Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Excellent, a Must See

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

"Ai" (Miho Nikaido) is a 22-year old is a 22-year old prostitute who makes a living in the S&M market in which anything goes. For example, in the first scene she is bound, gagged and blindfolded while her client injects a hallucinogenic drug of some sort into her bare leg. What happens next is somewhat unclear and like the rest of the film is left for the viewer to figure out. Other scenes involve similar kinds of deviant sexual practices in which she is sometimes the receiver of punishment and other times the giver--but in all cases it is quite apparent that she doesn't relish either role. As a matter of fact, she tells one of her clients named "Mr. Ishioka" (Tenmei Kano) that she doesn't believe she is good at anything. This lack of self-confidence permeates her persona and causes her to lead a life in which she is always a victim. At least, that is how it seemed to me. Likewise, I believe this film also suggests that a large proportion of the men in Japan feel similarly humiliated in the eyes of the rest of the world possibly due to their conduct during World War 2. Hence the reason that the characters act in such a manner. Now having said that I must admit that my interpretation of this film might be incorrect and others may have discovered a completely different meaning. Or perhaps the film consists of nothing more than one repulsive scene after another and has no real meaning at all. In any case, I felt that almost all of the scenes were unnecessarily vulgar and obscene and wonder if perhaps the director (Ryû Murakami) lacked the ability to present his underlying theme any other way. Regardless, I found the movie to be rather long and boring and I have rated it accordingly. Below average.

I checked this film out because I discovered it was written by one of Japan's most controversial writers, Ryu Murakami, who wrote the novel that Takashi Miike's AUDITION was based on. Murakami not only wrote the book of TOKYO DECADENCE, but he also adapted it for the screen and directed this adaptation to boot.Unfortunately, this turns out to be a near unwatchable bore, a film I could barely stand to sit through thanks to the subject matter. TOKYO DECADENCE explores the world of S&M and in particular the life of a submissive prostitute who's treated cruelly by her clients. Sadly, the experiences she undergoes sees her gradually losing her mind, building to a narrative climax of sorts.95% of this film is made up of near-pornographic fetish scenes of women being forced to undergo weird and humiliating sexual experiences. The acting is non-existent and the characterisation barely there; instead, Murakami seems to enjoy just wallowing in the sleaze and the degradation of women. Not my cup of tea at all, I'm afraid; a few atmospheric shots of the Tokyo skyline and the occasional scene of plotting fail to make this anywhere close to becoming a 'proper' film.

I saw the extremely edited version of this film for USA release and was completely disgusted. Not by the story or "sex" but by the absolute lack of discernible plot or point. The first half of the movie was intriguing and interesting, but at some point our heroine meets up with a stranger colleague who talks with her about her love problems (?) with someone (?) and gives her the sage advice to go to him and tell him her feelings. (feelings? love interest? wha? who's he?) then the strange lady gives our heroine a pill, telling her it will give her courage. She takes the pill and then goes on a long, bizarre journey that makes no sense and ends up somewhere, meanwhile the strange woman dies of an overdose of something. Wha? Huh? Apparently the lost 23 minutes are the joining parts of the story. The movie ultimately made NO sense whatsoever. I'm guessing that all the glowing reviews are from the people who were blessed with those 23 minutes that I did not see.If the copy you are looking at is timed at under 130 minutes, don't waste your time.

I've never been to Tokyo, but this movie makes me feel as if I had. The city comes across as very modern, wealthy, but beneath it all soulless and materialistic. Prostitution is just a fact of life here.Ai, the main character, is a nice person who deserves something better than being a call girl. But for now, this is the best she can do.Her employer caters to the worst type of clients--the ones who get into S&M, bondage, domination, and other things that would never appear in a mainstream movie. This film is NOT for everyone.WARNING: POSSIBLE SPOILER! The best line in the entire movie is from one of the other hookers. She says that the Japanese are a very wealthy people, but not a proud one. This lack of self-respect and self-esteem explains the bizarre, often degrading behavior of their clients.Those who enjoy this movie should also check out Lizzie Borden's movie Working Girls. It's another matter-of-fact view of the sex trade.