Lesbian Harem
Encyclopedia
is a 1987
Japan
ese pink film directed by Tomoaki Hosoyama.
s had become popular in Japan with the advent of home video. Director Hosoyama made Lesbian Harem on a similarly low budget, and designed the film as a tribute to these films, and particularly as an homage to John Waters
' Desperate Living
(1977).
In their Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films, Thomas and Yuko Mihara Weisser give Lesbian Harem three out of four stars. Noting that Lesbian Harem is an important film on its own, they point out that in many ways this early Hosoyama film also anticipates his later hit, Weather Girl (1993). Hosoyama's attitude towards lesbianism, in particular, is shared between these films, and in direct opposition to the way it was depicted in most contemporary pink films dealing with the subject. Rather than showing lesbians as women who are bitter from bad experiences with heterosexual affairs, and who are victims of a disapproving society, Hosoyama shows lesbianism simply as a lifestyle which the storyline accepts without judgment.
1987 in film
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Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese pink film directed by Tomoaki Hosoyama.
Synopsis
Two lesbian lovers escape the city to commit a lovers-suicide deep in the forest. There they are captured by the queen of a lesbian colony who uses the two lovers for her own sex games. The couple organize a revolt against the queen.Cast
- Reika Kano as Iori
- Yuriko Kyōtoku as Yui
- Kumi Uesugi as M.P.
- Noriko Kikuchi as Michiko
- Kyoko Hashimoto as An
- Chiemi Akimoto as Queen
- Itsumi Shikata as Shima
- Mirai Akiyama as Lady-in-Waiting
- Tomomi Matsuda as M.P.
Background
Tomoaki Hosoyama filmed Lesbian Harem for Shintōhō and it was released theatrically in Japan by that studio on April 18, 1987. U.S. low-budget exploitation filmExploitation film
Exploitation film is a type of film that is promoted by "exploiting" often lurid subject matter. The term "exploitation" is common in film marketing, used for all types of films to mean promotion or advertising. These films then need something to exploit, such as a big star, special effects, sex,...
s had become popular in Japan with the advent of home video. Director Hosoyama made Lesbian Harem on a similarly low budget, and designed the film as a tribute to these films, and particularly as an homage to John Waters
John Waters (filmmaker)
John Samuel Waters, Jr. is an American filmmaker, actor, stand-up comedian, writer, journalist, visual artist, and art collector, who rose to fame in the early 1970s for his transgressive cult films...
' Desperate Living
Desperate Living
Desperate Living is a 1977 American crime comedy fantasy horror film directed, produced, written, and photographed by Baltimore, Maryland filmmaker John Waters starring Liz Renay, Jean Hill, Mink Stole, Edith Massey, and Mary Vivian Pearce.-Plot:...
(1977).
In their Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films, Thomas and Yuko Mihara Weisser give Lesbian Harem three out of four stars. Noting that Lesbian Harem is an important film on its own, they point out that in many ways this early Hosoyama film also anticipates his later hit, Weather Girl (1993). Hosoyama's attitude towards lesbianism, in particular, is shared between these films, and in direct opposition to the way it was depicted in most contemporary pink films dealing with the subject. Rather than showing lesbians as women who are bitter from bad experiences with heterosexual affairs, and who are victims of a disapproving society, Hosoyama shows lesbianism simply as a lifestyle which the storyline accepts without judgment.