First of all, it's not very easy ( and it might not make much sense ) to review a Japanese movie with no subtitles available anywhere if you don't speak Japanese. I watched " Red room 1" , apparently only Yamanouchi's flick with translation ( Thanks to Unearthed Films )and found out that it's not just pure senseless exploitation and sickness. From my personal point of view, director and screenwriter is an intelligent person with fairly bizarre imagination ,but, unfortunately, this is obscured by the fact that there is no other author's movie translated to English ( I hope this will change eventually ). " Girl Hell " , therefore, might seem chaotic, unintelligible and pointless, but my feelings are that this is not the case. I'll try to explain this right away:
The movie has a plot that is coherent and events presented in this shocking, disgusting piece of nihilistic nightmare are obviously connected and represent pieces of a very tragic story - to say the least. The main character - girl with the bicycle - is actually a sister of the horribly victimized woman bandaged , tied with duct tape and repeatedly raped by her father. I know this because the main character talks to her using the word that means " sister" ( I learned that watching Japanese films with subs). So, there's a very violent incest on top of all other horrendous things. It seems that the main girl is somewhat spared from this abuse, so it might result in her feelings of guilt over her sister being a " sacrificial lamb" , and herself being at least partially spared because of that ( or maybe some other reason too). The victimized sister bears a horrible wound on her stomach that looks like a result of a failed suicide attempt ( seppuku ). Although the luckier sister is able to call the police and end this nightmare, she chooses not to, which is actually not a rarity in cases of a severe domestic abuse. Maybe she is somehow blackmailed by her sadistic father.
Now, let's say something about two young rapists. One of them, the dominant one, is somehow acquainted with the situation in the sadist's family. He himself is also a sadist. When he talks to his buddy we see a flashback that reveals the images of a brutalized girl in bandages- it's like he knows her. And what I find very interesting about it, is that during that part , the guy also uses the word " sister". Maybe he is their brother who escaped from that hellish household. There is no doubt about the fact that he is very much alike that disgusting sicko prone to incest and torture; he proves that on more that one occasion. He knows where the house is, and when confronted with the father on the front door of the house, we can observe that father doesn't look surprised when he sees him. He kills the father. The subsequent abuse of the poor girl in bandages by two young maniacs is just a logical continuation of her previous torment.
And what about that surreal, huge, red moon over that horrid house? My guess is that it might be a hint to something that places the plot in the context that suits the movie title: maybe it all happens in some sort of hell, another dimension made for punishment and suffering.But maybe I'm wrong.
I don't know what to say about homeless woman, except that her death by the hand of the main character also looks surreal ( I mean, you can't decapitate someone with the baseball bat just like that, but on the other hand, Yamanouchi's " Kyoko vs Yuki" is richer with even more ridiculous acts of violence).
Sickness breeds sickness, depravity creates depravity, violence causes violence. These are some of the messages in this movie. I liked it in a weird sort of way and hope someday someone will invest some effort in translating this strange flick so I can finally know what it's all about. 7 out of 10.
The movie has a plot that is coherent and events presented in this shocking, disgusting piece of nihilistic nightmare are obviously connected and represent pieces of a very tragic story - to say the least. The main character - girl with the bicycle - is actually a sister of the horribly victimized woman bandaged , tied with duct tape and repeatedly raped by her father. I know this because the main character talks to her using the word that means " sister" ( I learned that watching Japanese films with subs). So, there's a very violent incest on top of all other horrendous things. It seems that the main girl is somewhat spared from this abuse, so it might result in her feelings of guilt over her sister being a " sacrificial lamb" , and herself being at least partially spared because of that ( or maybe some other reason too). The victimized sister bears a horrible wound on her stomach that looks like a result of a failed suicide attempt ( seppuku ). Although the luckier sister is able to call the police and end this nightmare, she chooses not to, which is actually not a rarity in cases of a severe domestic abuse. Maybe she is somehow blackmailed by her sadistic father.
Now, let's say something about two young rapists. One of them, the dominant one, is somehow acquainted with the situation in the sadist's family. He himself is also a sadist. When he talks to his buddy we see a flashback that reveals the images of a brutalized girl in bandages- it's like he knows her. And what I find very interesting about it, is that during that part , the guy also uses the word " sister". Maybe he is their brother who escaped from that hellish household. There is no doubt about the fact that he is very much alike that disgusting sicko prone to incest and torture; he proves that on more that one occasion. He knows where the house is, and when confronted with the father on the front door of the house, we can observe that father doesn't look surprised when he sees him. He kills the father. The subsequent abuse of the poor girl in bandages by two young maniacs is just a logical continuation of her previous torment.
And what about that surreal, huge, red moon over that horrid house? My guess is that it might be a hint to something that places the plot in the context that suits the movie title: maybe it all happens in some sort of hell, another dimension made for punishment and suffering.But maybe I'm wrong.
I don't know what to say about homeless woman, except that her death by the hand of the main character also looks surreal ( I mean, you can't decapitate someone with the baseball bat just like that, but on the other hand, Yamanouchi's " Kyoko vs Yuki" is richer with even more ridiculous acts of violence).
Sickness breeds sickness, depravity creates depravity, violence causes violence. These are some of the messages in this movie. I liked it in a weird sort of way and hope someday someone will invest some effort in translating this strange flick so I can finally know what it's all about. 7 out of 10.