harveyfan

To cut a long story short, a Japanese girl begins to wig out when she is subjected to repeated sexual assaults by a gang of vicious thugs. There are moments of real suspense and the blackest of black comedy here, but overall the film is simply too vile and depressing to be remotely enjoyable. Although none of the rapes are particularly explicit, scenes showing the heroine nude in the shower make the viewer feel uncomfortably like a voyeur.

The apparent theme, that violence begets more and greater violence, has been done before. And remember, this is brought to you by the same country that gave you Pearl Harbour, P.O.W. death camps, sadistic game shows and Manga cartoons.

Enough said.

Here we have an almost unrecognisable Uma Thurman playing against type as a dowdy neurotic who irrationally hopes to find one of her one night stands will turn out to be Mr. Right. And therein lies the problem. I suspect Uma's legion of fans (myself included, obviously) would rather see her being sexy and ultra-cool. I understand Uma wants to "stretch" herself, but I can't see people queuing around the block for this one.

By the way, I know I'm a Philistine, and I just don't care!

Now of course I could go on about Michael Apted's crisp direction, but what's really t'riffic about this film, besides Dougray Scott's engagingly batty turn as the hero, the splendid script (by Tom Stoppard, no less) and the captivatingly glamorous Saffron Burrows, is Kate Winslet playing against type as bespectacled nerd Heather Wallace. Don't even bother reading the reviews, just watch the movie and enjoy!

My only gripe is that the final scene opens with the caption "London, 1946: After the war". Like, who doesn't know the war ended in 1945? Doh!