Osou!

Yasuharu Hasebe's 1978 controversial flick 'Osou!' is a Weird & Slightly Disturbing film that has loads and loads of sexuality. Women are raped, gagged and bruised throughout. So much SEX, that it gets to you after a point.

Yasuharu Hasebe Cinema is freaking abstract. One can't understand why he made 'Osou!'? What was he trying to say through this film? This 72-minute long film, is filled with sexual abuse towards women. 'Osou!' doesn't stand as a innovative fare, it only stands as a abstract fare.

'Osou' will Only be enjoyed by Horny Teenagers. And is, and will be disregarded by a major chunk of movie-buffs for it's weird execution.

A Japanese policewoman is raped by a black-gloved truck driver in a very stylish and unsettling rape scene.After the sexual assault the woman becomes obsessed with rough sex and rape."Attacked!" is not as vicious as "Assault!Jack the Ripper" or "Rape!13th Hour",but sleaze comes quick and heavy in this misogynistic exploitation classic.The classical score is awesome and welcome change from usual jazz scores of Hasebe's violent pink flicks.For fans of Nikkatsu's Roman Pornos or pinku eiga cinema in general "Attacked!" is a must-see.Finally big thanks for fertilecelluloid for giving me an opportunity to watch this unfairly forgotten and ignored violent pink.9 out of 10.

Nikkatsu pink classic 'Osou!' stars Asami Ogawa as Kumiko, a pretty policewoman who, after being repeatedly raped by an unseen assailant, doesn't get even by feeding her attacker his own knackers, but rather learns to appreciate the pleasures of forced sex, even to the point of waiting longingly for the next assault; if ever there was a film guaranteed to get a feminist's knickers in a twist, this is it! (although judging by the heavy misogynistic content in many a Nikkatsu pink movie, feminism was still a very alien concept in 70s Japan; even if a woman did try and complain to director Yasuharu Hasebe, I imagine that his answer would've been along the lines of 'You know what your problem is, love? You need a damn good seeing to!', followed by a swift smack on the rump).

Aware of its controversial story-line, and having already seen Hasebe's highly offensive rape-themed movies 'Rape! 13th Hour' and 'Assault! Jack the Ripper', I was fully expecting 'Osou!' to be the mother of all 'violent pink' films, but was surprised to find it a comparatively tame affair, lacking the hard edge evident in the director's other work: the repeated attacks on Kumiko are shot in a surprisingly restrained fashion (ie., very little flesh on show) and there's no gory violence to break up the repetitive (and ultimately tedious) scenes of rough rumpy-pumpy.

With its bizarre premise, stark cinematography and an excellent soundtrack that makes great use of instantly recognisable classical music, 'Osou!' is certainly not a total waste of time for fans of the genre—besides, Asami Ogawa is way too cute for it to ever be considered that—but neither is it the totally reprehensible piece of extreme cinema that I believed it would be.

It's interesting to me, the pinku approach to rape. In Western cinema it tends to be an instant source of horror, a spur to vengeance, a thing entirely negative without any nuance. I've only seen a few pinku films so far but their approach is different, rape is something without such overwhelming connotations, sure it can be terrible, but also a spur to plot and character that isn't entirely negative, an entry into sexuality which isn't a simple matter of warped power dynamics or unpleasant titillation. Attack is a prime example of the more exploratory approach to rape, though rape is its driving force it isn't a force that leads just to horror and violence, instead it is also transformatory and an impetus to self realisation. Kumiko, a policewoman with an interest in violent pornography is raped by a particularly cavalier villain (he rams her car into an alley with his truck), this leads her on a course of sexual discovery with unexpected (well, maybe not entirely unexpected) results. In this harsh world, sex is lurid, selfish, bouncing, passionate, and sometimes sex is unwilling. One thing I found interesting about this one is that the rape side of things is never approached for eroticism, in fact there are only a couple of notably eroticised passages in the film. I was a little surprised, this being a Yasuharu Hasebe film (and my first experience of the notorious director) but looking at his filmography I see it came just a few films after his most infamous work and so perhaps there was a notion towards respectability in the film. Instead of sleazier kicks, the rapes in this one are gritty, shot hemmed in and bleakly thrilling, they have a curiously exciting edge. Sex on the other hand is shot a little further out and is always boisterous, often noisy, a throbbing uncontrollable expression. There are a fair few scenes of both rape and sex during the course of the film, as our heroine becomes obsessed with her attacker during the course of a bleak realisation of her place in this rampant world. Its a sad and fascinating spiral, held together by a bravura performance by Asami Ogawa as Kumiko, with a scene in which she rediscovers her body, first impassive then passionately particularly impressive. The supporting cast is equally fine, Yoko Azusa as her distant friend and others, while Hasebe keeps things interesting and even tense throughout, doing especially well with the music choices. Several well known classical pieces appear (Ode to Joy and Moonlight Sonata among them), as well as a fair admixture of Japanese lounge, its a nice combination and the use of classical music alongside violent and sexual imagery is really rather striking. Altogether, I rather liked this one once I got used to the minimal nudity, its a well thought out and thought provoking affair with a couple of great jolts and a lingering unease. Seekers after the nastier of these sorts of films may be disappointed but by and large I had a pretty good time. Worth investigating at any rate I'd say.