TOKUGAWA SEX BAN (1974)
Label: Mondo Macabro
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 88 Minutes 28 Seconds
Audio: Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Director: Norifumi Suzuki
Cast: Miki Sugimoto, Sandra Jullien, Hiroshi Nawa, Yoko Mihara
Extras:
Tokugawa Sex Ban (1974) directed by Norifumi Suzuki (Convent of the Sacred Beast) is a period genre mash-up with elements of softcore sexploitation, drama and comedy. In it Princess Kiyo (Miki Sugimoto, Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs) weds country lord Tadateru Ogura. Problems arise when it turns out the pair are sexually incompatible, so the lord's advisors suggest that he should be taught the ways of love, and end up introducing him to French courtesan Sandra (Sandra Jullien, Shiver of the Vampires), who arrives in a wooden box! She teaches Ogura all of her considerable sexual techniques, and he becomes so aroused and enamored by her teachings that he takes her on as his mistress, upsetting his wife, and furthermore, he so enjoys the carnal acts that he imposes a sex ban on the rest of his subjects, reasoning that sex it's just too good for commoners to be allowed to do, decreeing that any non-royal subject caught delighting in carnal acts having intercourse will be executed! Obviously this does not go so well, and an uprising transpires with his horny subjects storming Tadateru’s palace with a cock-shaped battering ram!
It's quite a fascinating film, the period setting is handsomely mounted and the vibrant costuming looks fantastic. The tone is a bit all over the place but it holds together surprisingly well under Norifumi Suzuki's direction. We get exploitation elements, sex and nudity galore, some weird humor, and of course palace intrigue and tasty melodrama, as Princess Kiyo has her husband's French mistress imprisoned. The lesbian tinged scenes and the striking seppuku scene are particular highlights for me, and the way the tone sort of shifts all over the place keeps things quite interesting, and it certainly doesn't hurt that it's kinky as Hell. Don't come into expecting a ton of Pinky violence though, this is more of a softcore melodrama, though the seppuku/decapitation scene is certainly a potent moment, only slightly watered-down by the bizarre soundtrack choice layered over it.
Audio/Video: Tokugawa Sex Ban (1974) makes it's U.S. Blu-ray debut from Mondo Macabro in 1080p HD framed in 2.35:1 widescreen, sourced from a 2K scan of the film negative. The image looks terrific with pleasing depth and clarity, the source is in great shape, film grain is nicely managed and black levels are solid. Audio is Japanese DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles, the track is clean and well-balanced, dialogue sounds natural, and the at times offbeat score sounds fine.
Extras include the 18-min Banned! Critic Koushi Ueno on Norifumi Suzuki's Tokugawa Sex Ban; and Audio Commentary from Jasper Sharp; and the 3-min Theatrical Trailer. The single-disc release is housed in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork.
Special Features:
- Brand new 2k transfer from film negative, digitally restored.
- Banned! Critic Koushi Ueno on Norifumi Suzuki's Tokugawa Sex Ban (17:31)
- Audio Commentary from Jasper Sharp.
- Theatrical Trailer (3:27)
Screenshots with Mondo Macabro Blu-ray:
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