Tenshi no harawata: Nami

Just when you feel you may have, at last, some measure of Japanese cinema you find out that you do not even have the measure of this ultra extraordinary series - this being number three. Absolutely non stop and for almost a half of the time this means non stop rape sequences. Nami is investigating the consequences of rape by searching out the victims and interviewing them for her magazine. We see the enactment as she reads up on it and we see it again when the individual relates it and sometimes we see it again as Nami's fascination deepens and she begins to fantasise. For good measure we get a re-run of them all at the end as well. As well as all this the tone of the film, fairly routine at the very beginning, begins to take on a sultry sexiness, then a more stylised slant before tipping deliriously over the edge with wide scale scenes of madness, mayhem and more rape with bloody violence added in. As if it were not enough the Nami is gradually getting more sexually excited by these stories she is retelling but we discover that her new found boyfriend is estranged from his wife because she went off with her rapist! There are so many mixed messages in here I shall be interested to listen to the commentary track and also to see this incredible tour de force once more. But not for the moment, this is a very difficult and emotional ride and if I was not shaking afterwards I was certainly profoundly affected. Bold, courageous film making taken way beyond the edge and down through many murky, but not unexciting, levels of depravity.

"Angel Guts:Nami" is a third installment in Nikkatsu Studio's roman porno series.This time a young female reporter Nami tracks down women who have been savagely raped in the past.Unfortunately for her,she interviews a nurse who had been a victim of rape.Raping Nami and then brutally sodomizing her,the nurse has in fact shown Nami what she was looking for.Once again,like the victim she has interviewed,Nami herself becomes suicidal,unbalanced and feeling very dirty."Angel Guts:Nami" is a pretty nasty Japanese rape film.It's a well-directed and superbly lit assault on viewer's senses.The rape scenes are rather brutal and will certainly leave some viewers disturbed,but anyone who likes Japanese pink movies won't be disappointed.The acting is quite good with Eri Kanuma giving excellent performance as Nami.So if you enjoyed other installments of controversial "Angel Guts" series you can't go wrong with "Nami".8 out of 10.

Third and superb installment in the ANGEL GUTS series takes a tonal leaf from the pages of director Koji Wakamatsu.

Eri Kanuma is sensational, beautiful and a smoldering figure of naive sexuality as Nami, a woman who is writing a series of articles on women who have been raped. Although she is a pushy, insensitive reporter, her writing has raised the circulation of "The Woman", the magazine she writes for, so she is given carte blanche to take her journalistic ambitions where her heart desires.

While watching this outing, it is inevitable that Nami herself will be raped; much of the film's suspense is borne out of this erotic inevitability. Moreso than the previous two episodes in the series, the relentless raping here is highly eroticized and depicted with high style. The imagery is never less than fascinating and provocative, and the morality presented is certainly worthy of debate.

Director Noboru Tanaka conveys the underlying surrealism of Takashi Ishii's screenplay effortlessly and inventively. The choice of angles, lighting, constant use of rain and attention to carnal detail makes for a wild, purifying experience.

Ms. Kanuma more than adequately portrays a woman drawn to the "horrors" she reports. Initially repulsed by the details of the sexual assaults, she, ultimately, becomes fascinated by the imagined sexual frisson of the crimes.

Takeo Chii turns in a worthwhile portrait of an ex-book editor (Muraki) who is searching for a woman who left him for her rapist; Muraki's relationship with Nami possesses an uneasiness that adds a good deal of suspense to their many scenes together.

A pseudo-office rape is a stand-out sequence, as is the molestation of a nurse by a man in a grotesque mask.

Tanaka creates a carnal carnival of forbidden delights and pushes every aspect of every scene to the limit with worthwhile results.

A lengthier installment than most, ANGEL GUTS: NAMI possesses a courage rarely seen beyond the perimeters of Japanese cinema.

Nami Tsuchiya this time (The name not the character is reused) is a journalist for a women's magazine. She is doing a series of articles on the experiences of rape victims often hounding them for pictures and an interview. Along the way she meets a man that they share a connection with the research.

The first hour was very interesting. Does a deep dive in the experiences of the rape victims and their current situations. You also get Nami's perspective as she both sympathizes with the victims as she doggedly pursued them. The last half hour it becomes very surreal including several dream sequences. The characters towards the end don't even do things you would expect normal people to do. Several WTH moments.

I was very engaged in the story until the last 30 minutes. Then it all went south. A movie I would have rated a 7 or 8 ended up a 6 or more accurately a 5.5.

This third entry in the "Angel Guts" films is as different to the "Red Classroom" as that one was to "High School Co Ed". This film has Nami, a reporter for a popular womens' magazine, doing a series of stories on rape victims. The film draws parallels with the sensialistic exploitative treatment that rape victims, whom just want to forget and move on from the tragic event in their lives, get from the media and how in some ways that can be as bad or worse than the act itself. Nami is willing to do anything to get these victims to tell about their rapes, with all the juicy lurid details, all in the name of the dubious sound-byte "saving other girls from having to go through it". Director Noboru Tanaka took over for the director of the two previous films, Chusei Sone. Tanaka's style is decidedly more visually harse as I found myself squirming in my seat numerous times, this outing is NOT one for the faint of heart. Furthermore, to my horror, I found myself wanting for Nami to be inevitably raped herself for the awful treatment of the victims. Suffice it to say I needed a shower to clean the grime off me after this one.

My Grade: B-

DVD Extras: Commentary by Jasper Sharp; Bio/Filmographies; a 40 minute interview with Noboru Tanaka; Original Sleeve art; and Trailers for this and 4 other Angel Guts Films (High School Co Ed, Red Classroom, Red Vertigo, & Red Porno) all available in Artsmagik's Box-set, but for some reason the 6th film "Angel Guts: Red Flash" is not in the set