Wife to Be Sacrificed [DVD]

Wife goes from cliche, submissive Japanese wife to dominating submissive - meaning she demands to be tied and tortured. While some complain about the content, it is/was, IMHO, 40 years ahead of its time. If you follow current trends in Japanese BDSM, it's all here. This movie could have been made last Thursday, it is that relevent.My issues are with plot and, I don't know how to say this, but it would have been a good intro to a real look at a twisted psychology. Meaning that her transformation could have happened in, say, fifteen minutes, then we'd be treated to a movie about a transformed woman exploring her new life. Also, there's no real indication as to the time frame. Did he keep her for a week? A month? When the change comes it comes awfully fast.As for plot, there's a gratuitous rape scene where she ends up half naked and muddy. And hubby brings her to an abandoned house that seems overstocked with rope of all shapes and colors. There's no explanation as to how he saves the young suicide couple. And no logic as to how they manage their second attempt. I won't spoil it, but it's one of those 'huh?' moments.Bottom line: An enjoyable Japanese BDSM romp with an attractive milf-like lead bound several times in those complex shibari things the Japanese love so much. There is plenty of nudity. And it has a real story line to boot. The story has holes like Swiss cheese, but, hey, it's a story.

This is a very Japanese film, dealing with BDSM primary, and touching on necrophilia, and hinting at underage relations. The main story line is as others have mentioned, but what is not mentioned is the full circle aspect of the story, and what in essence becomes the role reversal between the abductor and the adductee. In typical Japanese fashion, it is actually a rather complex study in the sexual behavior of humans. You have to keep in mind it's vintage, and likely, lower budget. In the realm of kinky sexploitation it is a classic watch. If you are not attuned to this pervy wavelength, you likely won't get it.

The ex-husband disappeared three years ago. He returns, claiming just to be passing through. By a clever device, he ensnares then kidnaps his ex-wife. He takes her to an almost idyllic rural location. The film becomes a study of seduction and conquest, resistance and a struggle to retain personal integrity. He promises. She `lets him'. Promises are broken. She is tethered. Degradation enters the frame. Torture ensues. Violation by two strangers leads to her discovery, unconscious and dishevelled. His reactions are contradictory. A fishing trip offers unexpected bounty. It is a digression that offers him more pleasure and her, vicarious and eventually, actual enjoyment. The two discovered young lovers are humiliated. Hers is perverse; lavatorial, with the irony of triumphant music to highlight her relief - perversion indeed. This is a wife being degraded, not sacrificed. The conclusion surprises, on many fronts.

'Wife' is one of the best examples of the Japanese Film Industry's notorious pink films made in 1974 by Nikkatsu Studios. Starring the Queen of Japanese SM Naomi Tani, 'Wife' is the story of an abducted woman who overpowers her abusive husband by succumbing to the pleasures of masochism. The film articulates a social commentary through the depiction of graphic SM scenes that fuction as a metaphor for gender relations in Japanese society. The underlying theme of the movie is to suggest that there is an impossibility of romantic love between japanese men and women and that sadism and masochism are possibly alternative forms of love than those of social obligation or the reani kekkon (Love marriages). The film asks us (well the japanese of 1974) to take a closer look at our realtionships to each other and roles within society which may be in itself the bigger of SM relationship than that of the personal one depicted in the pink film. Overall its a gruelling film to watch but Pasolini's SALO was never intended to be fun entertainment either. The amazon video tape reviewed here is a quality transfer from the original uncensored Japanese 35mm print which retains the crystalline cinematography and minimal soundtrack. The film is subtitled which is required for an artistic film with such a rare tension between cruelty and beauty.