Apart from being one of the most artistic and artful pink films ever to come out of the Japanese movie industry, “Daydream” is a historic production for a number of reasons, and not just due to the controversy that followed its release. Takechi's second work was the first erotic movie to have a big budget and a wide release, courtesy of Shochiku, who gave it a major publicity campaign that ended up in commercial success. Furthermore, it was released both in 1964 and in 1966 in the US, with the second version including added red-tinted footage shot by distributor Joseph Green. However, the problems started appearing quite early for Tetsuji Takechi. Junichiro Tanizaki, the revered author of the story the script was based upon, was not happy at all with the result, while the filmmaker also faced issues with the Japanese Censorship Board, particularly for the depiction of pubic hair in the film, which resulted in the offending hair being obscured by a fuzzy white dot, thus becoming the first production in Japanese cinema to undergo “fogging,” which would become one of the trademarks of Japanese pornography for decades.
The complaints, however, still came flooding. Parents-teachers association were concerned for children sneaking into the theatres to watch the movie, the country's equivalent of RSPCA mentioned a rather brutal scene with a cat, while the Japan Dental Association complained about the depiction of the dentist and his assistant in the film. Despite the problems all this negative attention caused in Takechi's career forward, “Daydream” is still considered the title that changed Japanese films forever in regard to on-screen nudity, while the director also shot two remakes, in 1981 and 1987, both hardcore versions of the original.
The experimental/almost dialogue-less/collection of vignettes narrative opens in a dentist's where Chieko, a nightclub singer, is to be examined. After she receives the anesthetic though, she is induced in a fever-like erotic nightmare, where she is bound by rope and subjected to abuse by the dentist, while a man who was previously with her in the waiting room of the clinic, is watching the whole thing from the balcony of the apartment the bondage takes place, before he also starts to interact with the S&M duo.
The film is split in four parts. The first one takes place during Chieko's examination, where the close ups to her mouth as the doctor and his assistant use various instruments, and the rather intense, mostly whirring sound, create an atmosphere of true terror, which was probably what produced such a strong reaction by the JDA. The second part takes place in the house where Chieko is subjected into various forms of erotic torture, with the young man watching giving a distinct voyeuristic essence to the segment, which adds even more to the overall perversion. Takechi's background in Kabuki and No theatre becomes quite apparent here, with the sole location and the way the whole story is presented having a distinct-stage like feel.
Chieko's eventual escape along with the peeper marks the fourth part, which turns into a surreal horror-thriller, with the images of the department store where only mannequins seem to be present being one of the most impressive in the whole movie. The last part brings us back to reality, just as the dentist has finished his work and Chieko is about to walk, with the bite mark on her breast, however, showing that her nightmare may not have been as unreal as she thought.
Takechi benefits the most by the exceptional cinematography of Akira Takeda, who was a frequent collaborator of Nagisa Oshima, with him presenting the various segments through his excellent framing, which, in combination with the impeccable composition, deems the visual aspect one of the best traits of the production. Furthermore, the job done in both the distorted shamisen music, by Shoichi Makino and Sukehisa Shiba, and sound, particularly the noises in the dentist's and the recurring reverberating tones is also top-notch, adding significantly to the overall nightmarish atmosphere. The overall sense of angst is also intensified by the neurotic editing of Hanzaburo Kaneko, who adds even more to the overall atmosphere.
The narrative is quite abstract as the borders between drug-induced fantasy and reality are quite thin here, but the comments about how the human mind works and how reality affects dreams and fantasies is quite eloquently presented. The same applies to the appeal of voyeurism, both for the watcher and the one being watched, with the way the invisible peeper becomes visible and part of the story on occasion highlighting this aspect even more. The fourth segment, and particular the part after Chieko's death on the street also makes a comment about how modern people do not care about what is happening even in front of them, in a sequence, which borders on the melodramatic. The titillating element is somewhat toned down here, at least in regards to sex scenes, but the S&M aspect and the rather voluptuous body of Kanako Michi as Chieko compensate significantly in that department.
“Daydream” is a rather unusual amalgam of pink and experimental film, but the result is impressive, in one of the best productions of the category, which also deserves a watch due to its historic significance.
