (Fujita and Oki) seem no older than their children, and one or both may well be gay. The daughter (Osugi) is sleeping with the next door neighbour, telling him she cannot get pregnant because she is from a different planet, while the son (Taguchi) masturbates outside as he believes this will enable him to see UFOs. There are also various masked figures performing strange rituals, a naked woman walking around with a banana in her mouth, and a lot of defecation, which apparently also enables the characters to see Spaceships. Ultimately the mother announces she is pregnant, and the family decide to return to space to raise the child.
This Absurdist film is as far from traditional Japanese pinku (erotic) cinema as can be imagined, even though most scenes involve various sex acts. Each scene is a single take, most of them exactly a minute long, in beautifully composed shots that distance the audience from any emotional or erotic affect. It apparently played briefly in adult cinemas in Japan, presumably to the bafflement of audiences. [CWa]
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