Blue Film Woman

When stocks plummet at the Tokyo stock exchange, morals topple like dominoes. Though much more serious and dramatic in tone and visuals than the other Japanese pink film in our Regained programme (Gushing Prayer) there's still a high score of subversity and social critique to be enjoyed in Blue Film Woman.
Mariko’s father Kenzo has been very successful as a private investor, but one day the stocks he had expected to rise suddenly slump and he ends up with huge debts. In return for prolonging repayment, the loan shark Uchiyama demands Kenzo’s wife. He also forces her to sexually comfort his mentally challenged son. After being abused by Uchiyama’s son, on her way back she is hit by a car and dies. Shocked by the death of his wife, Kenzo falls ill and becomes bedridden. Mariko now has to carry the burden of taking care of her sick father and earning the family income. Uchiyama makes advances on Mariko as well and presses her to pay her father’s debts. Torn by guilt, Kenzo kills himself. Mariko vows to take revenge on Uchiyama. She becomes a high-class prostitute and secretly films the sexual encounters with her clients, all men of distinction and social standing, to blackmail them. To make even more money to buy stocks, with which she wants to beat Uchiyama, Mariko sells the blue films to an underground broker, but enters dangerous territory. (EH)