OKOGE Movie Review

Fag Hag

Syoko (Misa Shimizu) is a single young working woman living in an apartment that's small even by Tokyo standards. Syoko meets a gay man and his older, married, closeted lover and when they become friendly she lets them use the apartment as their love nest. Complications ensue, but not before we get a peek into the motives and personal rewards of Syoko's preference for hanging out with gay men. It's a phenomenon that's not unique to Japan, but the film nevertheless was the source of controversy when released domestically. Such women are so ubiquitous in Japan that a phrase has entered the language to refer to them, and it was used as the title of this interesting, low-key but thin comedy, which fits more comfortably into the category of “issue” picture.

NEXT STOP … The Celluloid Closet, Crush, Menage

1993 120m/C JP Misa Shimizu Takehiro Murata, Takeo Nakahara, Masayuki Shionoya, Noriko Songoku, Kyozo Nagatsuka, Toshie Nogishi; D: Takehiro Nakajima; W: Takehiro Nakajima; C: Yoshimasa Hakata; M: Hiroshi Ariyoshi. VHS FCT; CCN