Tenshi no harawata: Akai kyôshitsu

Second in the series and the second by Mr Sone and what an achievement it is. The rawness of the first is gone but this is not to say there is any less passion or vigour. Beginning with a shock sequence, this ends with an even more shocking one and for a centrepiece has a prolonged scene set in a love hotel in which the central female character, Nami, seems to turn into one of Edvard Munch's vampire women before our very eyes. This tour de force, encompassing love, marriage, passion and sentimentality concentrates more upon sexual violence and the aggression and greed of the participants. Whatever the type of relationship depicted, we are shown the same tendency towards abuse and to increase our anxiety all this is intercut with scary/sexy scenes of the making of porno movies and photo sex magazines. A challenging film that does not stop asking us questions whilst showering us with titillation, violence, abuse and fierce erotica.