Yasuzo Masumura made many fascinating films, including my favorite entry in the "Hanzo The Razor" series, "The Snare", easily the most psycho-sexual of the trio. His "Blind Beast", based on a story by Edogawa Rampo, one of Japan's most famous horror writers, is an intense study of obsession, emotional manipulation and the perverse nature of art.
A sculptor, Machio (Eiji Funakoshi), blind since birth, becomes obsessed with a beautiful artists' model, Aki (Mako Midori), and kidnaps her with with the assistance of his devoted mother (Noriko Sengoku). Dedicated to producing a sculpture of the the imprisoned beauty, Machio's plans are initially thwarted by Machio's reluctance to be his model and mother's reluctance to let her boy experience physical love for the first time.
Funakoshi's performance as the blind sculptor is extraordinary and chilling. Scenes of him compulsively raking his hands over Aki's body possess a psychotic, orgasmic intensity. Mako Midori is sensational as the blatantly manipulative model, skilfully portraying both victim and victimizer as the psycho-sexual engines begin to reverse direction.
Machio's studio, a strange cavern of gigantic sculptures, is surreal and bizarre. At one point, Aki argues that the pieces, female body parts, are so large because they are sculpted from the perspective of a baby. The cinematography is elegant and evocative, and the compositions echo some of Antonioni's finest work. Hikaru Hayashi's signature theme music is painfully tender, beautiful and haunting, resonating well beyond the final frames.
William Wyler's film of John Fowles' "The Collector" was clearly a thematic and visual inspiration for this fascinating film.
The final act is powerful and transporting as it provides a perfect but perverse solution to the situation our unlikely lovers find themselves in. Many years later, Pedro Almodovar would expand on it in his wonderful tale of brittle passion, "Matador".
A sculptor, Machio (Eiji Funakoshi), blind since birth, becomes obsessed with a beautiful artists' model, Aki (Mako Midori), and kidnaps her with with the assistance of his devoted mother (Noriko Sengoku). Dedicated to producing a sculpture of the the imprisoned beauty, Machio's plans are initially thwarted by Machio's reluctance to be his model and mother's reluctance to let her boy experience physical love for the first time.
Funakoshi's performance as the blind sculptor is extraordinary and chilling. Scenes of him compulsively raking his hands over Aki's body possess a psychotic, orgasmic intensity. Mako Midori is sensational as the blatantly manipulative model, skilfully portraying both victim and victimizer as the psycho-sexual engines begin to reverse direction.
Machio's studio, a strange cavern of gigantic sculptures, is surreal and bizarre. At one point, Aki argues that the pieces, female body parts, are so large because they are sculpted from the perspective of a baby. The cinematography is elegant and evocative, and the compositions echo some of Antonioni's finest work. Hikaru Hayashi's signature theme music is painfully tender, beautiful and haunting, resonating well beyond the final frames.
William Wyler's film of John Fowles' "The Collector" was clearly a thematic and visual inspiration for this fascinating film.
The final act is powerful and transporting as it provides a perfect but perverse solution to the situation our unlikely lovers find themselves in. Many years later, Pedro Almodovar would expand on it in his wonderful tale of brittle passion, "Matador".