You'll be forgiven if you found it fantastically strange when word came out that acclaimed cinematographer Christopher Doyle - the man behind the camera for all of Wong Kar Wai's key films - was currently at work in Tokyo as the cinematographer on Japanese pinku picture Underwater Love. Pinku, for the uninitiated, is essentially a form of Japanese soft-porn and the idea of Doyle moving into skin flicks was already weird enough to catch the attention even before we heard that the film was also a musical. Yes, a Japanese sex musical. And now it gets even weirder with the first official plot details:
Yes, it's a scifi musical fantasy involving the legendary kappa. Director Shinji Imaoka also co-wrote the script while Sawa Masaki, Yoshiro Umezawa, Ai Narita and Mutsuo Yoshioka star.From Japan's Kokuei Company and Germany's Rapid Eye Movies comes a whimsical pink film (softcore ) musical about a woman and a sea creature. The story involves Asuka, a woman in her thirties who works in a lakeside fish factory. She's about to be married to her boss, Taki. But one day, she encounters a kappa--a water sprite found in Japanese folklore--and learns that the creature is in fact the reborn form of Aoki, an old friend who'd drowned to death when he was 17. What ensues is a spectacle of songs and sex that is at once zany, erotic and poignant.
Directed by pink-film veteran Shinji IMAOKA (Lunch Box; Frog Song), shot by Christopher Doyle--the famed cinematographer and with music by Germany's Stereo Total, Underwater Love promises to be unlike anything you've ever seen. The film is set to be completed September 2010.
More from Underwater Love
- Reviews: UNDERWATER LOVE DVD Review
- News: Third Window Films' UNDERWATER LOVE Limited Edition DVD Coming Soon!
- Reviews: FANTASTIC FEST 2011: UNDERWATER LOVE Review
- News: Bring On The Dancing Kappas! Watch The Theatrical UNDERWATER LOVE Trailer Now!
- Reviews: PIFAN 2011: UNDERWATER LOVE - A PINK MUSICAL Review
- News: Cannes 2011: Third Window Films Acquires UNDERWATER LOVE And SABI OTOKO SABI ONNA For UK
- News: The UNDERWATER LOVE Trailer Is Bubblegum Pop Perfection. With Breasts. And A Bit Of Moaning.
- Reviews: Tribeca 2011: UNDERWATER LOVE Review
- News: Tribeca 2011: Poster Art And Images From Christopher Doyle Lensed Fantasy Sex Musical UNDERWATER LOVE
- News: Tribeca 2011: Meet The Sexy Kappa From Shinji Imaoka's UNDERWATER LOVE
- News: Jason Gray Visits The Set Of Christopher Doyle Lensed Sex Musical UNDERWATER LOVE
- Galleries: Underwater Love
- News: Cinematographer Extraordinaire Christopher Doyle To Shoot Japanese Sex Musical.
I think I need this movie in my life, like, RIGHT NOW!!
For this to be a true Pink it needs a more inane title, like "Kappa Adultery Sex Crime" or something...