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Flower and Snake

Original title: Hana to hebi
  • 2004
  • 1h 55m
IMDb RATING
5.5/10
1.3K
YOUR RATING
Flower and Snake (2004)
DramaThriller

A businessman lets the Yakuza kidnap his wife, a tango dancer, to clear his debts. She's held captive for an elderly crime boss's entertainment. As she appears to adapt to captivity, her hus... Read allA businessman lets the Yakuza kidnap his wife, a tango dancer, to clear his debts. She's held captive for an elderly crime boss's entertainment. As she appears to adapt to captivity, her husband regrets his choice and tries to free her.A businessman lets the Yakuza kidnap his wife, a tango dancer, to clear his debts. She's held captive for an elderly crime boss's entertainment. As she appears to adapt to captivity, her husband regrets his choice and tries to free her.

  • Director
    • Takashi Ishii
  • Writers
    • Oniroku Dan
    • Takashi Ishii
  • Stars
    • Aya Sugimoto
    • Renji Ishibashi
    • Ken'ichi Endô
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    5.5/10
    1.3K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Takashi Ishii
    • Writers
      • Oniroku Dan
      • Takashi Ishii
    • Stars
      • Aya Sugimoto
      • Renji Ishibashi
      • Ken'ichi Endô
    • 11User reviews
    • 8Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Photos1

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    Top cast36

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    Aya Sugimoto
    • Shizuko Tôyama
    Renji Ishibashi
    Renji Ishibashi
    • Ippei Tashiro
    Ken'ichi Endô
    Ken'ichi Endô
    • Kanzô Morita
    Misaki Mori
    • Kyôko Nojima
    • (as Misaki)
    Yôzaburô Itô
    • Clown man
    Yoshiyuki Yamaguchi
    • Ryô Eguchi
    Shun Nakayama
    • Kazuo Kawada
    Shigeo Kobayashi
    • Yoshizawa
    Naoki Matsuda
    • Murata
    Tomoo Yageta
    • Tsuchiya
    Taeko Uzuki
    • Crucified woman…
    Miyako Kawahara
    • Chiyo
    Blake Crawford
    Mr. Buddhaman
    • Kudô
    • (as Misutâ Buttaman)
    Tomezô Tsunokake
    • Kashiwagi
    Kazuya Shimizu
    Noriyuki Ishii
    Hirokazu Miyata
    • Director
      • Takashi Ishii
    • Writers
      • Oniroku Dan
      • Takashi Ishii
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews11

    5.51.3K
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    10

    Featured reviews

    9HumanoidOfFlesh

    An erotic masterpiece of sexual humiliation.

    Incredibly hot Aya Sugimoto stars as Shizuko,a bored and unfulfilled wife of a wealthy businessman.When her husband is blackmailed by the Yakuza,Shizuko is sold to Oyabun Tashiro as payment.Tashiro quickly places Shizuko in a private S&M show for an elite audience in order to satisfy his own unfulfilled sexual needs.Shizuko is then subjected to sexual humiliation in front of the masked audience."Flower and Snake" is based on Oniroku Dan's highly successful novel.The film is perverse and sexually explicit,so fans of Japanese pinku eiga should get it as soon as possible.A famous Japanese singer and model Aya Sugimoto spends lots of her screen time naked and she has truly wonderful body.The story may be shocking for casual viewers,however if you are curious give this stunningly erotic masterpiece a look.9 out of 10.
    4Dave_douell

    Not much nudity

    I don't know who writes these parents guides but they must have seen a different movie than I did! Mostly breasts are just shown and a few shots of thick pubic hair. No genitals ever shown, which is ok, just really tired of the morons who write the parents guide. They will write an entire essay describing every kiss or low cut dress! They even include when a guy is shirtless now!! It is however a torture/bondage film and not too bad in that respect.
    8cooleon

    Remind me of 8mm and Eyes Wide Shut

    Remind me of Nicholas Cage's 8mm about smurf films and Stanley Kubrik's wild and last Eyes Wide Shut(mind my spelling if some are wrong). Other than that, too complicated and obsessed for sex, nude, violence, to comprehend what it's trying to say, like many other Japanese flicks. Maybe it's not about understanding what the movie is trying to say, but just movie as it is. Well, at least the actress is pretty, seems a little old for all that bold numerous nude shots. I wonder how much she, the character, suffered 'and' enjoyed the whole ordeal. She DID enjoyed it, I think!!! I probably will not watch it again nor buy a DVD. But, it was good strange flick. I enjoy change of scenery time to time. Ciao^^
    9fertilecelluloid

    Brutal, erotic, handsomely produced masterpiece of sexual politics

    Superb, brutal, erotic, handsomely produced sado-masochistic masterpiece from director Takeshi Ishii. It could have been titled "Wife To Be Sacrificed" because Shizuko (Aya Sugimoto), the wife of a wealthy businessman, is sacrificed in order to pay off her husband's debts.

    Everything "Eyes Wide Shut" pretended to be this is. It does not cower from its powerful subject matter or merely titillate. It is the work of an incendiary artist with a firm grip on the material and the material's ability to emotionally resonate.

    Sugimto, who is one of the strongest, most stunning, most beautiful creatures ever to ignite the cinema screen, is totally convincing as a woman plunged into a cruel, nihilistic, carnal hell referred to only as The Coliseum. It is a stadium-like space where the rich and powerful get their kicks watching beautiful women raped, beaten, bound and, in some cases, murdered, in a pretentious, circus-style setting.

    This is a big budget extravaganza of ravishing perversion and beauty mixed with a violent white collar crime plot. Ishii's direction of both the violent confrontations and sado-masochistic set pieces is stunning. His camera dives, swirls, caresses and illuminates the provocative tableaux.

    Goro Yasukawa's score is beautiful, and artfully enriches every aspect of this sensational production. It took three cinematographers to fully realize the striking visual style that brings Ishii's original vision to life.

    The Oniroku Dan novel, 'Flower and Snake', has been filmed before, but this is the definitive version and the most sincere, a hardcore smack to the chops of conservative culture.
    5ebiros2

    Aya Sugimoto is Amazing

    The ultimate focus of this film is Aya Sugimoto, who've grown up from a graphic idol of the'80s into an entrepreneur and an actress amongst other things. She's really matured from the beautiful young girl into a nice multi-talented lady. A rarity in a field where new comers fade away just as quickly as they appear.

    If you look at the combination of Dan Oniroku, and Takashi Ishii, you can bet that this is going to be a hard core movie in many ways (and it is).

    A husband in debt is asked to submit his wife to a 95 year old man's pleasure item. He has little choice but to submit. The wife (Aya Sugimoto) who doesn't know anything about the deal becomes the unwitting sacrifice in the game of sadistic sexual display.

    I actually haven't seen Aya Sugimoto for almost 20 years, and had to do a double take to make sure that she was the same Aya Sugimoto that I've seen in the '80s. She's changed, but into a respectable lady.

    I'm not a big fan of Dan Oniroku or Takashi Ishii, but this movie was of good quality mainly due to the performance of Aya Sugimoto.

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      The film is based on an S&M novel written by Oniruku Dan which has reached cult status in Japan. There have been several prior film adaptations of the novel: a 1968 Pink film (Hana to hebi yori: niku no shiiku), a 1974 Roman porno with Naomi Tani in her first starring role for Nikkatsu studio, and a 3-film Nikkatsu series (1985-1987).
    • Connections
      Followed by Flower and Snake II (2005)

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    FAQ13

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • March 13, 2004 (Japan)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Languages
      • Japanese
      • English
    • Also known as
      • 花與蛇
    • Production companies
      • Femme Fatale
      • Toei Video Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 55m(115 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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