4/5.
Actually it was difficult to give a grade for this movie. First thing first, I really enjoyed watching this movie. It's bright, quirky and each character is interesting themselves. However, as compared to the previous Japanese movie I've commented, Air Doll, the depth for this movie is somewhat too shallow for my liking. Or maybe it isn't fair to compare this movie with Air Doll.
"Adapted from a sex-stuffed cult novel, LALAPIPO (a play on the phrase "A Lot of People") follows divergent seedy strands of sexual and narrative spaghetti through the sticky Tokyo night. The film features a "talent scout" aka pimp, a semi-reclusive freelance writer, a women who wants to be a voice actress who makes her living with a hidden camera, a female office worker whose morals are being progressively corrupted, a voyeuristic science fiction geek, and a housewife who lives in a disgusting house; these underdog characters face a fight for survival in the seedy sex industry world of porno films. No matter how sordid things get the movie never loses its sense of optimism that maybe tonight things are going to get better and this time around the sex might really mean something.. "
(credits: Japan Film Festival Singapore 2010)
Narimiya Hiroki stars as a pimp in the movie, who holds the movie together as the person who is connected with all the characters in the movie. In terms of this genre of roles, Hiroki is a natural as I've seen similar performances in J-Dramas such as Orange Days. However, that's where the problem comes in. Hiroki is eye-catching, but the rest of the cast seems to be overshadowed by Hiroki in the movie. Nakamura Yuri stars as the department store girl who was pimped by Hiroki and eventually carved out a career in the Japan Adult Industry. She just looks a bit "plain" in the show and frankly speaking seems just to add some candy in the show. Murakami Tomoko stands out more as an aspiring voice actress who chronicles her lonesome private sex life with a series of homemade sex tapes. Her performance is vintage best and I thought besides Hiroki, she stands out more with her outlandish room and costumes.
Overall, a really enjoyable movie. However, it may leave you to wonder where to place this movie that is neither this nor that.
You can catch this movie in the Japan Film Festival that is starting this weekend and ends on the 29th August 2010.
