Mubi Monday: Sexual Drive (2021)

Sex. Not only does it sell, but it can also be a fascinating doorway into the psyche of a person. Whether that covers experiences that we could all find familiar or whether it is a unique kink, sex can be handled in a way that opens up an entire conversation about the length and breadth of human nature.

Sexual Drive is an anthology movie that shows different people involved in different sexual episodes. It’s not graphic, there’s no nudity here, but the plot hinges on people revealing intimate details about their sexual preferences. The one common denominator throughout each tale is a man named Kurita (Tateto Serizawa), spending his time onscreen either manipulating others or seemingly putting himself forward as a submissive object for the woman he has kept in his thoughts since their schooldays.

Written and directed by Kôta Yoshida, who seems to have made a huge number of films exploring sex, with some love also in the mix, Sexual Drive is a film that I cannot say I enjoyed. My first feature from Yoshida, it doesn’t do anything to spur me on to check out any of his other movies.

While the performances here are generally very good, nobody is able to overcome the surprisingly weak script. Three different tales boil down to the same core idea, someone is placed in a hugely submissive role that seriously unbalances the mindset of someone else, and that lack of imagination exemplifies what is wholly wrong about the film. This is written and directed by someone who doesn’t seem to know even a fraction of the huge spectrum of sexual preferences and sexuality. It’s the kind of tale designed for people who want to pretend they can handle adult material, but without pesky problems like bad language or nudity.

Although I am not going to discuss and rate each one of the main performances, Serizawa deserves some extra praise for his turn, and I must also mention Honami Satô for her portrayal of an object of obsession, a trigger for a very specific sexual kink, in the second, and best, tale.

Mercifully short, it clocks in at about 70 minutes, but still managing to feel slightly overlong, this is another one of many films that takes adult material and fails to treat it the right way. It’s disappointingly juvenile, one or two moments aside, and wastes an opportunity to cinematically explore sex in a constructive and satisfying way. And the last thing most people want is unsatisfying, wasted, sex. It’s why I am always surprised whenever I have managed to convince someone to date me.

3/10

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Japanuary: Dead Sushi (2012)

Directed by Noboru Iguchi, who also wrote the script with collaborative help from Makiko Iguchi and Jun Tsugita, I knew that Dead Sushi would be a bit of a risky viewing choice, coming from the man who gave us the "F Is For Fart" segment in The ABCs Of Death, as well as the somehow-more-awful Zombie Ass: The Toilet Of The Dead. But it sounded like fun, and I sometimes just want something fun. Iguchi has also delivered the likes of Tomie: Unlimited and The Machine Girl, so I had to remind myself that not every film he does is focused on backsides and flatulence.

Rina Takeda plays Keiko, the daughter of a famous sushi chef. Keiko doesn't seem to be able to reach his impeccably high standards, so she runs away and ends up working in a rural inn. While stumbling and panicking through her job, Keiko ends up in the middle of a crazy situation when the recent batch of guests are targeted by a vengeful man (Yamada, played by Kentarô Shimazu) who can transform their sushi into something sharp and deadly.

Although this is a fun film, first and foremost, just how much fun you will get from it will really depend on your tolerance for bad CGI and plot developments that get sillier. The first third is mildly amusing (there's even a fun Evil Dead II reference tucked in there), and the lead up to the first fishy kill is perfectly fine. But things just get worse from then on, and there is nothing else to help distract you from the negatives.

The script isn't that good, although there's always a chance that some things are lost in translation when watching something with English subtitles. It's at its best when juxtaposing the silliness with the very serious way sushi chefs take their craft. Unfortunately, the rest is fairly useless. Aside from Keiko, none of the main characters are given enough characterisation or worthwhile lines of dialogue to make them worth spending any time with.

Takeda is a good lead, and the saving grace of the movie. She does well to act seriously within situations that just keep getting more and more ridiculous, culminating in scenes that have zombies around her, flying fanged foodstuffs to be evaded, and nunchucks made from sushi. Nobody else works as well as she does, although nobody does a terrible job either. It's just a shame that Shimazu is the only other memorable character, and that's only due to him being the villain of the piece.

If you can handle crazy, if you can accept that some films revel in special effects that aren't that special or effective, and if you appreciate the fine art of making perfect sushi, you can maybe get some enjoyment out of this. Although I was left unimpressed, overall, there were moments here and there that helped to keep this relatively painless as I waited for it to get to the end (and it still feels a bit overlong, even with a runtime of just 92 minutes). It may be more fun with the right company, or the right amount of alcohol.

3/10

You can buy something fishy here (that's also the cheapest option for many other people, although it's a Region B disc).