Gekkô no sasayaki

In Moonlight Whispers, the first film by Akihiko Shiota (Don't Look Back, Harmful Insect), a young Japanese student Hidaka Takuya (Kenji Mizuhashi) will do anything to prove his love for Kendo partner Kitihara Satsuki (Tsugumi). This includes licking the sweat off of her feet, listening to her having sex with a friend, and even jumping over a waterfall. Based on a manga (Japanese comic book) by Masahiko Kikumi, the film is not about kinky sex but about adolescents involved in a love so deep it completely distorts their sense of perspective. Shiota's wry observational camera captures a marginal but valid aspect of the adolescent experience as profoundly as Van Sant's Elephant captured the high school milieu that led to guns and violence.

Takuya and Satsuki are shy students at the same high school and belong to the Kendo club (a sport involving two single combatants who wear padded gear, then try to beat each other with either end of a padded stick). Satsuki is a top player and a most sought-after companion. Backed by the soft guitar melodies of Shinsuke Honda, the two friends begin dating and everything seems normal until she discovers that he is more interested in sniffing her underwear, photographing articles of her clothing, and making audio tapes of her going to the bathroom than in having sex. When Takuya puts a twist on the meaning of "puppy love" and tells her he wants to be like her obedient dog, she calls him a pervert and begins spending more time with another classmate, Uematsu Tadashi (Kusano Kitahara).

With a fast turnaround that seems a bit out of character, Satsuki soon discovers that she finds pleasure in playing the dominating role and begins ordering the compliant Takuya around, asking him to do more and more outlandish things. The two feed off of each other, however, and continue a relationship of domination and submission with Takuya willing to go to degrading lengths to gain Satsuki's approval. In recent years, a number of theorists have suggested that sadomasochism can be a healthy form of sexual arousal among consenting individuals. While there may be a core of truth to this, this film is not a good example. There is a strong element of self-destruction and lack of self-respect in the behavior of the two lovers and Satsuki admits she has thought of suicide.

Although I'm not sure what the director had in mind in making this film, Moonlight Whispers touched me deeply and, even when I was repulsed by the behavior of the characters, I felt a deep compassion for their pain. There is no trace of exploitation in Shiota's film and, while mental health experts might frown, the relationship feels organic to the characters and not pathological. The director makes no judgments, showing only the lengths people with low self-esteem will go to feel wanted and needed. I was reminded of the words of author Georges Bernanos when he wrote, "How easy it is to hate oneself. True grace is to forget. Yet if pride could die in us, the supreme grace would be to love oneself in all simplicity". What this brilliant and disturbing film says to me more than anything else is that we cannot truly love another human being unless we learn to love ourselves.

Well, I just saw my first Japanese film [Sasayaki (2000) USA] that showed Japan just as I viewed it last year - the landscape, the city, country, rice patties, trains, canned soda dispeners and the natural hot spa. In essence, a motion visual that in one or more of the 1200 digital images that I captured, had an equivalent that my eye saw as meaningful to my CY2000 trip. I even went to a local high school and took pictures of a martial arts training of local youth in southern Japan.

The only thing missing from my trip was the basic content of this film - its story.

This is a coming of age story with a tinge of Japanese politeness and tradition in social introduction, just skewed by a few years in time backwards to the American experience - perhaps into the 60's when sex during high school was the daring thing to do and then talk or brag about.

As a coming of age story, the script and acting maintains a balance of innocence and exploration as the theme dances around sadomasochism in an increasing eddy that entraps the next experience.

The beauty of this film is its innocence and its honesty in portraying the boundaries of sexual experience and an obsession that can bind innocence into something more permanent outside of those first sexual experiences and beginnings.

It is not a fearful film to watch, but simply a difficult film to describe without creating fear in its next, potential viewer. As the film ends, there is still an essence of innocence and beauty and love between the boy and girl.

In it's simplest form this movie is about a boy and a girl who fall in love.

While that could make a good movie this one throws in a realistic problem. The boy gets off on masochism. While many viewers may find this scary it is a realistic and common fetish. I for one thinks it is quite exciting.

But as erotic as some people might find it that's not what the movie deals with. It deals with the psychological impact of that realization.

The girl does not know how to handle that aspect of the relationship and the boy finds himself 'desturbed and perverted' Problems arise and both try to come to terms with the situation in different ways.

Whitout going too much of the story away I want to make clear this is NOT a pornographic movie. It tries to address certain more exotic aspects of sexuality in a normal, non-judgmental way. It shows us what could happen in a relationship when one or both parties has a fetish. It also shows us that having a fetish does not mean that the love for one-another is different than any other relationship. Just the way someone expresses it or experiences it is different.

All in all a very honest and heartwarming movie.

Now I may not have many things to say about Moonligh whispers as it's such surrealism film that doesn't even knows what it's is it art project is a fetish film is it a psychological horror thing ? I don't know and I don't think the writers knew either .

It's not unwatchable but for me a person who doesn't like Surrealism and such I didn't have fun watching it or even analyzing it didn't give me any fun.

Side note but Moonlight Whispers got many foot fetish scnces that's both groos and sexy ( and I say this as foot fetishist myself it's the actress tsunami got beautiful feet ) anyway that is all I have got on this film .

As one for years who has repressed my feelings about certain fetishes, this movie was truly liberating. I admire how the director treats the subject so maturely and the manner in which the young woman confronts her boyfriend's desire to "be her dog". For those of you that actively participate in certain fetish lifestyles, this movie is a can't-miss. And for those of you who don't, you will enjoy the complex relationship between the young man and woman and the manner in which they learn to hurdle the obstacles that stand in the way of their love.

BDSM is not just about dragon women in black leather cracking whips and the men who willingly submit. This movie truly captures the subtleties of BDSM and explores deep into the psychology of the characters to find out why they desire to act out their fantasies in such an uncommon manner. Enjoy.