Tokyo Decadence
* Tokyo Decadence, Topazu 1992 (Theme: Adult)
(IMDB# 0105622)
Starring Miho Nikaido, Sayoko Amano, Tenmei Kano, Kan Mikami, Masahiko Shimada
Director: Ryū Murakami Producer: Chosei Funahara
Tokyo Decadence (Topazu) is a 1992 Japanese film. The film was directed by Ryu Murakami with music by Ryuichi Sakamoto. The film stars Miho Nikaido and is known by two other titles, Topaz and Sex Dreams of Topaz. It has been banned in Australia and South Korea.
A timid Japanese college girl, Ai (Japanese: lit. "love"), tries to make ends meet as a light SM bondage girl for hire within a world of lavishly wealthy Tokyo penthouses.
The bulk of the film is comprised of four sex sequences, the first and last involving dildos and mirrors, with the S/M relationship being inverted, the middle two asphyxiations with, again, a reversal of roles. The actual story revolves around Ai's unrequited love for a married gallery artist. At the beginning of the movie Ai visits a fortune-teller who advises her to buy a topaz, wear it around her neck, and avoid a gallery in the east. Ai later loses the stone, later finds it again, later goes to the artist's house, has the police called on her, and has the police called off by one of the artist's neighbors whose affair with (but not love for) he has ended.
The general themes of the film are the sterility and coldness of life, and the inability to make a human connection in the modern world.
At least two versions of the film exist, with the shorter one edited more for pacing than for censorship.
The story of Ai, a beautiful and delicate young woman who is looking for something real, or someone to rescue her from a world of dark sexuality and drugs. At the age of 22, Ai comes to the conclusion that she is completely devoid of any real talent or skill. Even though she is a quiet and shy person, she finds herself working in the sometimes brutal Tokyo sex industry, as an 'escort' for rich and decadent clients. She rarely speaks, but her facial expressions show the terror and revulsion, and lack of understanding of the bizarre things that are asked of her. 'Tokyo Decadence' is filmed in a lush and colorful style, utilizing garish colors and costumes to emphasize the bizarre and sordid world that this girl is living in. Somehow, despite being exposed to every conceivable perversion, Ai retains a kind of childlike innocence that is ultimately heartbreaking to behold. For she does eventually break under the strain, and it is what makes this film so much more than erotica. I watched this film, (the 112-minute version) recently, after not seeing it for many years. I did not remember that drug use played such a big part in the story. Cocaine, crack, heroin, Ecstasy. Many people here seem to be lost somehow, escorts and clients as well, in the steel-like metropolis of Tokyo. Ai's world is so artificial and very intimidating; everyone around her seems to have so much money and power, and such an understanding and acceptance of any sexual practice. The film is dark and explicit from the first frame, but takes a decidedly darker turn with the introduction of a jaded and fascinating young dominatrix named 'Mistress Saki'. Following a bizarre session with a man into being humiliated, Saki invites Ai to her lavish apartment, where she repeatedly shoots heroin and shares freebase cocaine with the bewildered Ai. At first, this woman seems happy and comfortable with her wealth and profession, but when you see her dissolve into a maniacal junkie, (she shoots up 3 or 4 times in the space of an evening), it is quite tragic. She speaks of finding another world, and a better life. She advises her protégé to seek out the man that she still loves, who stopped seeing her without warning. Ai does this but makes the mortal mistake of taking a hit of Ecstasy before going to him. By the time she gets to his house, she has dissolved into a stumbling wreck, and her hopes of reuniting with her man are lost forever. 'Tokyo Decadence' is a film of great beauty and power. The sex is explicit but is never sexually stimulating, only because every encounter is mingled with so much pain. If you can relate to this lost girl, than the film will have an impact stronger than you might expect.
- MOVB screenies for Tokyo Decadence
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