Pulp International - Noboru+Tanaka

Nov 3 2019

When the going gets tough the smart leave town.

You see what we mean about roman porno posters? How can we not share something this pretty? And if we share the poster we have to watch the movie, at least to have an idea what the art is about. And the movies? Well, they've been a years-long exploration into some deep dark places. Other people's, not ours. This poster was made to promote Pinku saron: Kôshoku gonin onna, aka Pink Salon: Five Lewd Women, which premiered in Japan today in 1978. You've noticed by now that many of these films were based on novels. It wasn't just cinema that was delving into challenging themes during the ’70s. But this, surprisingly, is based on a work of anthological fiction written by Saikaku Ihara in 1686, during Japan's Edo period.

Broadly speaking the plot deals with the struggles of five women—Kyôko Aoyama, Erina Miyai, Eiko Matsuda, Machiko Ohtani, and Miyako Yamaguchi—who work in Tokyo's strip clubs, or pink salons. Obviously, the stories in Ihara's source material have been moved forward three centuries to the grey, concrete Tokyo you see in so many Japanese films from the ’70s. These pink salon workers aren't satisfied with their lives, and what develops is a sort of counterculture road trip film, as they and a few male companions drive from Tokyo to Otoko in a graffiti covered microbus. Do they find a better place in the world? You'll have to watch the movie yourself. But you can be certain that, as in most cinema about misfit dreamers and restless outcasts, the odds are against them and the errors of the past are not far behind.

Pink Saron has sex but no fetish, and violence but little gore, so we wonder if the age of the source material has anything to do with that. Nikkatsu Studios usually pushed its roman porno movies beyond the far edge of good taste, but not this time, and it was rewarded for its restraint. Pink Saron won Noboru Tanaka a Japan Academy Film Prize for best director—the first time a roman porno film had been thus honored. Yes, this movie is something a little different. We'd like to say it's appropriate for those seeking an entry point into the genre, but it's so different from most it would only mislead you. And next thing you know you'll find yourself watching women chained up in dungeons. So consider this a stand alone film. A pretty good one.

Japan Pinku saron: Kôshoku gonin onna Pink Salon: Five Lewd Women Nikkatsu Japan Academy Film Prize Kyôko Aoyama Erina Miyai Eiko Matsuda Machiko Ohtani Miyako Yamaguchi Saikaku Ihara Noboru Tanaka poster art cinema sexploitation pinku roman porno movie review

Vintage Pulp

Sep 11 2011

A woman of Osaka.

(Maruhi) shikijô mesu ichiba, aka Secret Chronicle: She Beast Market is the third installment of Nikkatsu Studios’ prostitution-centered trilogy that began with Maruhi: joro ichiba (Prostitution Market) and continued with (Maruhi) jorô seme jigoku (ProstituteTorture Hell). This one was directed by Noboru Tanaka and stars Meika Seri as an Osaka prostie trying to survive her difficult profession and dysfunctional relatives. Some highlights (or lowlights) include one character killing another using a love doll inflated with explosive gas, Seri sexually indulging her mentally impaired younger brother, and the brother later doing what can best be described as choking the chicken (literally). In other words, it’s trademark Nikkatsu craziness, often disturbing but beautifully shot in both color and b&w. (Maruhi) shikijô mesu ichiba premiered in Japan today in 1974.

Japan Osaka Nikkatsu (Maruhi) shikijô mesu ichiba Secret Chronicle: She Beast Market Noboru Tanaka Meika Seri pinku poster art cinema roman porno movie review