The Perfect Education

If feelings can be filled out for the questions mark, it is not accurate at all. I don't quite understand why the girl will fall for him but it is beautiful and natural, if not persuasive. Maybe for most people it is true they are hunger for attention and acknowledgment. The girl is the sole target of this man, focused and indulged. She could have experienced such feelings from the time she listed picky food from KFC and Macdonald and whatever happened later on....

The staggering success of 50 Shades of Grey has once again revealed to the world what women deep down in their lizard brains really want. Feminists will shriek in protest but deep down even they have these fantasies, or maybe even more so. This japanese movie takes this revelation in evolutionary psychology to its ultimate conclusion. Reading the summary I was expecting a far darker film, but it's actually quite mellow and even funny at times. Not bad.

This film is not really what I expected. Picking up the HK-made VCD from a rack of many HK films, one expected a cheap skinflick with a dash of drama. Instead, it is more an on-the-cheap-side drama with dashes of skin.

Of course the story is somewhat lacking in credibility. However, taking this into account, it is quite involving and watchable. At least for the first half, I was strongly reminded of the John Fowles novel THE COLLECTOR (also made into a film in the 1960s).

The film is mainly played as straight drama, which makes the funny bits even better. Most of the humour is provided by the bunch of oddballs who are the other tenants of the building where the kidnapper and his charge live, and their reactions to what each other does.

Much of the driving force of the story is the question of how long before the kidnapper is discovered and how long before the girl starts to go along with the plan (that she WILL go along with it is never in doubt, despite several weak red herrings which purport to show otherwise).

Given that this film had a Cat III rating in HK, and the subject matter, I was surprised how little nudity there was. The lead actress is of course showed sans clothing quite often, but never full frontal. Even in the shower and sex scenes, the most you see are occasional flashes of tit or bum.

For what appeared to be a fairly cheap production, the acting is very good, and the production boasts a few very well-known actors.

The ending is inconclusive and unsatisfying. Nevertheless, recommended.

This is the first of a series of 7 movies that share a similar theme.

A man kidnaps a high school student to train (educate) to love him. Simple story.

The two leads are excellent and there is definite chemistry between them that has a lot to do with making the story work. The direction is interesting in that it's done as if we are almost secretly watching.

You would think & expect a lot of nudity but you would be disappointed. In fact the female lead is seen naked only for very brief times and at times she is naked but it is not explicit. Don't expect any explicit sex scenes either.

There are a few supporting characters that are played mostly for a little comic relief and to add some depth beyond the small apartment where most of the movie takes place.

This is an example of what a movie can be done with a small budget. The story, direction and acting made an excellent film.