Okoge

In 1992 I saw Okoge when it was originally released in movie theaters in Japan. Intended to be a limited time release only in art-house cinemas, Okoge invaded Japan like a typhoon by breaking box office records during sold out showings. Okoge's original six-week run eventually went on for months! It must have earned a fortune! Seeing Okoge from a western point of view taught me a lot about Japan's gay life at the time. Okoge was filmed throughout Tokyo's main gay section Shinjuku-Nichome. Okoge was daring, and breathtaking for its time. Okoge affords a wonderful glimpse not only into Japan's gay life, but also into its rich social culture. I'm happy to see it's available on DVD! I intend to purchase it.

Overall I'd say OKOGE is pretty melodramatic, and has a few flaws but I still like. I liked the dark, grainy look of the movie, which matches the moody and conflicted characters perfectly. I can't say that I loved the characters - but they are very well-defined, and I did like the central character (Goh), who attempts to negotiate the varied rites of passage a gay Westerner would have to, only to encounter some serious, perhaps Japan-specific dilemmas that might seem anachronistic in the West. As a character he's not very dynamic, but his angst seems extremely real, and this is OKOGE's strong point. The main value of OKOGE almost seems to be as a document of the differences between gay cultures in various developed nations (and of how globalized ideals of what the norms in a given culture should be are often radically at odds with the everyday realities in the local segment of that same culture) - as cinema its' value is debatable, but viewed from a more sociological angle it's a fascinating and very provocative film.

The other reviews have done a pretty good job of describing the story and the dramatic content.

If you are a gay male without any small children in the house, you will almost certainly find this movie thought provoking and interesting for all the reasons mentioned by the other reviewers.

For the more general movie viewer, three caveats:

1) Contains graphic, male, homosexual sex scenes - several of them, that go on for many minutes, and while not showing genitalia, leave absolutely nothing else to the imagination. Also contains a few scenes of slightly disturbing heterosexual sex, also pretty graphic.

2) This is not a comedy. Like many Japanese movies, the U.S. release packaging is quite misleading. This is a serious, melancholy drama with some comic relief in some of the scenes.

3) The DVD package shown is not a true DVD release, but rather a pretty obvious case in which someone took a well worn VHS tape and converted it. It is watchable, but quite grainy and washed out with poor audio quality and none of the features (switchable subtitles for example) that one associates with a true DVD release.

If you are OK with these three caveats, by all means order this DVD.

By the way, for those who do NOT happen to be gay, the leading lady Misa Shimizu is a treat (!)

I just discovered this gem of a movie. The heart of the script writer/director is in the right place and this film is relevant years after it was made. This film shows homophobic men and women, self-hating gay men, but its core characters, Goh and Sayoko, have an internal compass that is true and does not give in to social pressures. A gay man who accepts his gayness, and a woman who loves her gay friend. The film is also fast-paced, melodramatic, comedic -- eminently watchable. Don't see this film to learn about Japan. See it to learn about flawed human beings trying to live with dignity in a flawed world.

Nakajima's take on Japanese attitudes to gays is intriguing to come to 15 years after its initial release. Inevitably, you find yourself asking how much has changed in that intervening decade-and-a-half. The answer is, apart from the hairstyles and fashions, not very much. Gays are still only visible in the public eye in their most effeminate form, and their role in society still seems strictly to be entertaining the straight masses with their raging queen antics. Red-blooded everyday Joe gays like Goh are still in the closet.

It is a paradoxical situation, because most Japanese when pressed express opinions that are tolerant of homosexuality, and out-and-out anti-gay sentiments are rarely, if ever, heard. So why are all the gays hiding?

Of course, the film is more about its characters than social attitudes. Fortunately, Nakajima's nuanced characters and humorous touch ensure that the narrative of lost love and damaged souls redeemed stays on course. The spotlight on social attitudes is never too glaring. Regrettably, the film descends into farce at times, as when the drag queens fight the mobsters, and every time Goh's mother makes her vaudeville-style appearance. But Okoge is enlightening, challenging, moving and still asks uncomfortable questions of Japanese society after all these years. Well worth a look.