Moju / Fruits of Passion

[Jasper Sharp]

It's all been rather quiet on the list recently, so I thought I'd just throw
out a few thoughts to stimulate a bit of discussion.
First up, I picked up a copy of a film called 'Moju' yesterday . It's a
little like John Fowles/William Wyler's 'The Collector' (1965), though I
gather it was based on an Edogawa Rampo story. It was directed in 1969 by
Yasuzo Masumura, a director that I know absolutely nothing about. A blind
sculptor captures a girl and keeps her imprisoned in his studio whilst
working on his masterwork.
As far as I know there has never been an English video/dvd release (mine is
dupe from an original tape in Japanese), which is a shame because it looks
very interesting. There is very pop-art aesthetic to it so (using the
standard colour palate of the period typified in films such as Fukasaku's
Black Lizard/Kurotage) so that it overcomes the rather static mise en scene
in a way that Wyler's film never quite managed. Though obviously studio
bound, it's a consistently interesting film visually: the claustrophic
artist's studio is decorated so that all the walls are covered in big
biomorphic swells resembling female body parts. Anyone know anything about
it?
 
And secondly, I just thought it fair to draw everyone's attention to the
forthcoming DVD release of 'Fruits of Passion - The Story of O' (Shuji
Terayama, 1981), a film which I know nothing about except that it's an
unnofficial sequel of sorts to the original Just Jaeckin 'Story of O' (1975)
and that Klaus Kinski is in there somewhere. Apparently its very colourful
and looks wonderful, and Klaus Kinski is always a joy to behold. It's on
Anchor Bay, so that probably means its non-region coded. Once again, any
further details on the film would be great.

Thanks

Jasper Sharp