196:. The factory worker, on the other hand, is left to continue pairing up with the regular customer, as neither of them are desired by the other men and women. After more sessions downstairs, the freeter expresses interest in pairing up with the college student based on her energetic passion in bed, but the NEET tries to stop them, to which the freeter asks him if he loves her. Admitting that he does not, the NEET subdues and withdraws, leaving the others to pair up as they choose. However, the scene cuts to show a couple who have joined the others in the living room, creating an awkward silence once again amidst the group. After strong
200:, the couple woman propositions and partners up with the NEET, while the couple man pairs up with the college student. Both the college student and the NEET are shown watching each other during their separate intercourse, further implying their growing attraction towards each other. Frustrated with his girlfriend's passion in bed with the NEET, the couple man becomes frustrated with her, explaining how this was a test of their love and she should not have genuinely enjoyed it, and both leave for the rest of the night.
212:, and it is revealed that the regular customer and him are in a relationship. After leaving, the NEET receives a text to meet up with the college student, and proceeds to happily meet her at a cafe. The college student, however, asks him to delete her number, claiming that she was not herself that night, and that they cannot see each other again. The film concludes with the college student sitting with her friends at school, while the clerk cleaning up at the club receives a picture message of his newborn child.
334:, but here in the film there is no connection between the men and women, so because of this initial lack of a bond of attraction or connection, it naturally takes the group a long amount of time to finally start. In the beginning of the film the characters' bodies are largely obscured during intercourse, but as the characters developed and began to open up more with each other the sexual scenes in the film became more graphic as well. Thus, the
330:. After the women begin casually conversing amongst themselves, the men one by one drag themselves nonchalantly to be included. Although everyone is solely here to have sex, it still takes a while before any of the characters can make their way up to instigating intercourse and selecting a partner. In many societies and other communities sex is seen as a very
309:" theory which claims that cinema objectifies women through the empowered eyes of the male lens. By requiring the male characters to respect the wishes and consent of the women when propositioning for sex, it is shown that this is not a sex house for men alone but for the equal pleasure of both men and women searching for sex. This equal
164:. At the beginning of the night the owner comes out and lets them know that they will have from midnight until 5:00 A.M. to continue whatever sexual activities they desire. The rules include showering every time after sex and using the restroom, condoms must be worn at all times, and men must respect the wishes of the women.
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Critic
Christopher Bourne writes in his review that, "The sex is visually discreet at first, but as the night goes on and more details about the characters are revealed during the course of the film, the encounters become gradually more revealing, both physically and emotionally," explaining how this
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As 5 A.M. draws the night to a close, the clerk opens the blinds, letting in a blinding white light on the characters. Now under the light, the women shyly put their clothes back on away from the men while the men silently re-dress. When the college student loses her phone the clerk uses the NEET's
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As the night continues, the men and women continue to pair up, with the NEET and college student together once again. After assembling back upstairs, the group appears to be all together again until loud noises are heard downstairs. Re-assembling downstairs, the group applaud upon finding the
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in Japan, the culture of sex industry is constructed with two reaches. In the first and lower reaches of the industry, “Sex is regarded as a service to be offered in defined ways for specified times.” In this regard, sex is more utilized and considered as a type of business, where the level of
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with the college student, and the factory worker with the regular customer. Despite her timid nature, the college student is revealed to have a powerful hidden sex drive, while the factory worker is revealed to have been a virgin up until this night.
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is limited. However, in the upper reaches of this industry, a deeper interaction between human relations is needed in this context. Upon this reaches, “Love is suggested and even promised, but the adage ‘no money, no honey’ still applies.” The film
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When the owner leaves they are left in silence to continue spend the night as they wish in sexual activity. After the clerk/bartender leaves to get snacks, the men and women slowly begin small talk amongst themselves until the
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from Miura's own award-winning play of the same name, and portrays a group of men and women who pay to come to a common location to take part in organized promiscuous sexual activity. It was released in Japan on March 1, 2014.
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also challenges common Asian stereotypes in cinema, including the hyper-sexualization of Asian women and the desexualization of Asian men, with the naked bodies of both men and women equally portrayed throughout the film.
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phone to call her, accidentally giving him her number. The owner comes downstairs to inform the men that they are required to give the women 15 minutes to leave before they may leave themselves, in order to discourage
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was forbidden. However, as the film progresses and each of the characters begin to reveal more about themselves, the film was then transformed from the first stage to the second stage - the industry's upper reaches.
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Espiritu, Yen L. "Ideological Racism and
Cultural Resistance - Constructing Our Own Images." Ed. Alma M. García. Contested Images: Women of Color in Popular Culture. Lanham: AltaMira, 2012. N. pag. Print.
454:"Play of the Month: Daisuke Miura "Ai No Uzu (Love's Whirlpool)" | Performing Arts Network Japan." | Performing Arts Network Japan. Performing Arts Network Japan, 29 Mar. 2006. Web. 10 Dec. 2014.
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factory worker and regular customer actively finishing up, with the regular customer proclaiming to have just had the best sex she has ever had, much to the satisfaction of the factory worker.
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Bourne, Christopher. "Japan Cuts 2014 Review: LOVE'S WHIRLPOOL Offers Potent Mix of
Eroticism, Comedy, And Melancholy." Twitch. Japan Cuts, 18 July 2014. Web. 15 Dec. 2014.
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Bourne, Christopher. "Japan Cuts 2014 Review: LOVE'S WHIRLPOOL Offers Potent Mix of
Eroticism, Comedy, And Melancholy." Twitch. Japan Cuts, 18 July 2014. Web. 15 Dec. 2014.
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The movie is based on the novel “Ai no Uzu” by
Daisuke Miura which was published in 1996. The storyline was formerly written as a stage play and first performed in 2005.
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of one of her students. As some of the men and women begin switching partners, the NEET and the college student begin showing a deeper attraction to each other beyond
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The film begins by illustrating the industry's lower reaches, in which four men and four women all pay to join an anonymous sex party in a high-rise building in
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finally propositions the office lady to go downstairs. From here the remaining men and women slowly paired: the salaried man with the kindergarten teacher, the
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to be freely used for the rest of the night. As the characters begin to expose their darker secrets, the salary man reveals to be
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Schilling, Mark. "'Ai No Uzu (Love's
Whirlpool)' | The Japan Times." Japan Times RSS. N.p., 27 Feb. 2014. Web. 10 Dec. 2014. <
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After everyone has had their first round downstairs the men and women open up more to conversation, while the clerk returns with
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In the film these primary four men and four women characters come together and are a faced with an immense amount of
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http://www.japantimes.co.jp/culture/2014/02/27/films/film-reviews/ai-no-uzu-loves-whirlpool/#.VIqK174-DfY
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has revealed the relationship between those two reaches of Japan's sex industry in a holistic approach.
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Japan Cuts 2014 Review: LOVE'S WHIRLPOOL Offers Potent Mix of
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Japan Cuts 2014 Review: LOVE'S WHIRLPOOL Offers Potent Mix of
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gradual exposure culminates in one of the film's most striking shots, showing a circling
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LOVE’S WHIRLPOOL | 2014 San Diego Asian Film
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at the beginning of their encounter, with long pauses of awkward silence precluding
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Play of the Month: Daisuke Miura "Ai No Uzu (Love's Whirlpool)
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2014 San Diego Asian Film Festival, November 6–15, 2014
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LOVE’S WHIRLPOOL | 2014 San Diego Asian Film Festival
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