(no subject)
The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief, 2006. Dir. Jake CLENNELL. Jake Clennel Productions.
I first saw this when I was living in Taiwan (I think it might've come via someone on my friends list, but it was a while ago ...). I watched it by myself & was riveted; watched it with friends and was almost more riveted, since I had someone to be alternately horrified & amused with. And, to break in my new Netflix subscription, I decided to watch it again.
This is a really brilliantly filmed documentary, both in term of how how the narratives are built up and the way the director does an excellent job staying out of making a judgment - leaving that for his audience.
The documentary focuses on an Osakan host pub called Café Rakkyo and its young (22) and charismatic owner, who is pulling in an astonishing amount of business peddling dreams to women, along with his staff. It's a sad documentary, and one that leaves me with extraordinarily conflicted feelings - what to say about it? How to describe the interactions going on? On the one hand, Issei and his band of (really pretty) merry men make a living off of well-crafted lies, designed to draw out a faux relationship as long as possible; on the other, the sex workers of various stripes (ranging from cabaret girls to prostitutes) that make up the bulk of their clients clearly feel they are getting value for their (copious amounts of) money, and we also see the toll this sort of job takes on hosts and their cliental (who are also in the same business in many cases ...).
It's by turns funny and very, very sad - but very enlightening overall. And there are some gems tucked throughout. One of my favorite lines comes as some of the hosts (not quite at the god-like levels of Issei) are outside in the rain - with requisite umbrellas - hustling for customers:
'Hey, you're in danger! This is acid rain! You'll be bald!'
Worth a viewing if you haven't seen it. It's definitely different.
I first saw this when I was living in Taiwan (I think it might've come via someone on my friends list, but it was a while ago ...). I watched it by myself & was riveted; watched it with friends and was almost more riveted, since I had someone to be alternately horrified & amused with. And, to break in my new Netflix subscription, I decided to watch it again.
This is a really brilliantly filmed documentary, both in term of how how the narratives are built up and the way the director does an excellent job staying out of making a judgment - leaving that for his audience.
The documentary focuses on an Osakan host pub called Café Rakkyo and its young (22) and charismatic owner, who is pulling in an astonishing amount of business peddling dreams to women, along with his staff. It's a sad documentary, and one that leaves me with extraordinarily conflicted feelings - what to say about it? How to describe the interactions going on? On the one hand, Issei and his band of (really pretty) merry men make a living off of well-crafted lies, designed to draw out a faux relationship as long as possible; on the other, the sex workers of various stripes (ranging from cabaret girls to prostitutes) that make up the bulk of their clients clearly feel they are getting value for their (copious amounts of) money, and we also see the toll this sort of job takes on hosts and their cliental (who are also in the same business in many cases ...).
It's by turns funny and very, very sad - but very enlightening overall. And there are some gems tucked throughout. One of my favorite lines comes as some of the hosts (not quite at the god-like levels of Issei) are outside in the rain - with requisite umbrellas - hustling for customers:
'Hey, you're in danger! This is acid rain! You'll be bald!'
Worth a viewing if you haven't seen it. It's definitely different.