SUFFERING OF NINKO
released 23 July 2018 | 15 | Blu-ray & dVd (dual format) Director Norihiro Niwatsukino Cast Masato Tsujioka, Chris Katô, Hitoshi Murakami, yuichiro Iwasa
As afflictions go, being irresistibly attractive is one most of us could live with. But it’s a bit more problematic when you’re a Buddhist monk sworn to a life of celibacy.
Mixing mild eroticism, gentle humour and folkloric fantasy, this low-budget effort is a slight tale (the credits roll 67 minutes in), and one which largely plays its hero’s peculiar curse for laughs. As Ninko is mobbed by the local womenfolk, it all starts to resemble an Edo-era Lynx advert, or possibly – as a mob of topless suitors pursues him, breasts jiggling in slow motion – a pornier Benny Hill sketch.
Thankfully, Suffering Of Ninko has things going for it beyond merely mild titillation. An encounter with a mysterious female figure uncannily absent of either a face or genitalia is striking. The use of animated sequences in the style of woodcuts and erotic prints is a nice touch. And once Ninko sets out on a journey on which he meets a ronin hunting a succubus, we’re treated to some stunning landscapes: snowdusted mountainsides; forests of tightly-crowded bamboo; waterfalls where naked bodies rise up in the tormented novice’s febrile imaginings. Softcore is seldom so scenic.
Extras A 45-minute interview with the director; Strawberry Jam, a romantic half-hour short. Ian Berriman