Ooru naito rongu 2

Japanese documentary film maker turned film director/writer Katsuya Matsumura's All Night Long series is one of the most depressing and darkest explorations on the brutest sides of humanity ever commited on film, with brain too. The first film, All Night Long (1992) was released theatrically in Japan, but this sequel, All Night Long 2: Atrocity (1995) and as far as I know the third one, All Night Long 3: The Final Atrocity (1996) were denied a theatrical release as the films were considered too strong and "unacceptable" and so they were released only on video, amid some heavy resistance. It is easy to see why but still the films are not without a real importance.

A nerdy school boy is spending his summer break from school mostly with his computer and chat friends and also a small girl figure doll he likes to paint and take care of. He is also bullied by a bunch of sadistic slightly elders that are led by a homosexual sadist who starts to interest in the boy and thus starts to seduce him. Naturally the boy doesn't feel the same way and as the leader of the gang is determined to get what he wants, it all leads to some incredible scenes of human degradation and genuinely off-putting violence and acts of abuse.

Like the first film, this is about the animality behind human nature and how seemingly normal and balanced people share the exact same instincts and potential to violence as the "bad already" people, in this case the thugs, do. Violence and instincts for it belong to the human nature. That is a thing that should be fought against as those rotten sides of our nature should be kept passive on the background no matter what happens. But we know how the world is like and how man kills man everyday in the name of some "righteous war or revenge" and so on. It is great how Matsumura has included images of real life terrors and war atrocities in this film making the film so much more universal and larger as it all really is there, not only in the little apartment the film takes place in, but everywhere around us. And extreme films like this are there to explain and ask us why. Why do people want to revenge and cause more violence? If more people would dare to watch films like this and also accept and admit their content and message, maybe some would see the light and change towards a better man, helping the world become a better place.

The film has also some clever small details, like the little hamster the homosexual villain likes to play with (and also kill them, naturally). That small and peaceful little creature is also splattered in blood once the carnage begins, once the humans have turned into worse than animals and peaceful nature. Some would blame the film for its depiction of sexual minorities (gays), but that is not possible as the film also has a normal homosexual male who is not dangerous or sadistic at all, unlike his boyfriend. Another clever detail is the video camera that records something the nerd does, and how it shows the slow turning of his character into something he has not been, straight to his face. And after that, everything indeed turns into hell.

The film is mostly without music which makes the imagery all the more nightmarish and disturbing whereas the first film still got a (rather creepy) music soundtrack in it. The violence once it bursts out (or once the film begins) is so cruel, sadistic and sick it is not necessary to go into details but if Pier Paolo Pasolini's masterful Saló o le 120 Giornate di Sodoma (1975) felt too strong or gratuitous (which it definitely is not) then there's not a chance All Night Long 2: Atrocity would be possible to be sit through. Still Matsumura, like Pasolini, doesn't go into unnecessary details and close ups, camera just witnesses what men do to each other, on mental and physical level, and the both levels are horrible, including sexual degradation, abusion, forced drugs, rape and calculated sadism in the name of revenge.

The film has also a very wry bit of black humor at the end which underlines finally the development of the protagonist boy. He just became that way, and seems to end up like the one in the first part of the series. In my opinion, the massacre that happens at the second part of this film has some things that should have been done differently, like how the boy so fast turns into the devil himself (and turning also against the "innocent") and how one tormented couple is able to make love in the other room, something that fights against what has just been shown! Also, the film would have been even more noteworthy if it had included one pure character that would have left some hope for the light, and this same "error" is present in the third part of the series: the sequels work better if they're imagined to be connected with the first film which had the angel-like character to show how the animals still could and should live together.

All Night Long 2: Atrocity is perhaps the most extreme in the series, being equally disturbing and off-putting with part three, All Night Long 3: The Final Atrocity. The first film is perhaps the "easiest" to watch even though it has one of the most vicious acts of murder ever filmed at the beginning but it also has a slightly larger environment as it includes a high school milieu and other elements of society surrounding us, thus making the film even more believable for those who are not so ready to accept what the sequels so extremely suggest and prove, in their smaller environments, both taking mostly place in one single room or apartment. In my opinion, maybe that's why the first film is the most noteworthy in the series but the other two, especially this first sequel, are as well significant pieces of honest and that's why ugly cinema telling about us, none other than us. 7/10

I've seen the movie in its original Japanese Version so some details of the Story maybe haven't got through to me. But, and this warning is real honest, All night long 2 is far the meanest movie I have seen to date. A Japanese Student is bullied by a group under the leading of an homosexual and misogynistic Psycho, who is sort of in love with him. The Student is forced to a dinner with the leader of the gang. For entertainment the Gangleader tortures an eventually kills a young girl, held captive in his apartment. Via Internet the terrorized student gets help from chatmates but the gang shows up for a very intense showdown. The "Atrocity" is more on the psychological side. No one in this flick is without it. The Theme of sexual abuse and murder for fun and pure entertainment is strong stuff and its never been displayed in this intelligent and evil kind before.

So much is said about the All Night Long trilogy that I started searching them. I found the trilogy at a sell out at a video library, just payed 6 euro's for it. Was I lucky. After watching part one 1 I wasn't really into the movie, it let me down for some parts. But was I happy that I kept watching and plugged part 2 into the player. This one is so much better. Again, not a typical J-horror. This time it's a gang of gays that go for rape and murder. And this time it really happens on screen. It's all about gore and sexual depravity. A girl is kept captive just for pleasure and is treated like a dog. A bit like the movie Salo. For the easy offended there are homosexual love acts on screen but also a girl being raped full nude by the gang and another must make love to herself in a bath while everybody is watching. But it is the last 15 minutes that the gore comes alive. I've watched the strong uncut version, 76 minutes in stead of the usual 68 minutes. Not for everybody but for the freaks out there.

The first film wasn't disturbing in my opinion, but the second film is disturbing, showing a complete madness. It deals with the conditions and isolation that drive people crazy, the isolation of Japan and internet addiction, and the subsequent process leading to nihilism. It's a series with a truly impressive theme. The Night Long 2 doesn't offer you any good things, it shows scenes of dismemberment, specific executions, and the horror of a man who finds people meaningless. Still, I say, Night Long 2 will shock you.

It tries to rid itself of the boring qualities of the first film.

The second part of the ALL NIGHT LONG trilogy is a truly Sadean film. Every character is subjected to appalling humiliation and torture, inflicted for the gratification of the torturers. The only comparable Western picture is SALO O LE 120 GIORNATE DI SODOMA. But where Pier Paolo Pasolini's movie is a political allegory, writer-director Katsuya Matsumura focuses on his characters. He's interested in what drives them, why some are predators and others victims, and how certain victims ultimately become predators.

A gang's protection racket victimizes a high-school student with whom the gang leader becomes obsessed. The leader makes every effort to seduce the

student. When his advances are rebuffed, the leader tries to force the student into acts of degradation and violence. The student's friends are also captured and brutalized. The leader's efforts are finally successful: the student becomes every bit as savage as his tormentors.

ALL NIGHT LONG 2 is exceptionally graphic, with explicit and realistic depictions of every outrage, but what makes the movie so disturbing is the believability of the characters. All of the cast delivers powerful and convincing performances, although many of them (like most of the technical crew) didn't allow their real names to be used in the credits.

Certainly not for all audiences, OORU NAITO RONGU 2: SANJI is nonetheless seriously-intentioned, and amongst the most effective studies ever of the darkest recesses of humanity.