In 2008, a film called Departures won the Academy Award for Best Foreign Film. It was a long time coming for director Yojiro Takita, who got his start in the pink films we know and love.
“Yes, my career as a director did start out in pink films,” Mr. Takita said in an interview with New York Times. It’s a background he shares with well-known Japanese filmmakers like Kiyoshi Kurosawa (“Tokyo Sonata”) and Masayuki Suo (“Shall We Dance”). “But frankly,” he added, “at my age I look back, and pink films, regular films, to me they’re all part of the movies that I made. And they all express the joy I feel in the privilege I have of making all the decisions that create a world called a movie."
In Darkroom Fantasies, Noriko is a hard working but lonely journalist who works at a news magazine. As the film opens, Noriko leads her colleague, a photographer named Kajii, to a brutal crime scene in which a woman has been stabbed to death. His photographs along with her reporting have given new life to the magazine, and they continue to follow the crimes as they happen. Kajii attempts to contact a younger photographer, Shun, who was known to be in the area around the time of the first murder. Shun's involvement in the series of murders becomes more and more likely as they desperately search for the truth.
Darkroom Fantasies may not be quite Oscar worthy, but it is still an artistic film. Takita constructs a contrasting environment of light and dark, which reflects the world in which the photographer lives. Noriko, Kajii and Shun all take turns showing only parts of themselves before retreating back into the shadows, hiding their true desires and secrets. Noriko, for example, loves working with her colleagues and covering impactful stories, but she spends her nights alone, with only herself to make her happy (in more ways than one). Kajii is also hardened and serious, and spends all this time shooting and thinking about shooting (while he's not banging his lady friend). Shun may be the most mysterious of them all, and well we're not quite sure what he wants, besides creeping on women with his telescope. He does get laid at the end of the film. Sort of.
Right now Pink Eiga TV subscribers can watch Darkroom Fantasies. The film will be available to everyone to stream or download two weeks from today, September 2nd. You can watch the trailer below, and learn more about Yojiro Takita in this article!
Some resources to help you choose which Pink film to watch next! Here are some excerpts from some of our favorite reviews!
Prison Girl (2008)
"It’s not long into Prison Girl that things actually get quite unsettling, sudden images flash onscreen of Asami being drenched in blood while laughing manically, juxtaposed with seemingly serene scenes of her preparing dinner for her husband. She begins to see a therapist to try and get to the bottom of why she’s having the dreams, but instead of helping they only seem to get more vivid – characters from her every day world also begin to appear in her dreams, and most disturbing is the discovery that she’s imprisoned for killing her husband. As she begins to question her sanity, at the same time we as the viewer are also asked to do the same – is she a bored housewife longing for some sexual excitement, or is she a murderer in prison daydreaming of having a normal life again?" -Paul Bramhall, City on Fire
"Milk The Maid is the feel good pink film of the year! It pretty much plays entirely as a sex comedy but works some warm and fuzzy bits into the end that ought to leave a smile on your face. Goofy? Oh yeah, and then some, but the sexploitative aspect of the picture delivers and the whole thing is so ridiculous that it’s hard not to have a good time with this one." - Ian Jane, Rock Shock Pop
"Forget “50 Shades of Grey.” Say hello to “Educating Yuna!” True S&M fans will love this film that tightens the ropes around the scared body, that cums without mercy, that brings masochistic pleasure to the forefront, and shows men and women alike can shed their shame and live an exotic lifestyle. A bondage professional was brought in as an advisor for the extremely intricate shibari rope bondage scenes which director Yutaka Ikemjima, aka Mr. Pink, well crafts into the film. Ikemjima turned innocence into perversion in a matter of a few frames." - It'sBlogginEvil.com
"While featuring pretty offbeat material for an erotic film (unless you have pretty odd kinks) Goto's most acclaimed work does amply demonstrate the utter originality and quirkiness that can and indeed does exist in Japan's pink film industry." - Dean Bowman, Midnight Eye
"THE JAPANESE WIFE NEXT DOOR PART 2 is based on one of the more clever premises for a sequel that I’ve come across. Those of you who saw PART 1 will remember that our nebbish protagonist Takashi found himself in the enviable and unlikely position of having to choose between two beautiful women, Sakura and Ryoko. He chose Sakura, and her nymphomania soon spread to the other members of Takashi’s family, much to his chagrin. Believing that he had made the wrong choice, Takashi imagined that his life would have been much easier with Ryoko. PART 2 takes us back to the moment of that pivotal decision and follows Takashi’s life had he married Ryoko instead." - David Carter, ShockingImages.com
In Darkroom Fantasies, Noriko is a hard working but lonely journalist who works at a news magazine. As the film opens, Noriko leads her colleague, a photographer named Kajii, to a brutal crime scene in which a woman has been stabbed to death. His photographs along with her reporting have given new life to the magazine, and they continue to follow the crimes as they happen. Kajii attempts to contact a younger photographer, Shun, who was known to be in the area around the time of the first murder. Shun's involvement in the series of murders becomes more and more likely as they desperately search for the truth.
