R100
Directed byHitoshi Matsumoto
Japan, 2013, DCP, color, 100 min.
When: Thursday, Sept 12, 2013 at midnight
(technically at 11:59 Thursday night)
(technically at 11:59 Thursday night)
Part of TIFF's Midnight Madness series
Where: Toronto International Film Festival
(Festival info here)
"R-100 is a wild and hilarious trip into personal sexual fantasy. It will lead the viewer into a world that is unlike anything they have ever experienced."
- Midnight Madness programmer Colin Geddes.
Following earlier TIFF premieres of his previous films BIG MAN JAPAN (2007) and SYMBOL (2009), Japan's most absurdest auteur Hitoshi Matsumoto returns to Toronto with R100. One of the country's leading comedians, Matsumoto brings an anarchic flavor and deadpan humor to film, playing with local genres such as kaiju (big monster) in BIG MAN JAPAN and the wandering samurai in SCABBARD SAMURAI. With the fetish-driven R100, he tackles Japan's pink films. Whatever the subject, Matsumoto knows absolutely no boundaries, defying any filmmaking conventions. Each of his films is a planet of its own - or sometimes even several parallel planets - which would leave Michel Gondry gasping for air if he were to land on one.
The title of R100 is a word play on the Japanese ratings system, suggesting that the viewer should be at least 100 years old to see the film. Mr. Matsumoto thought of the title while doing publicity for his previous film SCABBARD SAMURAI. With R100, he wants to challenge the concept of rating, or any kind of judgment, of films--which he explores in a tongue-in-cheek subplot about the filmmaking process.
The universe that Mr. Matsumoto created for R100 is decidedly kinky. He dives headlong into the world of sexual fantasies, bypassing the usual fetish clichés. In a hilarious performance as a dead-pan, no-nonsense police officer, Matsumoto gets to ask the pivotal question: "What happens if you get what you asked for?"
A very ordinary man (Nao Omori) who takes care of his son while his wife lies in a coma, enters a very ordinary building. Following a seductive ride on a merry-go-round, he signs up with an exclusive club. Membership is one year only and cannot be cancelled under any circumstances.
Happily he endures dominatrix intrusions in his daily life, until they get a little too close to his unsuspecting family. With a courage not displayed in his professional life as a bed salesman, he tries to cancel his membership, evoking the wrath of the American CEO, who descends upon Tokyo to teach him a lesson...
The all-star cast includes Nao Omori of VIBRATOR (2003) and ICHI THE KILLER (2001), Mao Daichi, a renowned stage actress, Shinobu Terajima of CATERPILLAR (2010), Hairi Katagiri of KAMOME DINER (2006), Ai Tominaga, a Japanese supermodel, Eriko Sato of FUNUKE SHOW SOME LOVE YOU LOSERS! (2007), and Hitoshi Matsumoto himself. Warner Bros Pictures releases the film in Japan on October 5.
In addition to the world premiere screening at midnight on September 12th, R100 will also be shown on Friday, September 13th and Saturday September 14th. For showtimes and further information about R100 at TIFF, click here.
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) will run from September 5 to 15, 2013.
