, a.k.a. ''Flower of the Night'', is a

1976 Events January * January 2 – The International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights enters into force. * January 5 – The Pol Pot regime proclaims a new constitution for Democratic Kampuchea. * January 18 – Full diplomatic ...

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

ese film in

Nikkatsu is a Japanese film studio located in Bunkyō. The name ''Nikkatsu'' amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Motion Pictures". Shareholders are Nippon Television Holdings (35%) and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (28.4%). ...

's ''Roman porno'' series, directed by Katsuhiko Fujii and starring

Naomi Tani is a Japanese pink film actress who is best known for her appearances in Nikkatsu's ''Roman Porno'' films with an Sadism and masochism, S&M theme during the 1970s. Life and career Early Born October 20, 1948, in the Hakata-ku, Fukuoka, Hakata w ...

Synopsis

Kizaki kidnaps Yuriko and engages in a rape and torture session with her, which he photographs. With the photos, he blackmails aristocratic flower arrangement teacher Yumeji, Yuriko's older sister. Rather than allow him to shame her clan by sending the photos to the media, Yumeji goes to Kizaki. Kizaki then proceeds to rape and torture Yumeji, who was his true desire all along. Yumeji escapes from Kizaki at the end of the film.

Cast

* Erina Miyai * Osamu Tsuruoka * Tokuko Watanabe * Shinsho Nakamaru * Tamaki Katsura

Background

Director Katsuhiko Fujii had been a competent director at Nikkatsu, making lower-profile sequels in the ''Apartment Wife'' and ''Eros Schedule Book'' series until his talent for SM showed through in the

project, '' Cruelty: Black Rose Torture'' (1975). In ''Lady Moonflower'' he teamed up with Tani again, with a script by her long-time collaborator, SM-author

Oniroku Dan was a Japanese author who has been called, "the most celebrated writer of popular SM novels in Japan." Many of his stories have been filmed, most notably by Nikkatsu studio in their '' Roman Porno'' series. Dan had a close professional associa ...

Kōyū Ohara was a Japanese film director known for his popular '' Roman Porno'' films, '' Fairy in a Cage'' (1977) and the ''Pink Tush Girl'' series (1978–1980). One of Nikkatsu's most versatile and prolific directors, filming eight movies in 1979 alone, ...

would direct a more successful variation on the story of ''Lady Moonflower'', also scripted by Dan and starring Tani, in ''

Fairy in a Cage ''aka'' ''Woman In a Cage'' is a 1977 Japanese pink film in Nikkatsu's ''Roman porno'' series, directed by Kōyū Ohara and starring Naomi Tani. Synopsis During the latter part of World War II, Judge Murayama, head of the Japanese military pol ...

'' (1977), which is regarded as one of the best of Nikkatsu's forays into the SM-themed ''

pink film refers in Japan to movies produced by independent studios that includes nudity (hence 'pink') or deals with sexual content. This encompasses everything from dramas to action thrillers and exploitation film features. Many pink films would be a ...

''.Weisser, pp. 226, 136.

Bibliography

English

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Japanese

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Notes

{{reflist 1976 films 1970s Japanese-language films Nikkatsu films Nikkatsu Roman Porno 1970s Japanese films Films scored by Hajime Kaburagi