Commentaires des utilisateurs

The career of Japanese director Yasuzo Masumura is littered with provocative and disturbing gems which plunge the viewer into the shadow of civilisation to explore the darkest, most twisted, aspects of the human condition. 'Manji' (1964) tells the story of a lesbian love-triangle, dark wartime romance 'Red Angel' ('Akai Tenshi', 1966) is epically bleak, and 'Irezumi' (1966) is a story of bitter vengeance wrecking a woman's soul. However, even among such subversive company 'Moju' ('Blind Beast', 1969) is not only the most bizarre and freakish in his oeuvre, but one of the most psychologically disconcerting films in cinema.

An adaptation of the story of the same name by famed Japanese mystery writer Edogawa Rampo, whose stories were known for what became known as "eroguronansensu", ("eroticism, grotesque, nonsense"), 'Blind Beast' begins with a young model called Aki (Mako Midori) who is soon abducted by Michio (Eiji Funakoshi), a blind sculptor with an obsessive fetish with exploring the female form through the sense of touch. He takes her to his warehouse, which has been grotesquely adorned with various sculptures of over-sized female body parts (lips, eyes, breasts) and a centre-piece of a giant nude, where a bizarre sado-masochistic exploration of their respective psyches is undertaken.

It is surprising and refreshing that, in a cultural landscape that has made torture porn a mainstream genre, a film like 'Moju' still manages to unnerve, and indeed does so in a deeper, more penetrating way, than any gore-laden splatter flick. What makes the film so unsettling for me is that the psychology of the characters is so rich with different layers of perversity that the boundaries that define each of them shift throughout the film before finally merging in an infernal, transcendent symbiosis which collapses the distinction between Michio and Aki, captive and captor, as well as pleasure and pain.

However, while the grotesque eroticism of the film's bizarre premise is by itself discomforting, the cinematography and music are equally haunting and evoke a surreal, nightmare ambiance which captures the claustrophobic internal landscape of the characters perfectly. All told, the film is a compelling hallucinogenic journey through a realm of taboo and, while it may not appeal to all tastes, is certainly recommended for those with a fascination with the darker aspects of the human heart as well as those that enjoy films with genuine artistic aspirations rather than films that merely wish to entertain.

The only 'pinku' film I'd seen before this one was Masaru Konuma's Wife to be Sacrificed, but that didn't prepare me for the oddity of this Japanese 'classic'! Quite what the writers and directors were on is anyone's guess, but whatever it was; it lead to them creating an interesting and unique film that is memorable thanks to it's strange storyline and the way that the ideas are presented without a lot of fuss, which only increases the potency of what the film has to say. The basis of the story is sadomasochism, but director Yasuzo Masumura seems to want to go further as the pleasure-pain idea that S&M is based on is completely overruled by the idea of absolute pleasure through the sense of touch. The film focuses on a blind sculptor who, along with his mother kidnaps a young model after he heard some young kids talking about how exquisite she is. He takes her to his warehouse, which is filled with huge statues and naturally she wants to escape as soon as possible. After a couple of failed attempts, however, she begins to buy into the sculptor's ideas, and soon develops his fixation.

This film definitely is shocking, but not because of any large amount of gore or particularly brutal sex scenes. Director Yasuzo Masumura has done an amazing thing in that he's made a film that is shocking thanks to the ideas that it promotes. Naturally, there's a fair amount of nudity; but it's very soft and clearly wasn't what the director valued most when it came to making this film. There is a rather visceral sequence towards the end which is sure to get the audience cringing, but it's not the most shocking thing about the film - which again is amazing since this would have been the standout in most other movies like this. The atmosphere is surreal throughout, and this is good as it allows the director to throw in just about anything and it comes off as being believable in spite of the fact that a lot of the ideas in the film are really quite ridiculous. I always find it difficult to judge things like acting when a film is subtitled; but the lead duo are at least believable, while Yasuzo Masumura's cinematography and attention to detail is the finishing touch that makes the film what it is. Overall, Blind Beast is a bizarre oddity that verges on brilliance. Well worth seeing!

There are few films as psychosexually unnerving as MOJU, a visually arresting Japanese art-house classic which illustrates a blind sculptor's darkly sexual "idee fixe", and a young woman's metamorphosis of mind and body. This is erotica of a tenebrous nature rarely explored in films, and will surely rouse reproach in today's politically sensitive milieu for its limning of male-induced female disempowent. Initially a resistant captive, she yields gradually to her oppressor, eventuating with the willful(and eager) ultimate surrender of every aspect of her being.

A disquieting sadomasochistic fever-dream, MOJU is also underscored with violative elements of a strangely touching, almost fragile intimacy which develops between the two key characters...a dynamic of tenderness and firebrand which works well. Iconographically, it's a unique and forceful film, transpiring chiefly within the darkness of an expansive subterrane with black walls which exhibit floor-to-ceiling reliefs in depiction of various body parts. A massive, abstractly sculpted female nude is the central fixture, which serves as a bedstead of sorts. The high contrast of these ghostly-white effigies against the black walls creates a surreal illusion of free-floating entities in the crepuscule of space...it's an appropriately asomatous stage for the bizarre 'mise en scene' at hand, and contributes to the the film's abstruse semblance.

Individuals of offroad aesthetic tastes should enjoy this unexampled and very memorable conception...explore it, and you *will* be affected in a spectrum of ways.

8/10...Recommended.

There are sometimes films which are depraved for the sake of being depraved. There is some seriously disturbing stuff happening on the screen but the progression of the narrative to reach that extreme stage seems so contrived that you ultimately end up somewhat dissatisfied in the end!

Based on Rampo Edogawa's story, Yasuzo Masumura's "Blind Beast" (1969) falls in this category. Michio (Eiji Funakoshi) is a blind sculptor (blind since birth) who has, over the years, developed the "sense of touch" to the fullest to satisfy or please himself. All other senses like sound, smell and sight are of no use to him because they aren't the real deal and "sight" he has never known! He has come to learn a lot about how things may look and has developed his own understanding of the forms of various objects around him. Most notably he has become obsessed with the female body as he finds it the most beautiful creation and feeling up the female body parts gives him the most pleasure(!). He has a studio built out of a warehouse and it contains a lot of sculptures of the female body and the individual parts as he has perceived them using his sense of touch! And now he has made "pioneering the art of touch" his life's mission! "An art form for the blind, by the blind" as he describes it!

Enter beautiful model Aki (Mako Midori), stories of whose beautiful body Michio has heard! A desire to feel up Aki's exquisite anatomy and to use her as a model for his latest sculpture drives Michio into kidnapping her with the help of his mother and holding her captive in his studio. Aki tries her best to flee but is overpowered by the blind sculptor and his mother. Amidst the labyrinth of giant female body parts including eyes, lips, nose, breasts, hands, legs, he starts building a sculpture, feeling up a reluctant Aki once in a while and then moulding his clay accordingly!

Aki starts thinking up ways to escape and even makes several attempts to trick the mother-son duo into letting her go. But a dramatic change of events turns this kidnap drama into a strange tale of macabre fetishism, as the kidnapped starts identifying with her captor and finds herself embracing his perverse ways…..

"Blind Beast" surely has the power to grip from its very first frame. The initial few sequences after the kidnapping are very well filmed and give a distinctly eerie and claustrophobic feel as Aki fumbles and stumbles in the surreal studio full of sculpted body parts. It is also commendable that the film doesn't follow the oft-trodden path that kidnap dramas usually take. The final half hour takes an entirely different direction and that's a good thing. What isn't very appealing, however, is the abrupt manner in which that direction is taken! The jump or transition is somewhat half-baked. It is not entirely unusual for kidnap dramas to portray their victims as utterly stupid and clumsy idiots whose repeated attempts to escape always predictably fail, because if the escape really happens, then there is nothing left to film! "Blind Beast"'s Aki is no different, as in spite of some clever tricks she plays to fool the mother-son duo whilst trying to escape, she always manages to bungle up in the end. That's not all, what's more frustrating is how she even gets overpowered by a completely blind man and sometimes even misses some blatantly obvious chances of getting the better of him….all for the sake of movie continuity perhaps?

It also doesn't help that the otherwise efficient blind person who is very adept at sensing a presence from their smell, footsteps and breathing sounds, lacks consistency and behaves in the clunkiest manner at times. Towards the third act, as the film gets to its focal point in a bizarre twist to the proceedings, we, the audiences wonder…how did things even get so far? It just doesn't quite cut it.

But for all its worth, "Blind Beast" is a watchable film and manages to disturb the viewer in the final act, with terrific performances from the two leads Mako Midori and Eiji Funakoshi. One wonders though, whether this film was an excuse for the filmmaker and the lead actor to simply to feed their nasty appetite of fondling their lead woman, because moments when she ISN'T groped in this film are few and far between!

Score: 7/10.

I had been haunted by an image in Phil Hardy's Overlook Encyclopedia of Horror of the two leads in orgasmic contact. The description of the film made me wonder what sort of sick twisted film this was. Twenty years later the film came out on DVD and I picked up a copy.

The plot, such as it is, concerns a blind man who kidnaps a model and holds her against her will. What happens next would be telling, as the three characters, the blind man's mother is his accomplice, interact in ways that are both surreal and primal. Even if you know what happens, you still can't be prepared for what happens.

This is NOT for every taste. The psycho-sexual twists and turns may be not some peoples cup of tea. Even the blood, which by todays standards isn't much, kicks you in the head.

No, its no perfect. The film is a bit too long, but its a trip and a half for those willing to take it on its terms.

Recommended

Moju is ambitious art-house film. It's staged as homage to fine arts and for the most part theatrical. Artist's studio is huge, dark exhibition place for human limbs and parts of human body sculpt out of clay, with two giant naked female body forms in the center. That's the psychedelic stage where this story is to take place. I think it soon became clear there was one most likely scenario for me as viewer: to approach it on intellectual level. Blind Beast has a lot to offer visually, but it's stripped down in its core, an extreme psychology workshop with highly effective, post modern interior. I have noticed certain restraint here, it's not trying to evoke emotional response as primary goal.

Blind sculptor (Michio) with slight Oedipal complex becomes fascinated with young s&m model. With the help of his mother he kidnaps the young girl (Aki) hoping to use her as model for his art. Things do not go quite as planned, turns out the girl is strong willed and stubborn with certain dislike of her new position. Battle of wills thus ensues. Using basic psychology she manipulates naive, asocial artist to gain his trust and up her chances for escaping the house. But, after several failed attempts she is forced to accept her fate and form a relationship with him.

Both of them go through changes, each new step force them to adapt, and find a way to cope with the situation. It resembles a weird game, with ever changing dynamics between the two protagonists. It becomes apparent the girl, whom I first though was superficial or simply ordinary, shows considerable intelligence, and new found appreciation for the world of touch (the only world known to her captor), senses and darkly pleasures. And things escalate from there.

Although protagonists are taking the realm of senses to extremes and turn pleasure into pain, most of violence happens off screen so Blind Beast's subtle and visually beautiful while demonstrating excessive, pathological desires and ideas. I first thought the titular Blind Beast is the sculptor, but have changed my mind during the film...twice. Having seen it, I don't think either of the characters are, I think the title refers to lust, surrender to senses, confirming there is such thing as too much of a good thing.

And its not that you see so much grotesque stuff, you do but thats not the point, but the tension is so taut that it shook me up quite a bit. I have seen Argento and Bava movies with my girlfriend and she didn't get much queasy by that, when we saw this however she really had enough with it two thirds in. And I can sympathize with that quite easily. There is just something that can really torment one and haunt for a long time like very few others, 'Cannibal Holocaust', even if that was silly, and 'Irreversible' spring to mind. Whether its the claustrophobic lighting and location, the excellent actors, the contemplations of Aki or the conclusion of it all is uncertain. Anyway, its a masterpiece, if a disturbing one.

Not recommended if the person who is going to watch is unable to respect woman or even plan to drug rape woman. Unless you are able to respect woman, I would not recommend abnormal males watch this movie.

Based on a novel by Edogawa Rampo who's name sake is Edgar Alan Poe, it's a mystery intrigue that's his specialty. But this one must be one of the most far left story he's ever written.

A blind masseuse kidnaps a model to enjoy her in his private atelier. She finds herself in his wonderland that is dedicated to women's body. If that sound's weird, you're right. This is one of the weirdest movie I've seen.

Mako Midori who plays the lead was known for her good figures. She was also known as actress that's bit out there, so she was the perfect choice for this role. Despite her sexuality, she's confessed that she was rather a late bloomer in regards to sexual matters. Her first boyfriend didn't help in this regards either. But as an actress, she was some what of a sex symbol, as you can see in this movie.

The movie is bit like the "Collector" in that she was collected by this masseuse, and became his sex slave, but I think this is a better made movie. It really is an artistic movie. The fact that it's written by Edogawa Rampo almost guarantees it, and recruiting Mako Midori was an inspired choice.

Not a mainstream movie by any means, but one of the most interesting that's out there.

The successful Japanese model Aki (Mako Midori) is abducted by the obsessed and lonely blind sculptor Michio (Eiji Funakoshi) and his mother (Noriko Sengoku). Aki unsuccessfully tries to escape from Michio's studio, and seduces and manipulates Michio against his mother. Aki develops a weird, sick and tragic relationship with Michio, after her long imprisonment and the close contact with him.

The first thing that came up to my mind while watching "Môjuu" was the clear inspiration of its storyline in William Wyler's "The Collector" (1965); by the other hand, the screenplay of the recent "Tiresia" (2003) is certainly based in these two movies. These three films have the same storyline - an obsessed fan kidnaps a woman and imprisons her, but have very different conclusions. "Môjuu" follows a bizarre and weird way, using destructive sadomasochism between the two lead characters, and the most impressive, in a 1969 movie, i.e., thirty seven years ago. Mako Midori is extremely beautiful; the sets are awesome; the cinematography is wonderful; but this unforgettable sick SM love story is recommended for very specific audiences only, since it is impossible not to feel a disturbance after watching this movie. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Cega Obsessão" ("Obsession Blind")

Firstly, it's worth pointing out that this film is a somewhat rare example of me completely disagreeing with conventional star ratings. I notice that this was ranked ** by the MPAA, and I found myself disagreeing more and more as I watched. This movie isn't some dull, barely plausible piece of work; on the contrary, it's a masterpiece. The acting was riveting, the plot sublime. It was a full-cycle tragedy, intense in its creepiness, its high-strung emotion, and the perverse way in which it ultimately made so much sense to the demented, severely compromised victim and her sympathetic audience. The beauty of this work probably lies way in which nothing obscene or gory is ever shown; like a good novel, the worst bits are left to the reaches of your own imagination, and the story is poetically executed about them, without any crude excesses.

I think the cultural impact of this film is vast. Presented with a world of ecstasy, no human would ever want to return to their own world; the illicit and often tragic hedonism of society is often ignored as well. Tendencies like sadism and masochism, not to mention other addictive patterns, are ridiculed in culture, yet quite common and pervasive in their milder forms.

Anyone approaching this as a piece of softcore porn will find themselves feeling conflicted instead. This is a piece of art; by its very definition, it evades pornography. The intimacy of this film is compelling. Approach it with an open mind...it implores that you accept its convoluted approach. The real horror of this film will exist in your understanding, not your dismissal and revulsion.

Blind sculptor Michio, helped by his mother, abducts beautiful Japanese model Aki, imprisoning her against her will in his studio. After a period of desperation, Aki then tries to escape by seducing and manipulating Michio against his mother. The relationship between Aki and Michio, which Masumura wants to be the heart of the movie, will over time develop in a weird and sick fashion. The movie is not explicitly violent or sexually graphic, but it is an oppressive and generally unpleasant movie to see anyway. You can say that this S&M tale was way ahead of its time (there were very few movies of this kind in 1969), the other question could be whether one can leave the cinema enriched in any way.

Yes, believe it or not, these weird, artistic looking, violent, sadomasochism movies are actual part of a much larger genre, that mostly the Japanese have specialized in. Its genre is often hard to watch but at the same time you will also be able to appreciate the visual beauty and delicateness of the movie.

Out of all the movies I have seen so far that can be put under the same label as "Môjû", this movie is certainly one of the better ones. Its storytelling shock you more than the actual images of the movie and visually it's also a great looking movie with grand and unusual looking sets. It's definitely an artistic movie but it's story will still grab everyone, no matter how simplistic it and odd it all gets at times.

Even though in essence its a sadomasochism movie, the movie is more focused on its psychological sexual aspects and how the characters experience them. There is nudity and gore but that is not just simply what the movie is supposed to be all about.

It's definitely a movie you simply need to experience. A lot can be written about it but it in no way can capture the essence and mood of the movie.

8/10

http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/

This is a wonderfully bizarre tale of the exploration of the senses. It starts out with a blind sculptor (Michio) kidnapping a beautiful model to fully explore her "perfect" body to create a masterpiece. The focus of the artist and model gradually shifts from the tension of the imprisonment to the imprisonment of the senses. As Aki (the model) loses her sense of sight, she and Michio search for ever more intense forms of tactile communication including beatings, stabbings and the demented climax (I'm not telling...). I'm betting you've never seen a movie quite like it.

From 2021 it's not easy to watch this movie as it seems very naive. But I understand that in 1969 it was a big deal to film it.

Part of the Japanese New Wave of the 1960's and early 1970's, - which, like the French Nouvelle Vague developed a new form of cinema, largely made up of film critics, and deconstructionists - Yasuzo Masumura's deeply psycho-sexual drama about power and sensuality, explored ideas such as the changing roles in society (particularly of women), surprisingly - unlike the French wave - through the studio system. Based upon Rampo Edogawa's novel, published in 1931, the film has been previously compared to John Fowles's excellent 1963 novel, 'The Collector' - and certainly some of the themes are similar.

Self-proclaimed "disliked model," Aki (Mako Midori), begins the film in a gallery, her modelling career not going to plan within the commercial world, she had taken a job posing for a famous photographer in "erotic" S&M style images. The exhibition is a success, but here, now, it is early, and she views a strange man fondling a sculpture effigy of her, that resides at the centre of the room. Having hired a masseur, the blind, Michio (Eiji Funakoshi), enters her flat and begins lasciviously to touch her body, proclaiming she has the most perfect body. Michio, along with his mother kidnap Aki, and take her to his warehouse studio - there he states his aim to create a new genre of art, made by and for the blind that is based upon the sensation of touch alone.

As Aki begins to bring deception and manipulation into the mother-son relationship, things begin to spiral out of control, their relationship develops into a strangely symbiotic form, that increasingly leads to a masochistic tryst. As their depravity progresses, the masochistic tendencies become more dangerous (which could easily be seen as absolute influence on Jennifer Lynch's famous failure, Boxing Helena (1993) - it would be surprising if she had not seen it).

Most of the film is set within the cavernous, yet claustrophobic warehouse, which lends an air of stage play. However, the production design is absolutely beautiful, with abstractions of lighting, and the walls covered with hundreds of clay body parts - over sized eyes, noses, legs etc, - of all the women he has previously touched. It is a very interesting film, that will endure for it's psychotic and debasing character studies, and the destruction of the traditional family unit.

www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

Blind Beast isn't cheap to watch. The DVD is. It's pretty durned Good,and it's…important and impressive. Lighter than Irreversible. Very enjoyable at times. Interesting throughout. It made me more comfortable with material I'm not comfortable about being more comfortable with. (Not entirely comfortable watching it, really.) THAT's an ending, certainly. There's THAT. So there. –{don't watch it right before sleeping, is a fair point. XXXy dreams from it, in flavors more poisonous than oft preferred.} But you'll like it. Really. Come on. Watch it. It's Good. Double Dog…don't be a girly. But if you do…glasses, please.

Since this is partly a blog, if I may indulge in a personal story and experience involving a touchy feely blind man, that while watching this show somewhat reminded me of him. I was with a female friend minding own business at a train station near the West. I left her at the ticketing counter while I answered nature's call. When I returned, there was this blind man talking to her, and out from nowhere, a hand shot out and grabbed her arm. I wondered what the heck was going on of course, only for her to assure me that he was just asking for directions, and needed help.

I didn't buy his story naturally, and especially not when his hand started to roam along her arm. Suspicious and not liking this blind dude, I reached out and to my surprise had to exert considerable force to pry his grip on my friend's arm, and he reached out for mine instead. He pleaded that he needed someone to guide him home, and from the address given, it wasn't that far away. So we decided to escort him rather than dumping him there, though along the way he had this iron-vice grip on my arm, as if punishing me for disallowing him the touch of my female friend. To cut it short, we let him be along his way at the foot of his block. I was left with an arm with fingernails dug right in, and a supposed neighbour told us that the blind man is a little crazed, and to ignore him. Who knows what we would have found should we have escorted him to his doorstep, probably find a studio like that in the film! Which was nothing short of amazing, and I think many in the audiences gasped at the audacious sculptures of body parts handing from the walls, like a 3D police photo-fit containing limbs, facial features, and boobs of all shapes and sizes. Eiji Finakoshi plays the blind sculptor Michio, who is looking to transcend his art by seeking a muse with whom he can explore the female body, and together with his acute sense of touch, translate the intricacies and sensual female form to clay. The film opens with his visit to a photography exhibition featuring the model Aki (Mado Midori), and through her narration, there's some strange connection being felt when Michio starts to fondle a sculpture of hers.

Almost like Psycho, Michio lives under the confines of his small house cum studio, under the close supervision of his mother (played by Noriko Sengoku), who go to great lengths in order to care for her disabled son, and that included conspiring with him to kidnap his Aki to become his new muse and inspiration to create that perfect artwork. And from that point on, it's the relationship and dynamics between these three main characters within a constricted space that elevates this film with common sensibilities and rivalry that any layman can identify with.

As the proverbial "they" always say, trouble will brew when there are two women in the house. Aki's presence is typical of a daughter-in-law who has trouble with both the son and his mother. There's this constant tussle between the two women to vie for the guy's attention, whose blindness is almost like a metaphor that we are always put in no good a position where we sometimes fail apply good sense and judgement, and allow emotions to take control. Here, Michio's lust often gives Aki the advantage, who is constantly seeking some means of escaping her ordeal as a kidnapped victim of art. The actors here all put in top notch performances, especially Mako Midori in her role shifting from victim to perpetrator, from helplessness to the gaining of the upper hand, scheming in applying the divide and conquer strategy to wedge jealousy and suspicion between her captors.

The last act was a descent into the strange and weird when the Stockholm Syndrome kicked in and comes full of touchy-feely scenes, with Michio using sexual violence to finally overpower his muse, and of course had plenty to classify the film under gore and horror. In fact, when the last scenes were into their full swing, you can here the yelps of disbelief of the gory obvious that would unfold, especially when director Yasuzo Masumura, who drew upon this Rampo Edogawa story, never failed to remind you of the razor thin line between pleasure and pain. While at times comical with the words of expression used, there's enough here that would make you squirm, and this descent into madness is likely to stick in your mind long after the end credits roll.

Nonetheless this film had impressed me with its huge, surreal artistic objects, and won me over with the middle act, which became the make-or-break. The last act seemed to be undoubtedly classifying this as a cult film for its shock value, though it does put out a statement of the lengths that some would go in order to achieve that level of artistic self-actualization, which comes with pain and sacrifice.