r100 ( film )
watch the exclusive debut of the trailer for “r100, ” the hitoshi matsumoto film that will world premiere in the midnight madness section at september’s toronto international film festival .
r100 is directed by hitoshi matsumoto and was released on jan 23rd, 2015 .
arson murder and jaywalking: the american trailer for film begins with (fictional) rating card (purposely created by the drafthouse films, the film' s us distribution) that says the film advertised has been rated r100 for
kicking, whipping, sloshing, spitting and grenades
.
word puree title: the title is a play on japanese film ratings. a movie rated r100 would be unsuitable for viewers under 100 years of age. in - universe, the film' s director is quoted as saying that no one under the age of 100 will enjoy his film .
r100 received positive reviews from critics. review aggregator rotten tomatoes reports that 81% of 21 film critics have given the film a positive review, with a rating average of 6. 7 out of 10. [ 7 ]
ai tominaga kicks nao omori in “r100, ” written and directed by hitoshi matsumoto .
what to see at mpls. - st. paul international film festival - urltoken
breaking the fourth wall: starting about halfway through, the film will occasionally cut to a focus group who comment about the plot and quality of the film. the supposed director of the film is also occasionally shown in the movie theater .
review for william h. macy' s beautiful film rudderless - sundance' 14
what to see at the minneapolis - st. paul international film festival
tokyo – hitoshi matsumoto ’s latest film, r100, a sex comedy starring nao omori and shinobu terajima, will be released by warner bros. japan on oct. 5 .
self - deprecation: the focus group hates the film and occasionally points out the plot holes. even hitoshi matsumoto called the film
stupid
to the media .
the film features a subplot in which a group of confused people are watching takafumi' s story, a film - within - a - film directed by an elderly man who claims that one must have lived 100 years to understand its true brilliance .
reviewed at sundance film festival (spotlight), jan. 19, 2014. (also in toronto film festival — midnight madness .) running time: 99 min .
r100 is primarily a parade of kink, topped off with explicit allegory for pushing subversive art past prudes .
there are no featured audience reviews yet. click the link below to see what others say about r100 !
r100 is a 2013 japanese black comedy directed by comedian hitoshi matsumoto, of gaki no tsukai ya arahende .
the world premiere of hitoshi matsumoto’s “r100” in the toronto international film festival’s midnight madness section must be frustrating for all those japanese auteurs out there who got rejection letters from north america’s most important festival .
“r100” is a play on the japanese film rating format. the version of “r100” screening within “r100” is directed by a centenarian who claims that only fellow 100 - year - olds can fully understand his film. i look forward to putting that notion to the test on my birthday in 2075. for now, more important than understanding the movie’s meaning, if there even is one, is understanding that it is fun, funny, and immensely entertaining, even if it doesn’t make a lick of logical sense .
r100
suggests that extreme and perverse films allow the everyman to seek thrills in his otherwise - monotonous life .
yoshimoto will send a representative to cannes to promote r100, but with the film still in post - production, it won’t be offering it for sale at market, a spokesperson from the agency told the hollywood reporter .
show within a show: the film is a show within itself. it' s supposedly directed by a 100 year old man. scenes of a focus group occasionally comment on the film so far .
big man japan (dai nippon - jin), matsumoto’s first foray into film, was selected for the directors’ fortnight at cannes in 2007 and is currently being remade in hollywood by neal h. moritz via original film .
i was at least 65 years too young to see this film. that' s all i can say .
culture crypt looks at a few fantasia film festival features shaping up to be hot topics among horror fans in 2018 .
r100
teaches viewers how to watch it as its plot perpetually breaks down, then reforms. you cannot trust the film to deal with its dark subject matter since it' s constantly admitting that takafumi' s search for carnal enlightenment is necessarily frustrated. since takafumi likes losing control, he keeps losing it until the film goes off its sprockets, and we get a
a fourth wall breaking side plot is introduced where five people screen the r100 movie and puzzle over its bizarre meaning. they eventually learn that a 100 - year - old man directed the film and he claims that only other centenarians can fully understand it .
a cinematic interpretation of beethoven' s
ode to joy
filtered through the sexual taboo of japan, r100 will entertain and perplex .
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fictitious behind - the - scenes look at perplexed filmmakers and censors behind the film. sorry ,
the film .
then the movie starts again. and then it stops, then starts again. if you try to get closure from
as with matsumoto’s previous films, big man japan and symbol, r100 exists in a genre netherworld, perched somewhere between slapstick comedy, raw pulp, and experimental art - film. the humor wears thin, because there’s only so many times that watching an ordinary schmoe get the crap kicked out of him is funny. and given the opening warning, r100 isn’t as sensationalistic as it seems like it ought to be .
the tomatometer score — based on the opinions of hundreds of film and television critics — is a trusted measurement of critical recommendation for millions of fans. it represents the percentage of professional critic reviews that are positive for a given film or television show .
the film premiered on september 12, 2013 on the toronto international film festival [ 12 ] and was released on march 3, 2015 on blu - ray disc in a 1080p video format [ 13 ] and dvd over drafthouse films. [ 14 ]
here are brief reviews, ratings and showtimes of more than 50 movies screening at the 2014 minneapolis - st. paul international film festival, april 3 - 19. all ratings are out of four stars. (photos provided by respective film distributors. )
matsumoto, a comedian and ubiquitous tv personality in japan, wrote and directed r100 and will make an appearance in the film, described as
an intense sex comedy about a man who joins a mysterious club which opens the door to another world he has never before experienced .
after all the end credits have rolled, we see the 5 people viewing the film - within - a - film standing / sitting uncomfortably in the waiting area, for a second or two. nothing is said, then the screen goes dark, finally .
transgressive, unclassifiable, ridiculous—all these words apply to r100. but upon reflection, it becomes clear that matsumoto has achieved something remarkable here: he’s made a film at once boundary - defying and really fun to watch. it’s not for everyone, and best appreciated by those who already have a taste for such things (kind of like bdsm, actually), but the 100 - minute running time flies by, and the film remains entertaining even when it begins to spiral out of control. to aficionados of the bizarre, r100 will be a rare pleasure indeed .
director hitoshi matsumoto' s comedy & drama movie r100 is produced by yoshimoto kogyo company & warner bros. pictures was released 2013 - 10 - 05 .
matsumoto says he wanted to make a film that transcended the idea of genre, and in that respect, he has succeeded admirably .
culture crypt is the most reliable website for genre movie reviews and the best in popular culture, specializing in independent horror film entertainment .
adding another level to the film’s surreal comedy is the idea that takafumi and his fetish obsession are part of a wacky movie directed by a wizened old man of 100, which is being screened by an official censorship committee. not only do they not understand the film (and their perplexity is hilariously justified by all the inconsistencies in the plot), but the parade of whip - wielding ladies in black leather is too much for them to bear. hence the title r100: they propose to rate the film as suitable for audiences of 100 and up .
an eager young film crew become embroiled in a deadly feud between rival gangs in a series of bizarre incidents that blend action and humour .
how will it play? while warner bros. will release the film in japan, “r100” is unlikely to find a north american distributor with any company other than a genre label able to play up its irreverence to a vod audience. its theatrical prospects are severely limited by the strange plot and foreign language .
here are brief reviews, ratings and showtimes of more than 50 movies screening at the 2014 minneapolis - st. paul international film festival, april 3 - 19. all ratings are out of four stars. (photos provided by respective film distributors .) complete festival listings are at urltoken
on friday 30 october 2015, the mercury cinema got a taste of japan with the opening night celebration of the 19th annual japanese film festival .
the ballad of narayama
is a japanese film of great beauty and elegant artifice, telling a story of startling cruelty. what a space it opens…
if a dominatrix is one who takes total control of her passive partner, then “r100” is the cinematic equivalent of a kinky femme fatale in black leather and stiletto heels, cracking a whip and a smile. at least for the film’s first half, japanese writer - director hitoshi matsumoto gets a kick out of tantalizing and torturing [ … ]
this freedom, however, has its plus side, with matsumoto (self - destructively ?) inserting a grimly funny subplot about censors discussing a film — the one we are watching — and finding it incomprehensible. we are invited to side with the filmmaker (whose identity i will not divulge), but it’s also obvious the censors have a point. the title “r100” refers to the rating they assign the film, presumably thinking it suitable for no one likely to see it in a theater .
there' s a reason why
r100 ,
a deeply strange comedy about sadomasochism and other secular revelations, starts with a joke - y disclaimer. the film, which takes its name from an imaginary censor board' s rating (like the mpaa' s
r
rating, only forbidden to anyone under 100 years of ago), is deeply silly, but also startlingly outlandish, and more than a little punishing in its repetitiveness. this, of course, is the film' s point .
“there’s probably no bigger fan of hitoshi matsumoto’s comedy in north america than me, ” said drafthouse films founder tim league in a statement. “without matsumoto, there’s no ‘jackass; ; there’s no extreme reality tv. with the release of his brilliant new film ‘r100, ’ i hope to expose this legendary comic genius to a new, wide audience. ”
satire, anti - satire, critique, auto - critique, exploitation, put - on: sion sono’s film accommodates all of these positions equally and without prejudice .
the reveal furthers the discussion of the film while providing a space for readers who have seen it to discuss plot - sensitive details. in other words: spoilers ahead .
rob nelson of variety, said in his review that
if a dominatrix is one who takes total control of her passive partner, then
r100
is the cinematic equivalent of a kinky femme fatale in black leather and stiletto heels, cracking a whip and a smile .
[ 8 ] deborah young in her review for the hollywood reporter praised the film by saying that
it’s hard to remember a film about s & m as funny as this one, or one as beautifully and weirdly imagined .
[ 9 ] colin covert of minneapolis star tribune gave the film three stars by saying that
to call this midnight movie entry
not for everyone
is understating it. but connoisseurs of weird, twisted sex comedy will revel in its transgressive, audacious mischief .
[ 10 ] katie rife of the a. v. club gave the film a b +. [ 11 ]
this happily scattershot approach obviously comes with its ups and downs. the introduction of a film - within - a - film subplot, whereby a set of disgruntled producers complain about the scandalous content of the film they (and we) are seeing, feels superfluous, an almost adolescent attempt to self - reflexively big - up its own daring. the increasing reliance on bad taste can also get enervating at times, even as it does indeed liven up the continuing stream of dominatrix interventions. in the film’s more calculated moments, you get the feeling that masumoto is all too concerned with playing to the midnight - screening gallery, where superficiality, shock value, and crassness are often virtues rather than stumbling blocks .
it’s certainly an unusual and provocative premise but not one that necessarily lends itself to a feature - length format and so it proves with a film that quickly becomes an exercise in repetitive weirdness. i do enjoy strange cinema but it is hard to ascertain the intentions of matsumoto and this story of humiliation and arousal. perhaps i am doing a disservice to the film and it possesses…
actress lindsay kay hayward is warning viewers not to talk or text during an exclusive nsfw ‘ r100 ′ psa. the clip for the s & m - themed comedy - drama showcases american actress lindsay kay hayward warning audiences that if they talk or text, they’ll get a spanking from a 6’8″ amazonian with a wooden paddle. the trailer for ‘ r100, ’ which is currently playing in theaters and on demand, begins with hayward introducing herself, as she sits in front of a poster for the comedy - drama, as well as several s & m - themed accessories. she laughs as she informs viewers that if they talk or text while watching the film, she’ll hunt them down. she amusingly adds that she [ read more ] the post lindsay kay hayward warns not to talk or text during exclusive nsfw r100 psa appeared first on shockya. com .
the exquisite live - action quill: the life of a guide dog may be the family film of the year. quill, also referred to sporadically as qoo, is a labrador retriever born…
even if you like bizarre movies, you' ll probably like
r100 ,
then hate it, then go back to liking it, then wonder what you' re looking at. and then the movie will end .
shot in gloomy desaturated colors, “r100” focuses on one takafumi katayama (nao omori), a sad - sack furniture salesman who is caring for his cute young son while his wife (you) vegetates in an irreversible coma .
in a comedic performance as a dead - pan, no - nonsense police officer, matsumoto asks the question: “what happens if you get what you asked for? ” matsumoto set out to create a “far - out absurd nonsensical movie” that is kinky and even silly, full of s & m sexual fantasies. that’s a subject matsumoto has explored in his comedy skits and radio shows. he was intending to break down the notion of comedy. while his last three films used improvisation and employed a mockumentary style, with “r100” matsumoto stayed close to the script and hired professional actors. in that sense, “r100” resembles the more conventional structure of a feature film .
r100, the outrageously funny film from matsumoto hitoshi will be out in cinemas and on vod on january 23rd from drafthouse films. we have an outrageous clip to share with you. it is from early on in the film and features our lead omori nao and tominaga ai, the first of many dominatrices you will meet during the course of the film. you would assume that the couple are out for a nice cup of coffee. omori is probably thrilled that a young woman as stunning as tominaga is sitting at the same table as him. and then he asks her if she knows the answer to his question. her response? at first she seems drawn in. those words. those lyrics. then? well, you will just have to watch, ... [ read the whole post on twitchfilm. com... ]
“…despite its head - scratching moments, ‘r100’ also maintains an elevated cult movie consistency that’s par for the course with matsumoto, by combining its playful irrationality with an emotional and philosophical core, ” wrote indiewire’s eric kohn in his glowing review out of toronto .
layered on top of this is a meta b - story in which an appalled ratings board is attempting to figure out what rating to give the movie. the ancient “director” has insisted that this is the film he needs to make, and only centenarians will understand it, a timid assistant tells the incredulous suits. thus, they decide to rate it r100—no one under the age of 100 admitted. (a r18 is the japanese equivalent of an nc - 17. )
the brilliance of “r100, ” if that word can be used to describe the film, is that it ramps up the bizarre meter so slowly that the audience never consciously realizes how subtly they were sucked into an uncertain absurdist unreality. one of the few things i know for sure is that i used the word “if” in four of the previous five sentences. that many qualifiers are unavoidable in order to accurately assess something so firmly entrenched in “for acquired tastes only” territory .
, a documentary that follows matsumoto over six months in 2010. it has some fascinating behind the scenes look at matsumoto' s process working with writers and other comedians and as he begins work on his third film ,
the r100 title is a play on the movie ratings r - 15 and r - 18 and represents the main character, played by omori, breaking through boundaries. filming wrapped last month, but further plot details and the production budget have not yet been announced .
no one under 100 will be admitted !
dang this looks crazy. drafthouse films has debuted their official us trailer for hitoshi matsumoto' s r100, a funky, wacky japanese thriller about a man (nao ohmori of ichi the killer) who joins an s & m club and gets into some crazy shit when dominatrices appear and kick his ass anytime of the day. the title r100 is a riff on the japanese movie rating system, whose equivalent to nc - 17 is r18, and this is playing on the idea that it' s not okay for anyone under 100. ha. the new poster is a bit too much, aiming to sell it purely on the sex / s & m angle, but the trailer hints at the absurdity of the film in so many other ways. this definitely isn' t for everyone, but it' s not just for s & m fans either, i think. have fun. here' s the official us trailer for hitoshi matsumoto' s r100 ,
i think the film veers off too far into such strangeness (could there be a japanese tv game show spun off from all this ?), but connoisseurs of this kind of thing will find the ripeness hard to resist .
there is a point where characters sit in a waiting room and discuss the same r100 we' re currently watching. after exhibiting exasperation at the absurdity they' ve witnessed one says
too much .
disappointingly, the real statement should be' not enough.'
along the same meta - lines spoofing the film business are several interruptions in the story when characters think they feel an earthquake coming on. this is explained as being a nod to contemporary issues, apparently a requisite in japanese films .
fun fact: asked about his film’s divided critical reception at toronto, including a drubbing in the local paper, matsumoto noted the wild response from fans at its screening. “it pleased a lot of people, anyway, ” he said .
then, about 40 minutes into the film, matsumoto introduces a new meta twist. (see the reveal .) in keeping with the s & m theme, matsumoto keeps changing r100 ’s direction, defying the audience in hopes of providing a more perverse kick. often, the results are astonishing. at its best, r100 resembles some of the more outré takashi miike films, crossed with the punch - drunk love - like story of a nebbish who gets in over his head when he tries to pursue a few moments of joy. the plot takes some less - rewarding turns down the stretch, but after a certain point—when takafumi gets caught in the crossfire between an army of sadists and the covert government agency trying to bring them down—viewers have to let go of expectations and trust that matsumoto is going somewhere .
in the end, r100 does arrive at someplace oddly beautiful, concluding with a wondrous abstract homage to all those special souls who take pleasure from pain, both physical and aesthetic. when the film works, it isn’t because matsumoto is playing to the cult - movie crowd—he really isn’t—but because he’s sympathetic to all the takafumis out there who fade into the background of the service economy. when takafumi is being pursued through the streets and then kicked in the face, his giddiness in understandable. finally, somebody’s paying attention to him .
it’s easier to define what r100 isn’t than what it is. first of all, despite the presence of ninja dominatrices, it’s not a steamy thriller, and the raincoat crowd should apply elsewhere. (might we suggest 1992’s tokyo decadence ?) “comedy” is probably the most accurate word— r100 has a devilishly warped sense of humor, even if much of it is more “what the fuck? ” than laugh - out - loud funny. and if you can’t call a movie with a character named the gobble queen, who literally swallows men whole, or the spit queen (naomi watanabe, in a standout performance), who specializes in drenching her victims in flavored loogies, a comedy, then what do you call it? director hitoshi matsumoto says he wanted to make a film that transcended the idea of genre, and in that respect, he has succeeded admirably .
r100 is a movie starring nao ohmori, mao daichi, and shinobu terajima. an ordinary man with an ordinary life joins a mysterious club. the membership lasts for one year only and there is one rule: no cancellation under any circumstance. the man enters into a... see full summary »
but in the ensuing action, which encompasses spitting, whipping and sushi pounding (use your imagination), other influences are also at work. as those who follow matsumoto’s tv antics know, he is a devotee of the batsu game (punishment game) school of humor — and “r100” is an extreme example of it. it is as though, free to do as liked in his own film, he dreamed up “punishments” far in excess of what even japan’s lenient tv censors would allow. in excess, in fact, of anything resembling comedy, black or otherwise .
japanese cinema is well known for the weird and bizarre and r100 certainly continues this tradition. directed by hitoshi matsumoto (big man japan) this dark and self - reflexive comedy is centred on the awakening of a japanese salaryman who joins a mysterious bondage club where kinky and submissive experiences can happen anytime and anywhere .
actress kirin kiki wants an ending with no twists when life gave her lemons, film star kirin kiki didn' t make lemonade, but wild grass enzyme juice. it' s the only thing that has satisfied her taste buds since her advanced - stage cancer caused he ...
so if “r100” is a misfire, it also has its mysteries and, since it is by the insanely talented matsumoto, it’s bent appeal. i just hope that, having made this in - joke of a movie, he dreams up one for the rest of us, including this fan from the start, the next time around .
when the bondage boss asks an increasingly aggrieved takafumi, “isn’t this what you wanted? ” the nerved - up fan of hardcore genre fare becomes mindful of the “contract” he signed upon entering the theater. alas, matsumoto ends up tipping the meta scale a touch too hard with intermittent scenes of censors screening a movie called “r100, ” directed by a century - old man in a long white beard. eventually the film runs out of satiric steam altogether, resorting to a lame war - movie climax with bondage’s seven - foot tall ceo (lindsay hayward) as a cross between a distaff bond villain and a third reich heavy .
venue: toronto film festival (midnight madness) a warner bros. pictures presentation of a yoshimoto kogyo co. production in association with yoshimoto creative agency, phantom film cast: nao omori, mao daichi, shinobu terajima, eriko sato, ai tominaga, naomi watanabe, hairi katagiri, haruki nishimura, gin maeda, suzuki matsuo, atsuro watabe, lindsay hayward director: hitoshi matsumoto screenwriter: hitoshi matsumoto producer: akihiko okamoto executive producer: hiroshi osaki director of photography: kazushige tanaka production designer: etsuko aikou costumes: satoe araki music: hidekazu sakamoto editor: yoshitaka honda sales: free stone productions no rating, 100 minutes .
after beethoven’s “ode to joy” plays over a montage, the manager from bondage narrates that takafumi transitioned from masochist to sadist. having submitted to a superior sadist, they in turn conceived another sadist. takafumi is then seen as a pregnant man posing for pictures with his son arashi. after the credits, the quintet outside the r100 screening room is seen again, looking flummoxed .
simply put, the best film i' ve ever seen. it destroys the medium and reconstructs it, just like jesus did with it back in 1894. tackles the relevant issue of s & m ninjas in a fresh, funny, darkly satiric way. also, the human condition is commented upon via talking about earthquakes .
safe, sane and consensual: katayama is never treated as a pervert for being a masochist, though it is the fodder for dark comedy. the
consensual
part of the contract disappearing is actually the reason for the film' s conflict. katayama withdraws his consent and has to fight the dominatrixes for refusing to honor his decision .
written and directed by hitoshi matsumoto; director of photography, kazushige tanaka; edited by yoshitaka honda; music by hidekazu sakamoto; production design by etsuko aikou; costumes by satoe araki; produced by akihiko okamoto; released by drafthouse films. in japanese, with english subtitles. running time: 1 hour 40 minutes. this film is not rated .
a totally bizarre experience that exists as two movies the one with the main characters and another involving a group of people watching a movie about the main characters. this film has to be seen to be believed it is utterly bewildering with its main character acquiring the dominatrix from hell who feels it' s okay to attack him at any moment to the group of people watching his exploits as a film in a screening room. it appears to be a comment on what is acceptable in modern cinema especially in countries such as japan. it is laden with filth and uncouth characters such as the queen of saliva who spits on her customers but the black humour and the way some scenes are set up makes this very intriguing .
“r100” (a riff on the japanese movie rating system, whose equivalent to nc - 17 is r18) tells the story of lonely everyman, takafumi katayama, who hires a boutique s & m agency that specialize in random acts of extreme public degradation. at first, this changes his outlook on life for the better, but a bizarre accident violates the terms of the contract and hurdles takafumi into a confounding spiral that will test his very soul .
i think that in japan, because i' m really famous as a comedian, in a way it' s a bit difficult when i make films. they' re always seen in the background, on the side of my other activities. in other countries, i' m more appreciated as a film director, it' s not just a background thing. so it' s completely different .
it’s hardly matsumoto’s fault, since that’s just the way the system works. strange, crazed films from japan’s “brand name” directors are in demand by overseas festivals — and that is what he happily supplies. but whereas 2007’s “dai - nipponjin (big man japan), ” 2009’s “symbol” and 2011’s “saya zamurai (scabbard samurai) ” were full - throttle comedies, if ones utterly weird by local genre standards, “r100” plays like a confused erotic nightmare, with fun moments scattered and few .
nobody does bizarre quite like the japanese, and hitoshi matsumoto’s latest offering is right up there in the realm of cult classics. from the opening ‘disclaimer’ right until the final post credit scene, r100 is a laugh a minute story of a furniture salesman, takafumi katayama, who joins an exclusive s & m club for a year of dominatrix attention which is delivered at random times and places. the catch is, he can’t quit and has to stay the full year. sounds easy, right ?
everything about it should provide a typically' out there' experience normally associated with japanese cinema, a man signs up for a year of kinkiness only to try and break away when it gets too much resulting in him being pursued by the entire organization. but, like the colour palette, the whole thing comes across as incredibly muted and never quite delivering on the r100 promise (though i' m sure in some way that' s part of the joke, one that strangely we don' t…
as if his movie cannot progress any further back into the left field it came from, matsumoto breaks the fourth wall to publicly acknowledge the mental instability of his own movie’s personality. a self - aware side plot involving a focus group screening the same film verbally echoes identical sentiments of strangely delighted confusion running through the viewer’s mind. matsumoto is in effect granting permission to stop questioning the madness and to start basking in the gloriousness of the insanity .
the first 40 minutes (or so) of r100 plays out in a quite
ordinary
manner. we get to know takafumi. his wife is in a coma since 3 years back. he has a son. he has a job as a salesman of furniture. he' s looking for some excitement and that leads him to becoming a member of a club that offers surprise dominatrixes. they kick him around (literally). they smash his sushi to mush. they hold him under water. he likes it .
true, the section is devoted to quirk and kink, which fits matsumoto’s fourth feature, about a man trapped in an ever - escalating s & m game, to a t. but if it did not feature the name of matsumoto, who has reigned for decades as a top tv comic, this mess of a film would probably not get the prestige boost of the toronto label, as well as its distribution in japan by hollywood major warner .
based on the novel by nobel laureate mo yan, red sorghum is a wonderful story of a young woman who inherits a distillery making sorghum liquour also known as kaoliang (similar to japanese sake). made into an award winning film by zhang yi mou, this dance theatre adaptation presented by the song and dance theatre of qingdao performing arts group is a delight to the senses and is perhaps a closer rendition to mo yan’s story as per his own admission
matsumoto’s gigantically funny “big man japan” (2007) hardly prepares one for his stylistic sadism here. so bleached of color that it’s nearly black - and - white, “r100” begins in full - on noir mode, with takafumi katayama (nao ohmori) taking a beating from a cig - smoking, trenchcoat - clad bondage queen, his bruised body tumbling down a flight of stairs in a scene that playfully recalls the s & m - inflected classic “kiss me deadly. ” the gag’s visual punchline is a series of cheesy cgi ripples emanating from the head of the victim, signifying his dumbfounded ecstasy .
rivers of spit and acres of shiny fetish wear glisten in the japanese fantasy “r100, ” a gleeful gross - out in which a meek salaryman hires an army of dominatrixes to do their cruel worst. the s - & - m gear has been selected with conspicuous care, from the pointy heels (the better to kick bad boys down the stairs) to the suitcase of instruments that look modeled on those in david cronenberg’s gynecological horror show, “dead ringers. ” in that 1988 movie, the sinister tool kit was for “operating on mutant women”; here, it’s hauled out to dig deeper under the viewer’s skin .
but then the viewer has to accommodate these laugh - out - loud moments with the sobering fact that takafumi’s beloved wife is in a coma and he has to look after his little boy arashi with only occasional help from grandpa. as the mix of straight drama with kinky madness gets wilder and wilder, the audience feels more and more uncomfortable about their guilty visual pleasures. it soon becomes apparent why matsumoto felt the need to preface the film with a warning that it’s fictional and none of god’s creatures were hurt in the making .
the film opens with an irresistible take - off on the dark lady thrillers of yore. in a well - heeled restaurant, takafumi is meekly talking to a sultry vamp about beethoven’s ode to joy, when she kicks him in the face bruce lee style. he follows her out on the street, where she drops her trenchcoat, revealing a costume that would make victoria’s secret blush, and kicks him down a flight of marble stairs. strange comic - strip ripples radiate out from his puffed - up face as he gets off on the mistreatment .
in hitoshi matsumoto’s r100, nao omori plays takafumi katayama, a mild - mannered, deeply depressed department - store clerk who’s been raising his grade - school - aged son almost on his own, while his wife lies in a coma at a nearby hospital. seeking a little escape, takafumi contracts with an unusual dominatrix service, which sends out leather - clad women to beat and humiliate him in public. but the thrills begin to cut a little close to home when the mistresses start interfering with his work, messing up his parenting, and showing up in his wife’s room during visiting hours. and then takafumi discovers, to his dismay—or perhaps delight—that he can’t cancel his subscription .
takafumi is pathetic because he achieves sublime transcendence every time leather - clad dominatrices beat him up. takafumi' s masochism is, in that sense, not treated seriously—sorry ,
fifty shades of grey
fans! —because it' s just the catalyst for a series of abidingly strange episodes that are all about one thing: escaping the hell that is yourself. matsumoto' s style of comedy is, in that sense, a far - flung descendant of jerry lewis' slapstick - y, self - loathing schtick .
r100
is, consequently, a comedy that tries to alienate you by suggesting that escapism is futile, all things inevitably devolve, and nothing inherently means anything .
the climactic showdown, a crazed action set piece involving ninjas, grenades and an unexpectedly upbeat musical finish, gets at the essence of matsumoto’s ingenuity: by pitting inexplicable weirdness against a somber quality, he makes bold grasps for the meaning of life and concludes his search with a shrug that serves the agenda at play: how does a ratings board apply logic to something in such gleeful defiance of it? flaunting its extremes, “r100” gets away with the naughty sensibility. “you must always be submissive, ” takafumi is told by his captor, though the statement extends to the experience of the movie. there’s no way to handle matsumoto’s nutty storytelling unless you’re willing to just sit back and take it .
where was i? oh, right, the plot. so, takafumi gets kicked in the face, and thrown down a flight of stairs by a very sexy, terribly bored woman, which makes takafumi realize how much he likes being dominated—not necessarily in a sexual way, mind you, though yes, there is a lot of that in
r100 .
takafumi desperately wants to escape his dreary home - life, which consists of taking care of son arashi (haruki nishimoto) while wife setsuko lies comatose in a nearby hospital. so takafumi joins a mysterious gentlemen' s club whose services eventually escalate in perversity, from being dominated in a sushi restaurant to being flogged and spat on at home, right next door to arashi' s bedroom .
aside from a cheeky running gag about earthquakes, matsumoto says that he isn’t trying to make a larger social point here. but he does approach the subject of masochism from an interesting viewpoint. not only does r100 refrain from lampooning katayama’s desire to get the crap beat out of him, it’s sympathetic to it. take the scene where we see the character leaving the hospital where his wife is lying in a coma. the sky is gray, the music is melancholy, and it’s all very sad. katayama walks with his shoulders slumped and his head down. then, out of nowhere, a woman clad in leather and high heels comes running towards him, knocks him to the ground, and starts kicking him violently. his face begins to contort in blissful ripples—an effect rather like the lusty nosebleeds common in anime—and one can feel katayama’s release, the relief of feeling any sensation, even a painful one, after the numbness of grief .
you might not like this movie and as the movie itself states several times, that might be because you' re too young for it... obviously that is meant to be a joke. and if you don' t like the nature of the joke wait til you see the rest of it. it only gets weirder and is difficult to explain in a nutshell. a man is responsible for things going crazy for him, because he hires someone for that exact purpose. you have to really get into the mood of the film to like it and to enjoy it. something that cannot be said about the main character. on the other hand... who knows what is really going on with him? you also get
breaks
from the movie, with some weird analysis that kind of stops the flow... but on the other hand is a perfect fit, if you think about it. if you like weird and not really predictable, you will love this. otherwise stay clear
currently in post - production, the sex comedy is being made with one eye on the international market .
it was matsumoto’s appearance at cannes in 2007 that inspired hiroshi osaki, the ceo of his agency, yoshimoto kogyo, to launch the okinawa international movie festival in 2009 on japan’s southern tropical island .
a very ordinary man (nao omori) who takes care of his son while his wife lies in a coma, enters a very ordinary building. following a seductive ride on a merry - go - round, he signs up with an exclusive club. membership is one year only and cannot be cancelled under any circumstances. happily he endures dominatrix intrusions in his daily life, until they get a little too close to his unsuspecting family. with a courage not displayed in his professional life as a bed salesman, he tries to cancel his membership, evoking the wrath of the american ceo, who descends upon tokyo to teach him a lesson…
eric kohn and anne thompson discuss their favorite films of the year so far. they also debate several new releases and share some streaming recommendations .
in an episode dedicated to the show within the show, “glow” illustrates its grand capacity for storytelling, and the very good tv podcast breaks down how .
rules weren’t meant to be broken when it comes to tv episode lengths, but these 10 examples — introduced on the very good tv podcast — are clear exceptions .
after studying under cinematographer ed lachman, shevaun mizrahi forged her own unique filmmaking path with its own set of rules .
the actress and director both love the genre, but as they told indiewire, they also knew it needed to be retrofitted to tell the true story of catherine weldon and sitting bull .
lane and schoenbrun discuss how her interest in morgellons disease patients (“the pain of others”) and his exploration of the slenderman myth (“a self - induced hallucination”) led them to make archival films from youtubes .
, with his partner masatoshi hamada. in 1989, downtown launched a popular variety show ,
ran from 1991 to 1997 and popularized downtown' s sketches or
kontos .
* in 2010, matsumoto started another sketch show ,
. but as his own comedic sensibility changed and became more surreal, he began making films. as he told
( 2009), premiered at midnight madness. and matsumoto will always be enshrined in my heart as the man who got mm programmer colin geddes to wear
( 2011). as the announcer states with great gravity ,
what the camera captures behind the stage is the solitary fight of a man who sold his soul for comedy .
watch it, subtitled ,
the strange colour of your body' s tears: another l ...
more wacky than provocative in the end, hitoshi matsumoto' s s & m - themed item could become a cult fetish on vod .
nao ohmori, mao daichi, shinobu terajima, hairi katagiri, ai tominaga, eriko sato, naomi watanabe, gin maeda, you, haruki nishimoto, suzuki matsuo, atsuro watabe, lindsay hayward. (japanese, english dialogue )
soon signing on for a year of such blissful degradation, takafumi is told he’ll never know when one of the wicked dominatrices of the bondage gentlemen’s club will bring the pain. thus the viewer is kept on edge during languorous interludes that would appear benign if not for the threat — or promise — of sudden attack. one hilarious early scene, a showcase for matsumoto’s razor - sharp comic timing, has takafumi suffering the humiliation of having his sushi rolls repeatedly squished by a femme’s fist .
shifting from gentle piano music to jazzy pop and ’70s - style disco, the score by shuichi sakamoto and shuichiro toki mirrors the gamut - running pic itself. sound work periodically breaks total silence with david lynchian blasts of noise. other tech credits are tops .
( japan) a drafthouse films (in north america) release of a yoshimoto kogyo co. production, in association with yoshimoto creative agency, phantom films. produced by akihiko okamoto. executive producers, hisaya shiraiwa, hiroshi osaki .
directed, written by hitoshi matsumoto. camera (color), kazunari tanaka; editor, yoshitaka honda; music, shuichi sakamoto, shuichiro toki; production designer, etsuko aiko; costume designers, rie araki, daisuke iga; sound, yoshitaka honda; visual effects supervisor, kentaro nishio; associate producers, natsue takemoto, keisuke konishi; assistant director, tomohide sano; casting, masunobu motokawa, yumi takada .
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july, 2016: garrison keillor reflects on the art of the performance as
prairie home
celebrated 40 years with a live show at macalester college in st. paul .
thousands of sheet - draped, dirt - streaked and blood - soake, limping party animals took to the streets of downtown minneapolis for the 2015 zombie pub crawl .
national portrait gallery is one of washington, d. c.' s best .
movies and tv shows are certified fresh with a steady tomatometer of 75% or higher after a set amount of reviews (80 for wide - release movies, 40 for limited - release movies, 20 for tv shows), including 5 reviews from top critics .
matsumoto works overtime to keep this vital once the basic premise has been established, but the cultural subtext is so potent that he really can' t go wrong .
a little punishment goes a long way, especially for the rest of us, yet on it drags, torturously, slap, kick, slap, kick .
the self - reflexivity, the bone - dry salaryman foibles, the sudden appearance of office - style interviews among the assorted dominatrices - are attenuated by a hopelessly tedious a - plot .
matsumoto stamps his lurid creation as inappropriate for all audiences under the age of 100 - which some will consider sound advice .
heady stuff, indeed, but perfect midnight - date movie fare if you' re, uh, in the mood .
suggesting “fight club” as directed by luis buñuel, the plight of takafumi continues along its cartoonishly reckless trajectory, with the beleaguered man facing down a series of combative dominatrixes under the orwellian gaze of their employer and worrying about the fate of his family. setting aside what it all means, the sheer lunacy is increasingly hilarious, particularly as it enters “big man japan” territory with its superhuman creations: dominatrixes with inventive personas like the queen of impressions and the queen of saliva stalk takafumi from every direction to keep him from asserting control of his life. and that, in turn, arouses him .
the deal was negotiated by tim league and james emanuel shapiro on behalf of drafthouse films and miyuki takamatsu of free stone productions on behalf of the producers.
r100 is a japanese dramedy film directed by hitoshi matsumoto . the film had its world premiere at 2013 toronto international film festival on september 12 , 2013 . 
r100 is a japanese dramedy film directed by hitoshi matsumoto. the film had its world premiere at 2013 toronto international film festival on september 12, 2013.
r100 is a japanese dramedy film directed by hitoshi matsumoto. the film had its world premiere at 2013 toronto international film festival on september 12, 2013.