I would say acting is fine and camera work is fine and everything but....I just do not really feel that the situation that is set up in the start is fully used. There could have been so many situations that could have been set up to make it more interesting.After the set up of the plot in the movie I found it very easy to see how the movie would end and I did not not really find the travel to the end emotional interesting or exploring in any way.I would say there are lots of great Japanese movies out there. You can find better than this one.

Viewed on DVD. Restoration = ten (10) stars; cinematography/lighting = two (2) stars. Director Nagisa Oshima's test bed for experimenting/playing with film techniques at the expense of a credible story line, a plot with potholes, and unbridled free-ranging actresses/actors. This is a tale filled with many twists and turns most of which are telegraphed ahead (and far from surprising) or simply unbelievably dumb. On the surface, the plot appears almost Hitchcockian, but immediately disintegrates with even the most rudimentary analysis. The Director tries valiantly to use a wide- screen cinematic format for close-ups, but only ends up with chopped-off faces/heads. He also often fails to take full advantage of the format by not fully filling the screen from side to side. Lab-processed effects are interesting when first used, but quickly become seen-that-before boring as they ramble on and on. Cinematography (wide screen, color) comes across as little better than a home movie, and scene lighting is simply terrible (the major plot point of a killing on a train is impossible for the viewer to see--as are all dark/night scenes in the film--although one character claims to have witnessed it (using night-vision goggles, perhaps?)). Acting appears to be mostly ad lib, the score is fine and adds impact to scenes, and the subtitle are okay. Overall a fascinating experience if you park your brain on the coffee table and just enjoy the ride. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

Nagisa Oshima's Pleasures of the Flesh is the first film produced by his first studio, Sozosha, after he parted ways with Shochiku in order to make provocative films, even though there's nothing in this movie that's more radical than his earlier works, which were equally as aggressive. Similarly, this film is often classified as a pinku movie, but it really isn't (for starters, there is no nudity), so I think that classification comes strictly based on its title. Also, for some reason it's listed as a comedy on several sites, despite being anything but.The movie presents a line-up of low-lives, immoral characters and all- around unpleasant people typical for Oshima's social realist dramas. It's a dark tale of lost love, obsession, cruel ironic twists, aimless lives and a shallow, materialistic society whose members are doomed from the start. The main character is a major douche-bag, but it's not like the people around him are any better. There's a jazzy undertone reminiscent of the films of Seijun Suzuki and Kiju Yoshida, and Mariko Kaga, one of the best '60s Japanese actresses, appears as the female lead. All in all, pretty good, but the story's potential is greater than its realization. Also, the colors are really washed up, which particularly ruins the night scenes.

There are too many flaws, and Dumbest Possible Action tropes, for Pleasures Of The Flesh to broach greatness, but there are superb moments right next to bad. As example, while the forthrightness of the admission by Hayami is not believable, character-wise, it is one of the bleakest and most searing indictments of the human character ever put on film; and part of that burn comes from the fact that its ascription of human flaws is dead on. And in this it has a far more realistic take on human evil than Crime And Punishment. While a good portion of the film has dated, in terms of conventions of dress and sexual mores, at the gut, human level, the film is till searingly accurate, much like the best episodes of The Twilight Zone. That, plus its many positive qualities, makes this an important film, if not a great one. And that's more than enough to recommend its being watched and, hopefully, understood.