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"Red Classroom" looks at the dark world of the adult film industry, and the stigma of rape.

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Angel Guts

Red Classroom

Review By: Anime Boy

Cinema: Japanese

Company: ArtsMagic DVD

Running Time: 80 minutes

Region: 1

Rating: NC-17 (Violence, nudity, rape, adult situations)

THE FOLLOWING REVIEW IS ONE OF AN ADULT NATURE. PARENTAL DISCRETION IS ADVISED.

EXTERNAL EXAM

Murkai is a photographer for a pornographic magazine. Always on the look out for something new or interesting, he spends his off time looking at underground or "blue" films. One day, while watching a blue film about the rape of a high school student, Murkai notices something different about the model. She doesn't seem to be the type to appear in these kind of films. Her reactions more realistic than anyone he has worked with. Enraptured with her, he sets out to find this mysterious beauty.

While setting up a photo shoot at a local love hotel, he discovers that the receptionist is the very woman he is looking for. When she attempts to "convince" him to forget about her, he comes to the realization that the movie wasn't staged, she actually was raped. Shocked at what happened, he decides to quit the biz, and "save" the woman, who' calls herself Nami.

Yet, when fate intervenes in both their lives, Murkai begins a downwards spiral in to despair and self loathing. Can he find Nami again, or is he doomed to look for her forever?

WIDESCREEN REVIEW

STORY: Much softer than the first movie "High School Coed". Manga creator Takashi Ishii and Director Chusei Sone present a story that looks at the dark side of rape, and how this act affect the lives of everyone involved. Unlike the anti-heroes of the previous movie, the characters in here are more like "real" people, each one finding their own way to deal with the stain and humiliation of Nami.

ACTING: Pretty typical B-movie acting. Keizo Kanie plays Murkai pretty sedate, like a man who really doesn't care about the world one way or the other.

Whether by design or accident, the women in the film don't really get a chance to act. Their only purpose is to be the "catalyst" for Murkai's actions, or squeal in sexual pleasure.

SEX SCENES: There is the rape at the beginning of the movie, quite a few scenes of consensual sex, urination, a group sex shot, lots of nudity, the start of a rape, and implied anal sex.

FINAL EXAM

The second title in the Angel Guts series, "Red Classroom" is the polar opposite of the first movie. While "High School Coed" glamorized the self destructive world of rape and hoodlums, "Red Classroom" looks at the dark world of the adult film industry, and the stigma of rape.

For those of you who are new to Japanese Cinema, a quick overview of "Roman Porno" or "Pink Films". A genre of adult films that started in the late 70's, these self contained movies, usually 70 minutes in length, provided erotic content just shy of being truly hard core. The "Angel Guts" series is considered one of the definitive examples of this popular format. Thanks to the rise of the adult home video market in the early 90's, "Roman Porno" quickly faded into the distance. Yet, its influence can still be felt, in films like "Weather Woman" and "Visitor Q".

The name "Red Classroom" is a bit of a misnomer, as almost none of the movie has to do with school girls or sex in classrooms. The movie actually takes place in the dark and seedy recesses of the porn industry. Living in this world is a collection of men and women, who generally enjoy providing this service to the paying customers, except for Murkai. While considered an "artist" by many of his fellow photographers, Murkai never truly seems to be happy with what he is doing. He is moody, temperamental, and prone to fits of drunken rage when he is overwhelmed by his life. He does his job with an almost clinical detachment, unlike those that work with him. When he discovers the girl in the "blue" film, he thinks his life is about to change.

He's right. It does change, but not for the better.

Like the first film, the catalyst of the pain to come starts with the rape of a high school student called Nami (not the same character from "High School Coed mind you). While rape is certainly degrading, having it captured on film makes that much worse. To add insult to injury, having sweaty men pay to "enjoy" watching her humiliation would drive many over the edge. Unlike the revenge driven Chihiro in Ishii's later film "Freeze Me", Nami goes the other way, allowing others to use her body, thus continuing her cycle of degeneration. So deep is she in the pit of despair, when Murkai offers her a helping hand, and then fails to "save" her, the consequences for both bring even more heartache and suffering.

Perhaps to reflect the underground nature of porn (or the tone of the story) most everything takes place in poor, dimly lit rooms, or in total blackness. While stylistically it may help emphasize the point, all it really does is make it hard to see anything. I think it would have been more shocking, and would have really rammed the point home, if we could have seen what was going on. There were some scenes where it was difficult to tell if the woman was enjoying herself, or crying out in disgust, making the message of "Red Classroom" ambiguous at certain points.

Naturally, every woman winds up topless at some point and the sex scenes last a lot longer than "High Schoo Coed". However if you are wanting to see some "pink", you won't see it here. Anything south of the equator has something in the way (blanket, chair, wall, ugly guys ass).

Well, this was certainly not what I expected for the second film in the "Angel Guts" series. While the first movie reveled in its debauchery, "Red Classroom" takes a decidedly darker view of rape, putting the characters through a emotional meat grinder instead of being purely exploitive. If you are looking for a little plot in your adult film, check out this one or "Red Vertigo".

NEXT MOVIE: Red Vertigo

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