La vie extraordinaire de Sachiko Hanai

Apparently, one critic described "Hatsujo kateikyoshi: sensei no aijiru" (called "The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai" in English) as "Fahrenheit 9/11" directed by David Cronenberg. I actually think that I would describe it as "Enemy of the State" directed by Russ Meyer. In fact, I don't know whether to recommend this movie or pan it. True, it deals with the invasion of Iraq, but a porno movie - whether hard core or soft core - is not exactly the place to talk politics! On one level, this movie could lead to hypocrisy accusations: while trying to expose political issues, they spend half of the movie showing off the woman's body, and the whole thing is really just a chauvinist fantasy. If you ask me, these sorts of movies don't really merit controversy.

So, see it if you want, and see whether or not you can come up with a solid opinion of it.

violence and sex burning high in a dizzy flash that projects the built icon of our contemporary world, America and her leader.

you can put yourself through many intriguing ideas throughout this movie. do Japanese love urban America lifestyle? are they just addicted to the glamour fantasy like on a cheap drug? or do they seriously take it as a joke upon themselves that ultimately hits back to the source?

giving in to the senses will melt preconceptions and make it so more real... but don't just take it for the lust it brings upon you. if you do give in try to keep yourself cool

• it's like a bullet in the head!

A lot of soft-core sex, yes... after about the fifth sex scene they become not only gratuitous, but untitillating and annoying. In fact, some of the sex just blatantly screams "fanservice" (anime term).

The politics are heavy-handed and sledgehammer style. Yes, W.'s there, playing a demonic presence - but somehow it's less insulting to him than, say, a European movie would've been.

Great bizarre surreal stuff in the first 45 minutes. Kind of liked where it was going.

There's a lot of it that reminded me of manga mixed with 60's Italian surreal trippy movies. But then the last 1/2 of the movie just seems like they ran out of money and ideas.

After it hits the hour mark, you start to feel the momentum running down... some of the best ideas that you expect to be going somewhere just unravel. Characters are used up and disposed of, or sometimes just disposed of. A whole scene plays out in a cave that I thought would never ever ever end. I don't mind that they didn't spoon-feed the essential message of the film but... What WAS the message ? No clue. If any Amer/Euro etc. movie started dropping philosophy-bombs like this in an attempt to prove how smart it is, it'd be laughed off the street. But since they're spouted by a kawaii Japanese girl, well, then, bless her heart.

A strange title sequence at the end of the end credits, too.

Some budgetary constraints are very apparent - sound effects, many editing points, and one (I hesitate to even call it) shootout was hilariously awful. Some very cheap makeup jobs.

I compare this to Kiyoshi Kurosawa's "Cure" - they're different kinds of movie but "Cure" also has a surreal sense - the characters feel like real people and it's terrifying. "Sachiko" just leaves me... pfft. nah. Good enough.

Exploring other genres is fun. I have never heard of Japanese "Pink" before. Of course, I never heard of nunsploitation either, but I am having fun exploring that.

The premise of this film is just too weird. A prostitute gets shot in the head and, instead of dying, becomes a genius. She's also carrying George Bush's finger. How strange can a movie get? Now, you just have to imagine soft-core porn while discussing Nietzsche and Kirkegaard, et. al. Of course, it is the discussion of the neocons that make it interesting, the the "Bush Technique" that will have you in stitches.

Netflixers will certainly want to explore this film. How often does your porn come with philosophical or political messages? The only thing that spoils this otherwise Tromaesque offering is the gratuitous rape scene.

It's hard to know just what to make of the Japanese film, "The Glamorous Life of Sachiko Hanai." Is it a parody of a softcore porn flick or just a softcore porn flick itself? I tend to think it's the former, since, along with its myriad (and fairly graphic) simulated sex scenes, the film is also a wildly funny, tongue-in-cheek absurdist farce, replete with social criticism and political commentary for the deeper thinkers in the crowd. Not all of it works equally well, but you at least gotta' give 'em props for trying.

Sachiko Hanai is an attractive young tutor with what a polite person might describe as an "active interest in sexual expression." Despite her job as a teacher, Sachiko is no great shakes in the brains department, until, that is, she is accidentally shot in the forehead by a secret agent from North Korea. Due to the bullet's strategic placement in the cerebral cortex, Sachiko suddenly becomes a super genius, able to comprehend French philosophy, complex laws of physics and arcane mathematical equations with no trouble whatsoever. She also develops a paranormal ability to peer into the unseen mysteries of the universe and to foretell future events. Her condition, however, does not curtail her appetite for sex; in fact, if anything, her newfound intelligence seems only to exacerbate it.

Indeed, much of the fun of "Sachiko Hanai" derives from the incongruous juxtaposition of raw sexuality with intellectual pretentiousness. There's something immensely funny about watching people make passionate love while debating the finer points of dialectical materialism and String Theory or using Susan Sontag and Noam Chomsky as aphrodisiacs. The actors help to pull it off by playing their scenes with a straight-faced, deadpan seriousness that enhances the humor.

The plot gets even weirder when Sachiko finds herself in possession of the cloned, self-animated finger of George W. Bush and the machine that would allow it to unleash an arsenal of deadly nuclear weapons on an unsuspecting world. How's that for a storyline?

I frankly have no idea what this spy thriller cum sex comedy is really all about, but I had a great deal of fun watching it just the same.