Tokugawa Sex Ban: Lustful Lord/Comments

• Sandra Julien’s Japan holiday continues, with kimono (un)attached. This time she’s also in for some rougher treatement as director Suzuki has remembered to include some violence in the film. That of course results, in one way or another, from the infamous sex ban suggested by the title. For the most part, however, Tokugawa Sex Ban is an easy going pink comedy with only a few more violent moments. These include the most absurd suicide scene you’ve ever seen. Suzuki’s camerawork and use of music is also guaranteed to deliver enjoyable moments of complete confusion. Little puns at christianity are includes as usual. Nevertheless, as a whole Tokugawa Sex Ban is far from Suzuki wildest work and also not on par with Lustful Shogun and His 21 Mistresses, but entertaining enough to deserve a one time viewing. The cast is solid. Julien’s extensive role was the main selling point in the film’s marketing campaign, and the ever reliable Fumio Watanabe appears in good supporting role. His character starts out quite nice but later he gets to be his usual evil himself. The Japanese female lead is Miki Sugimoto, but she gets so little screentime that it is be appropriate to label her as supporting actress rather than star. --Hung Fist