"The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai" at Pole Pole

[M Arnold]

Tonight I caught a screening of Meike's "The Glamorous Life of Sachiko 
Hanai" at Pole Pole in Higashi Nakano. It was certainly one of the more 
interesting pink films I've seen recently. I loved all the special effects 
and dumb political jokes (I never realized that the G in G-spot stands for 
George). All in all it was worth the ticket.

I did think the movie lost its rhythm when it struggled through a few 
needless sex scenes and overlong sequences in the second half though. After 
about an hour, people in the audience were checking the time on their cell 
phones. The running time for this recut "international version" is 90 
minutes, about half an hour longer than most pink films and, according to 
the JMDB, 25 minutes longer than Meike's original pink theatrical release. I 
wonder which parts were added or adjusted for this cut.

In addition to the length, the movie had one other unusual quality for a 
pink film; much of the film was shot with synchronized sound. (The same is 
true of "Bitter Sweet.") Synch sound usually costs more than the pink budget 
allows. When I asked a some industry folks about the synch sound in "Bitter 
Sweet" a few months ago, they said directors can find ways to boost the 
standard three million yen budget with sales to cable TV channels, DVD or 
video releases, overseas screenings and occasionally private loans. 
Apparently this last option has caused some trouble for a few pink directors 
 . . At any rate I wonder if a movie like this international version of 
"Sachiko" really qualifies as a pink film in the usual sense.

I was surprised to notice that "Identity" director Matsue Tetsuaki has a 
significant part. I hadn't seen him in a Kokuei film before. (Although, to 
be honest, he doesn't really get into the role.)

At the beginning of the screening, Pole Pole showed a hilarious video of 
Meike making a phone call to the LDP earlier this year to try to get Prime 
Minister "K" to watch the movie. There was also a ten minute video short 
called "The Adventures of Sachiko Hanai" after the film. In this sequel, 
Sachiko returns to her normal life as a 'teacher' but is interrupted 
mid-lesson one day when George Bush reappears in the form of a ventriloquist 
dummy. George shoots Sachiko's student and forces himself on Sachiko, 
ripping her clothes off and revealing her red, white and blue wrestling 
suit. (I'm told Kuroda Emi's day job really is female pro wrestler . . . ) 
Sachiko tries to fend him off and the two end up on the roof of the 
apartment building, where George then summons an "ICBM" robot (another 
wrestler). The two women wrestle until Sachiko wins and George falls to his 
destruction. To be continued.

In the Pole Pole lobby there's a small display with several of the 
president's cloned fingers and the missile launch control computer from the 
film.

While watching the movie, I thought back to a question I was asked at the 
party following last week's "Shinjuku Fest 2005" Wakamatsu Koji event (more 
on that later). In the middle of a conversation that stretched from the 
"koroshiya" movie boom surrounding Suzuki's masterpiece in the late 60s to 
the etymology of different local Japanese slang words for the female 
anatomy, Japan's self-proclaimed biggest movie otaku (yes, that one) asked 
me why foreign film fans and researchers (don't worry, I won't name names) 
are always so interested in the Japanese pink movie genre. Most are trash, 
he said. Only a small minority are politically or artistically engaging. Of 
course he was right, but I wasn't sure how to answer, and I ended up 
stalling until the next round arrived and the subject changed. Next time I 
meet him, what should I say?

FYI, I missed opening night but here's a report on "Sachiko" from Cinema 
Topics Online (see the George Bush dummy in the second photo):

http://www.cinematopics.com/cinema/c_report/index3.php?number=1710

Here are the addresses for the reviews that were mentioned last week:

Aaron Gerow: http://www.yomiuri.co.jp/dy/features/arts/20051201TDY17004.htm
Mark Schilling: 
http://www.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/getarticle.pl5?ff20051202a2.htm
Rob Schwartz: http://metropolis.japantoday.com/tokyo/recent/movies.asp (in a 
column on the lower left side of the page)
Jasper Sharp: 
http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/round-up_006.shtml#horny-home-tutor

Michael Arnold