is a 1979 Japanese ''

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 ...

'' directed by

Mamoru Watanabe was a Japanese film director, screenwriter and actor, known for his work in the ''pink film'' genre. Along with directors Genji Nakamura and Banmei Takahashi, Watanabe was known as one of the "Three Pillars of Pink". Life and career Early lif ...

starring Mayuko Hino and Naomi Oka.

Plot

In this

Meiji period The was an era of Japanese history that extended from October 23, 1868, to July 30, 1912. The Meiji era was the first half of the Empire of Japan, when the Japanese people moved from being an isolated feudal society at risk of colonizatio ...

erotic costume drama, Shino (Mayuko Hino) has seen her step-mother Aya (Naomi Oka) take over the family inheritance and invite her petty criminal lover (Masayoshi Nogami) into the family home after the death of her father (Kōji Kokonoe). Shino leaves to go on the traditional temple pilgrimage around the island of

Shikoku is the smallest of the List of islands of Japan#Main islands, four main islands of Japan. It is long and between at its widest. It has a population of 3.8 million, the least populated of Japan's four main islands. It is south of Honshu ...

. During her pilgrimage, she is assaulted several times by bandits but eventually returns home disguised as a geisha to take her revenge.

Cast

* as Shino * as Aya * *

Shirō Shimomoto is a Japanese ''pink film'' actor and director from Osaka, Japan. He has been called "one of the most individual actors" in the world of pink film. Life and career Shimomoto was born in Osaka, Japan on August 14, 1948. He started his career as ...

* *

Production

Director

made his debut with the now lost film ''Hussy'' in 1965. ''Virgin Rope Makeover'' is a remake of that film. Watanabe also made other films at this time working with actresses Mayuko Hino and Naomi Oka with Oka usually playing the mature woman luring the innocent Hino into sadistic adventures. He also continued to collaborate with screenwriter

Banmei Takahashi (or Tomoaki Takahashi) is a Japanese film director. Takahashi started his career in the pink film industry, making his directorial debut in 1972 with ''Escaped Rapist Criminal''. Due to a disagreement with his producer, Takahashi quit the film in ...

in other ''pink films'' for

Shintōhō Eiga is a Japanese pink film production company and film distributor located in Tokyo, Japan which has been among the most influential studios in the pink film genre since its beginnings. Foundation The first Shintōhō, or "New Toho", also known ...

Reception

''Virgin Rope Makeover'' was awarded the Best Film award at the first Zoom-Up Awards given by the magazine of the same name in 1980. Director

took the prize for Best Director and Mayuko Hino won for Best Actress.

Release

''Virgin Rope Makeover'' was released theatrically in Japan in June 1979. It was re-released on

VHS VHS (Video Home System) is a discontinued standard for consumer-level analog video recording on tape cassettes, introduced in 1976 by JVC. It was the dominant home video format throughout the tape media period of the 1980s and 1990s. Ma ...

tape by in January 1990.

References

External links

* 1979 films Pink films Shintōhō Eiga films 1970s pornographic films Films set in the Meiji era 1970s Japanese films {{porn-film-stub