Baunsu ko gaurusu (Bounce KO Gals) (1998)
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53% of critics liked it
(15 reviews) -
82% of users liked it
(141 ratings)
Ripped straight from the headlines of 1990s Japan, this film directed by Masato Harada explores the ticklish issue of enjo kosai -- a much-hyped phenomenon in which Tokyo schoolgirls (kogyaru) go on paid dates with lecherous middle-aged men. Set in the ultra-fashionable neighborhood of Shibuya, this… More Ripped straight from the headlines of 1990s Japan, this film directed by Masato Harada explores the ticklish issue of enjo kosai -- a much-hyped phenomenon in which Tokyo schoolgirls (kogyaru) go on paid dates with lecherous middle-aged men. Set in the ultra-fashionable neighborhood of Shibuya, this film details a day in the lives of such freewheeling young women. Bounce Ko Gals opens with Raku (Yasue Sato) accompanying her round-faced friend Maru (Shin Yazawa) to an after-school abortion. After that minor medical inconvenience, Maru meets up with a prospective john -- a suavely dressed cat named Oshima (played by the ubiquitous Koji Yakusho). Unfortunately, Oshima proves to be a yakuza running a brothel out of a date club, and he regards Maru and her cohorts as unwanted competition. When one of Maru's pals, Jonko (Hitomi Sato) -- a street-smart, stun gun-wielding enjo kosai who prefers to swipe the cash from her clients instead of exchanging fluids with them -- tries to negotiate with the mobster on her friend's behalf, she finds herself unwittingly forced into Oshima's stable of whores. At the same time, while parading around town in a naughtily tailored schoolgirl uniform for a porn-flick guerrilla shoot, Raku runs into Risa (Yukiko Okamoto), a young lass who finally scraped together enough money for a long-planned trip to New York by selling her panties and consorting with perverts. When Raku's shoot is busted by a couple of punks and Risa's savings are stolen, the two flee into a nearby park. As Risa grows ever more despondent, Raku hatches a scheme to recoup her new friend's 100,000- yen savings before her departure the following day. Not surprisingly, this plan involves enjo kosai . Bounce was screened at the 1998 Rotterdam Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
- Directed By
- Masato Harada
- Genres
- Art House & International, Drama
Unrated,
- In Theaters
- Oct 18, 1997 Wide
Critic Reviews
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Frank Scheck, Hollywood Reporter
Manages the difficult feat of being simultaneously sordid and tedious at the same time.
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Dave Kehr, New York Times
Bounce Ko Gals feels fabricated, studio-bound and claustrophobic, which doesn't add to the ripped-from-the-headlines authenticity this genre has always depended on.
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Michael Atkinson, Village Voice
The movie frames a critique of socially permissible pedophilia as indelible as Harada's eavesdropping mise-en-scène.
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Rex Roberts, Film Journal International
Foreign film buffs who enjoyed Lost in Translation may find it worthwhile to revisit Japan with a native guide.
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Brian Mckay, eFilmCritic.com
a drama that focuses on the seedy world of Japanese schoolgirl prostitution - wins points for trying to tackle a hard subject, albeit with velvet gloves.
See more critic ratings and reviews on Rotten Tomatoes
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Cast
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Hitomi Sato
as Jonko
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Yasue Sato
as Raku
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Yukiko Okamoto
as Lisa
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Jun Murakami
as Sap
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Shin Yazawa
as Maru
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Kaori Momoi
as Saki
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Koji Yakusho
as Oshima
