Kurutta Butokai (Muscle) (Lunatic Theatre) (1988)

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This prize-winning pinku-eiga film was cult director Hisayasu Sato's second foray into gay themes, following the previous year's Kamen No Yuwaku, and can be viewed as a somewhat downmarket tribute to Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. The plot concerns the editor of a muscle magazine who falls… More This prize-winning pinku-eiga film was cult director Hisayasu Sato's second foray into gay themes, following the previous year's Kamen No Yuwaku, and can be viewed as a somewhat downmarket tribute to Italian filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. The plot concerns the editor of a muscle magazine who falls in love with one of his top models, only to accidentally cut off the young man's arm during a heavy-duty session of sadomasochistic sex play. Horrified at what he has done, the editor is sent to prison and a grim, self-loathing future. The editor worships Pasolini's films, and while he is in jail, the classic Salo: The 120 days of Sodom is released. The opportunity to someday see the film gives the convicted criminal the strength and hope to persevere. Somewhat contrived and slow-moving, the film nevertheless has some evocative moments. But Nuovo Cinema Paradiso it isn't. ~ Robert Firsching, Rovi