Tokugawa onna keibacu emaki: Ušizaki no kei

The depiction of violence has a much greater impact if it is not an end in itself and is embedded in a story that engages the viewer, making its oppressive impact all the more felt. That can't be said of this film, which consists of two plotless short stories. The first one in particular is just a mere sequence of various torture and rape practices, with a plot that could be summed up in a single sentence: "A Samurai judge tortures, rapes and then kills a young Christian woman and her parents". The following short story, unrelated to the previous one, is a bit better in terms of plot, but nothing “gut-wrenching”. The one who wrenches here is the director, and it’s not guts, but nipples, bones, ears and other body parts, everything in a very graphic way. Maybe that will be enough for some people, but this empty, boring, gratuitous shit failed to impress me. It was very close to Boo! (14.02.2005)