Film Review: An Aria on Gazes (1992) by Hisayasu Sato

Known as one of the “Four Heavenly Kings of Pink” director Hisayasu Sato has adapted an exploitation-like style to his work while tackling subjects such as alienation, urbanization and the human condition within a modern, highly technologized world. Ten years before Shinya Tsukamoto's “A Snake of June” would deal with similar themes, Sato's 1992 effort “An Aria on Gazes”, also known as “The Bedroom”, explored the connection between modernity, technology and (sexual) obsession. Thus, the films, while still maintaining an exploitation scaffolding, so to speak, is more like a study on the concept of fetish, how observation through technology has affected our lives.

“An Aria on Gazes” is screening at Japan Filmfest Hamburg

The story revolves around Kyoko (Kiyomi Ito) who is married to Akihito (Mineo Sugiura), a salaryman that has been rejecting her and her idea of leading a normal family life. Saddened by his behavior, Kyoko becomes an employee at a club called “The Sleeping Room”, an exclusive sex club where the mostly male costumers can act out all of their fetishes and sexual obsession on the girls who have been drugged and incapacitated by Halcion, a sleeping pill.

During that time, Kyoko also engages in an affair with Kei (Takeshi Ito), her dead twin sisters husband with the two of them filming each other during intercourse and various other actions. When she sees Kei also taking Halcion, because of work-related stress, he claims, Kyoko suspects him of being the murderer of her sister.

As the story progresses, it becomes increasingly difficult differentiating between the layers of reality, obsession and dream. Since it is told from Kyoko's perspective, the audience is forced to adapt the view of what seems to be a deeply troubled mind, still in shock because of the violent death of her sister and desperate due to her husband's rejection. The failure of leading what she perceives as a normal life has finally resulted in what could be defined as a state of emotional disorientation, a notion emphasized by Shoji Sakai's editing and the overall architecture of each scene, especially the sparse use of lighting.

Interestingly, the gaze of the camera becomes the core obsession for Kyoko. Besides her fascination of watching others and, more importantly, being observed by the lens, creates a (false) objectivity perhaps as well as a level of distancing from the world as well as her body. The helpless body being penetrated by other men, abused and violated through other means is a strange, distant entity, showing her level of detachment from the world around her, which is underlined by Sato's framing of each shot and again the use of various ways of lighting an environment. In essence, this blend of longing, dreams and depression has created a psychological maze the viewer steps in and, similar to the protagonist, is unable to escape from.

“An Aria on Gazes” is a fascinating study on alienation and how technology has accelerated that process. Besides still being firmly rooted within the areas of pink film and exploitation, the design of each scene, the lighting and the overall aesthetics create an unforgettable experience, arousing while still disturbing at the same time.