I.K.U.

I know its possible to have a serious movie that has explicit sex in it. I encounter these enough to know that they should exist and I am glad of it.

Its a bit different when the intent of a film is to serve a prurient need outside of the context of what we consider "real" movies. Porn is usually discriminated from other films by existing outside of the need for story. This isn't quite right because there's always story, its just with porn the stories the viewer brings are so strong and deep that they only have to be referenced in the briefest of shorthands. These stories and shorthands interest me because the implied stories are (I think) complex and the shorthands are clean, universally understood and succinct in their visual form.

So I spend time with films that purport to mix porn and real storytelling. Michael Ninn impressed. Max Candy maybe. Some single projects from the 70s.

Now this. Its unapologetically porn, but on the softish side. What's interesting is that if you take it as porn it seems to deliberately cancel itself because (like "Sex Psycho") it covers so many types of sexual encounter that it is bound to offend whatever story a porn-inclined viewer will bring.

The story thread of this is clever enough to warrant description. Its designed as if it were a chapter in a "Bladerunner" world: replicants designed for (or at least adapted for) sex. The story is pretty complex, not in what you see but in what is explained. A replicant takes on seven bodily forms, so as to collect a variety of intense orgasms (apparently the Japanese term for orgasm is iku). The purpose of this is to transfer them to a pill so an evil corporation can make money and gain power. By transferring the orgasmic knowledge to the company, the replicant will buy her freedom.

The "Bladerunner" allusions are scant except for one critical piece in the very beginning where we (and it seems the replicant's control) encounter an origami crane from "Bladerunner." If you know that movie, you'll know that the crane plays a key role in switching the whole focus of the story from that of the theatrical release to a radically different and more exciting one in the "director's cut." I won't detail the shift here, but it had to do with shifting into the realm of directed dreams. And that's big when it comes to stylish porn. Worth looking into.

Speaking of "into," for some reason the filmmaker chose to have a repeated effect of a woman's (and one a man's) "insides" as penis/hand/probe thrusts. Its a puzzling choice.

Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

This film got a bit of attention in the press when it was the first porn to ever be screened at Sundance. It was hyped as "erotic entertainment of the future"; an adult film made with a geek sensibility. Ultimately, it comes across as being pretentious, boring, and most importantly, completely devoid of sexual heat. There's supposedly a plot involving the evil operator of a virtual reality habitat that provides sex for anyone that "jacks in" (pun intended). But, you have to read the supplemental material on the DVD to get a sense of it. It's an embarrassingly cheap looking future, littered with BLADE RUNNER references and knock-off Wendy Carlos music ( cued when sub-par dance music from the mid-90's isn't being played). The sex scenes involving penis to vagina contact are all blurred; understandable for a Japanese release, completely unacceptable for a U.S. DVD. Don't even bother renting this movie.

IKU: This film, titled I.K.U., which simply translates from Japanese to English as "orgasm" as in "I'm Coming!", is quite the mixed bag of feelings for me. First off, it's tag line of "This Is Not Love, This Is Sex. A Japanese Sci-Fi Porn Feature" already hands us the delightful notion that this is going to be chock full of Oriental nudity and hopefully plenty of great looking Japanese gals engaging in softcore sex. But not only that, these glorious scenes of gratuitous nudity will be splapped into a snazzy science fiction, computer animation enhanced cyber-punk action flick. Right? Nope! I was wrong. It's EXACTLY what female Taiwanese director SHU LEA CHEANG claimed it would be... PORN, pure and simple. Not so much as in straight hardcore "stick it in and pull it out" triple X adult video store porn but more like an attempt to be an "avant garde" experimental sex film. I mean it's loaded with niffty camera angles, neon lighting, quirky CGI effects, futuristic set pieces, and a techno/industrial soundtrack performed by the SABOTEN Band. Oh, and not to mention, the most appealing aspect of all, lots and lots of sex. Story, as if we need one, goes something like this... the Genom Corporation (no relation to the classic Anime series BUBBLEGUM CRISIS) makes beautiful female replicants, or better put, "sex-droids" who venture out into the public and engage in "love making" acts with various lucky fellas of a future Tokyo. They record the orgasmic pleasures (both his and hers) and return to the home office where this "sex info" is uploaded into Genom's main computer databank. This information will later be used to make some sort of ultimate virtual reality sex program, or game, or a better "love-bot", or hell, I don't really remember anyway. I lost track of the so-called story after the first naked Japanese babe showed up on screen. And there's a-plenty of them to go around too. The featured "robo-chick" is named Reiko of the XXX Generation (played by the elf-like actress TSOUSIE, who could be the closest thing to an Oriental TANK GIRL) and she can assume numerous different appearances throughout her multiple sex encounters. Whatever her sexual partner desires, I suppose. This also gives us, the audience, the chance to catch lots of other gorgeous "real life" pornstar Asian hotties in some down and dirty sweat sessions. Casting credits go to actresses AYUMU TOKITHO as Reiko #1, MARIA YUMENO as Reiko #2, YUMEKA SASAKI as Reiko #3, MIHO ARIGA (!) as Reiko #4, MYU ASOU as Reiko #5, and ETSUYO TUCHIDA as Reiko #6. And well, believe it or not, that's pretty much it for the film. There's actually some other stuff happening now and then but nothing really important since you're here for the exact same reason I was, to see those good looking Japanese sweeties in their birthday suits. However, let me warn the guys out there though, please fast forward past the "underground parking lot" chapter if you're easily offended by homosexual activity. There's a scene where two dudes get way too "friendly" with each other that was so sickeningly foul to watch, it nearly ruined the whole movie for me. Steer clear of it, trust me on this. But other than that, IKU certainly wasn't bad at all if you know what you're getting into from the start. Don't let yourself be surprised like I was by expecting a regular movie-type movie here. This isn't one, but hey, if you think about it, Japanese porn is ALWAYS a great thing to see no matter what.

This experimental sex movie is kind of a sequel to Blade runner. It's book-ended by scenes that are a cheesy homage to the film and the sex robots are supposedly replicants. It's very funny at times and is certainly diverting with it's relentless intercutting of neo-psychedelic special effects with wild camera angles, but this soon all wears a bit thin. Mercifully the version I saw was only 73 minutes long. I enjoyed it and found it exciting but soon started looking at my watch when it was apparent that nothing was really going to happen beyond sex scene after sex scene.

Japanese sci-fi porn about sex robots going out and collecting sexual data by having sex. There really isn't a plot (There's an idea but it doesn't amount to much of anything),just flashy visuals and erotic imagery.

As a collection of images its great but there is little beyond it. Its a variety of couplings with text over them explaining the company that makes the robots and what the background for it all is. A chunk of it is pixelated and a few shots are graphic, but after about ten minutes, when you realize its not going anywhere, it begins to fall down. While I like the idea of the flashy visuals mixing with sex and a semi clever idea, I hate that it just doesn't go anywhere (and does so really fast).

Better to rent an Japanese porn video.