8. Tokyo Decadence (1992)
Ai, a shy Japanese college student, works in a brothel. She is pretty low key about her work in which she has to play out extreme SM fantasies with Tokyo's elite men of power. The film is mainly comprised of SM scenarios such as erotic asphyxiation and sex play involving dildos and mirrors. However, the actual plot of the film concerns Ai's unrequited love for a gallery owner. Ai seeks advice from a fortune teller and then runs into trouble trying to get into the gallery owner's home. The police are called but one of his neighbours takes Ai in. It has to be said, Tokyo Decadence deals with all varieties of perversions and sexual goings on. Sex fiends everywhere will enjoy this film but it is more perverse than erotic. There is a certain coldness to the sex scenes. It definitely measures up to its NC-17 rating in terms of sexual content, but central to the story is the enigmatic Ai who is a subservient prostitute but desperate to find love. It is a pretty damning portrait of the Japanese bubble in the 1990s - powerful men letting off steam with perverse sexual practices and women subservient and just supposed to put up with it. There isn't much dialogue in the film but the colours are beautiful and the lead actress does a good job in a complex role. If you like pervy Japanese cinema, Tokyo Decadence will hit the sweet spot.