A lovely young lady goes from marriage to cliff jump suicides edge after thugs break into her home and rape her on her wedding night. Unable to deal with the shame her husband kicks her out (an honour thing I guess though it seems like a straightforward dick move to me), and just as all seems lost a friendly abbot recruits her to a convent. Here she settles in to a quiet life of worship and contemplation, the rest of the film playing out as a restrained and respectful treatment of convent life and the religious way. I'm yanking your chain of course, as one might expect from the title this is pinku territory. What one might not expect is how fun the film is and not just fun in a "laugh at all the degradation and weirdness" way, but intentionally amusing. Director Koyu Ohara adopts an approach to this nunsploitation film that owes more to Bunuel (albeit a rather perverse Bunuel) than it does the likes of Flavia the Heretic, he is critical, but more concerned with oddball comedy than he is grim shock tactics. The convent our heroine finds herself in is something of a hotbed for lust and corruption, it has made a pretty poor job of withdrawing from secular concerns and perversions. We get cruciform poses during sex, bread masturbation alongside prayer, money woes and a gangster in hiding and much of it is in a spirit of good fun. The women are beautiful (leading lady Yuki Nohira is a particular delight) and there's a fair amount of nudity, a little abuse but nothing too elaborate, and the film zips along nicely. Tensions do build though, as various higher ups prove to be pretty slimy customers and everything builds to a completely bonkers and pretty darned funny climax. As with the other pinkus that I've seen so far, this one didn't completely hold my attention, it is never boring but my mind did wander and I expect it wasn't supposed to, I don't whether its a problem with the film or just me but it is worth saying. On the other hand, this is probably the most fun that I've had with the genre so far and even the most accomplished I've seen. Ohara directs with real vision, vision that goes beyond twisted characters and crackpot sleaze. Memorable images are well spread throughout, and he gives the convent a clean, reverent look that contrasts very well with the shenanigans within. There's a great sense of hustle bustle where needed as well, he has a good handle on action when it gets more kinetic. The proof of his skill comes I think at a point where the dreaded Japanese beaver blockers appear and are irritating more for ruining the symmetry of the shot than the eroticism. Nothing more to say really, but if you dig this kind of cinema give this one a look pronto, its quite a winner.
