Lusty Sisters (色情姉妹, Shikijō shimai) aka Erotic Sisters is a 1972 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's Roman porno series, directed by Chūsei Sone and starring Keiko Tsuzuki and Akemi Nijō.

Lusty Sisters
Theatrical poster for Lusty Sisters (1972)
Directed byChūsei Sone[1]
Written bySaburō Hatano
Starring
  • Keiko Tsuzuki
  • Akemi Nijō
CinematographyShigeyoshi Mine
Edited byAtsushi Nabeshima
Music bySansaku Okuzawa
Distributed byNikkatsu
Release date
November 29, 1972
Running time
73 min.
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Synopsis edit

Three sisters live alienated existences in modern-day Tokyo. One works as a secretary, one is a prostitute, and one is a criminal. The secretary is cynically unhappy with the sexist business world which limits her opportunities for advancement and makes her a target for her lecherous boss. The prostitute lives an aimless life, drifting between men, and often the target of either police or jealous wives. The criminal, who lives by disrupting the society which oppresses her two sisters, is the only happy one of the three.[2][3]

Cast edit

  • Akemi Nijō: Satsuki Ōtsuki[4]
  • Keiko Tsuzuki: Shinobu Ōtsuki
  • Senro Sō: Sumire Ōtsuki
  • Chigusa Takayama: Fujie Ōtsuki
  • Kenji Shimamura: Denkichi Ōtsuki
  • Nobutaka Masutoko: Honda Rokurō
  • Hiroyuki Mikawa: Ichirō Sawaki
  • Kiyoko Ōtani: Miyo Sawaki
  • Mako Mizuki: Yōko Ikuta

Background and critical appraisal edit

In their Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films, the Weissers fault the film for its story, but praise director Sone for raising the film above its exploitation origins. According to the Weissers, the film is "a great looking production", and Sone gives the characters humanity. Nevertheless, they point out, in line with the exploitation genre, Sone delivers some "chillingly savage" moments.[3] Allmovie agrees that the film is "not for the timid", but judges that it was one of Nikkatsu's better Roman Pornos of 1972.[2] Dealing with societal alienation, self-destruction and violence, the film works with themes that director Hisayasu Satō would make his own in the 1980s and 1990s.[2]

Director Chūsei Sone worked as an assistant director to Seijun Suzuki during the 1960s. He is probably best known for the first two episodes of the Angel Guts series, which he directed in 1978 and 1979.[3] Lead actress Keiko Tsuzuki had a leading role in Yasuharu Hasebe's Kurosawa satire, Naked Seven (1974).[5]

Availability edit

Lusty Sisters was released theatrically in Japan on November 29, 1972.[1] It was released on DVD in Japan on December 22, 2006, as part of Geneon's sixth wave of Nikkatsu Roman porno series.[6]

Bibliography edit

English edit

  • Shikijo Shimai at AllMovie
  • "SHIKIJO SHIMAI". Complete Index to World Film. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  • Shikijo shimai (1972) at IMDb  
  • Sharp, Jasper (2008). Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema. Guildford: FAB Press. ISBN 978-1-903254-54-7.
  • Weisser, Thomas; Yuko Mihara Weisser (1998). Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films. Miami: Vital Books : Asian Cult Cinema Publications. ISBN 1-889288-52-7.

Japanese edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b "色情姉妹". Japanese Cinema Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs). Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  2. ^ a b c Firsching, Robert. "Shikijo Shimai". Allmovie. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  3. ^ a b c Weisser, Thomas; Yuko Mihara Weisser (1998). Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films. Miami: Vital Books : Asian Cult Cinema Publications. p. 132. ISBN 1-889288-52-7.
  4. ^ 色情姉妹(邦画) (in Japanese). Kinema Junpo. Retrieved 2009-09-27.
  5. ^ Weisser, p. 285.
  6. ^ ジェネオン エンタテインメントよりDVDリリース (in Japanese). P.G. Web Site. Archived from the original on 2012-08-05. Retrieved 2010-10-15.