''aka'' is a
2006 Japanese ''
pink film
in its broadest sense includes almost any Japanese theatrical film that includes nudity (hence 'pink') or deals with sexual content. This encompasses everything from dramas to action thrillers and exploitation film features. The Western equi ...
'' directed by
Shinji Imaoka
a.k.a. is a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and actor. He is one of a group of ''pink film'' directors of the 2000s known collectively as the , which besides Imaoka, also includes Toshiya Ueno, Mitsuru Meike, Yūji Tajiri, Yoshitaka Kamat ...
.
Synopsis
This erotic comedy follows the life of Haruo Maekawa, a young man who makes a living catching squid. Haruo is obsessed with catching a legendary giant squid rumored to live in Tokyo Bay. Haruo's uncle Takashi, fallen on hard times, comes to stay with his nephew until he can get back on his feet. Uncle Takashi is addicted to energy drinks, and seduces any woman in sight, including Haruo's girlfriend Rika. After making a sexual conquest, Uncle Takashi "marks his territory" by writing his name in red on the back of the woman. He takes a job as a pizza delivery man, but this job ends when he gets in an accident. While praying at a Shintō shrine, Uncle Takashi is bitten in the scrotum by a poisonous snake and dies. The uncle is destined to spend the afterlife in Hell unless his nephew and girlfriend can rescue him from the King of Hell.
Critical reception
In ''
The Japan Times
''The Japan Times'' is Japan's largest and oldest English-language daily newspaper. It is published by , a subsidiary of News2u Holdings, Inc.. It is headquartered in the in Kioicho, Chiyoda, Tokyo.
History
''The Japan Times'' was launched b ...
'',
Mark Schilling writes that the film is, "a surrealistic comedy about the erotic trials and triumphs of a pep-tonic addicted middle-age man and his squid-fishing nephew, climaxing in a descent to love-hotel hell, with Satan as the desk clerk." Jasper Sharp, in ''Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema'', calls the ''Uncle's Paradise'' one of director Imaoka's least satisfactory and least typical works. He writes, however, that the film works well "in a structureless, no-holds-barred nonsense sort of way, chockfull of some admittedly very funny belly laughs."
The ''pink film'' community awarded lead actress
Minami Aoyama with the Best Actress prize at the
Pink Grand Prix ceremony. ''Pink film'' veteran
Shiro Shimomoto
Shiro, Shirō, Shirow or Shirou may refer to:
People
* Amakusa Shirō (1621–1638), leader of the Shimabara Rebellion
* Ken Shiro (born 1992), Japanese boxer
* Shiro Azumi, Japanese football player 1923–1925
* Shiro Ichinoseki (born 1944), Ja ...
was given the Best Actor award for his role as Uncle Takashi. Mutsuo Yoshioka won Best Actor second place for his role as the nephew. The film was picked as the eighth best ''pink'' release of 2006. At the
Pinky Ribbon Awards, ''Uncle's Paradise'' was given the Silver Prize.
Bibliography
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References
External links
Official homepage
{{Shinji Imaoka
2006 films
2000s erotic films
Films directed by Shinji Imaoka
2000s Japanese-language films
Pink films
Shintōhō Eiga films
2000s Japanese films