Go, Go Second Time Virgin

As other reviewers have mentioned, it's difficult to know what to make of this film - and I suffered from the same problem! Go Go Second Time Virgin is as surreal and strange as its title suggests it is. The basis behind the plot is relatively simple, but I have no idea what the film is trying to say and that's what enforces the weirdness of the film. Go Go Second Tim Virgin starts with a rape sequence and from there we focus on two teenagers; one of which being the girl that was raped. The pair of them are depressed, and the girl insists that she wants to die and asks the boy to do it, but he refuses, preferring a different solution to the problem. The film is stylishly shot; most of it is in black and white although certain sequences are portrayed in colour. The bleak atmosphere is the main point of the film; this film is extremely bleak throughout and not a great deal of fun, which might not please anyone going into this film expecting something more fun, considering the film's 'pinku' origins. There's not a great deal of sleaze in the film - the rape scenes are not overly graphic and there's not a great deal of gore either. I won't name this film as a favourite or anything like that, but it's an interesting little flick that is definitely worth seeing, and therefore comes recommended.

Ive seen alot of films from Japan and other countries. But this has got to be one of the most bizare,yet interesting films that has come out of japan in recent years. Its like a teen angst film gone awry. unlike American teen angst films were you just have a bunch of dialog and crying this one has action and visual imagery that follows the characters though out the whole film the combination of both color and black and white film is a rare treat indeed.

Girl, unwilling, borne upstairs on shoulders of rampant youth. Rooftop rape. Close ups. Porcelain white face melts to blue reminiscence. Seashore rape. Need for death, need to be killed. And so it goes, still camera and long takes, repetitious dialogue and pretentious poetry, the slow unfolding of terminal youth, sorry isolated kids playing out sex and death on what might as well be the roof of the world. Referred to in the credits simply as girl and boy, Poppio and Tsukio find their obsessions entwine, find tenderness amidst cruelty but best of all for the viewer find expression as remarkably credible characters. Films dealing with the darker side of youth seem eternally prone to sensationalism and that is present here, but for all the exploitation gears that this film moves through the characters are authentic, their inescapable thoughts, the bindings of determination, of society, of their own desperation, all is real, bleak to a wrenching degree but always unsettlingly real. Both leads are outstanding, Mimi Kozakura harrowing in her determination for release, Michio Akiyama dead eyed and impassive, at first a strange presence he slowly endears himself through chemistry before the film shifts to darkest realms. Sublime largely black and white cinematography from Hideo Itoh stylises but also brings out every detail in bright relief, perfect complement to the generally sedate shooting style. Similarly apt is the score from Meikyu Sekai, heavy on subdued guitar, sweetly drawing out deep sadness in gentle moments. Director Koji Wakamatsu demonstrates mastery of his craft, exquisitely binding exploitation to art-house treatment, switching to colour for memory or grisly violence and deploying once or twice hand-held camera for shocking style as he pulls his actors inexorably to climax. The film does slip into the realms of the unnecessary in using photographs of Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate, underlining the climatic violence and its riff on the then all over the papers Tate/Lo Bianco murders but it felt somewhat out of place to me. The dialogue also at times perhaps goes beyond its intent, perhaps a little too arch at times, and the final moment is a little unsubtle, driving home in bleakly humorous fashion a message that could just have well have been left implicit. But the overall effect is hardly abated by these small slips, so potent is the ambiance. Not a film for everyone that's for damn sure, but to those that value the stranger side of serious cinema this is a must see. 9/10. Oh and in case you're wondering, there's tits and bloodshed for those that couldn't give a rats ass about serious cinema. So check it out, punk.

This is one of the weirdest and most unique films I've ever seen. It's artsploitation, and like most artsploitation, its art is questionable. In the end, though, I judged that it was more art than exploitation. Others, and probably the majority, would probably feel the opposite. A shy young man follows a group of men who are dragging a woman up to his apartment building's roof. He watches quietly as they rape her. When she awakes in the morning, she asks him to kill her, for she's too unhappy to live. We discover that he himself is suicidal, and that he harbors a deep curiosity and fear around sex, which has lead him to murder before. It does cross the line several times, especially with a series of photos of Roman Polanski and Sharon Tate, among which is a picture of Tate's corpse, but there's a lot of interest to grab onto. If nothing else, the stark black and white cinematography is gorgeous, and director Wakamatsu's use of music is masterful. A trip some will definitely want to take, while others, and you probably know it already, should avoid. The director later went on to produce Oshima's In the Realm of the Senses, which, while certainly a good film, is far less daring and compelling as Go Go Second Time Virgin. 9/10.

Given that we are dealing with a no budget production shot in a couple of days on top of a roof, the result is astonishing. Koji Wakamatsu has a visual style that outdoes any avantgarde director/photographer with a bigger name. In beautifully shot black and white with some gory color sequences this film takes you on a compelling, nihilistic trip through the claustrophobic existence of two teenagers living on the edge of society. The extreme violence is sometimes lightened by unexpected moments of haunting, morbid poetry. Always true to the characters he has created, Wakamatsu finds beauty where others would only seek for sleaze. This underground masterpiece transcends its humble beginnings and can easily stand comparison with the works of Nagisha Oshima and Seijun Suzuki.