Aido: Slave of Love (Susumu Hani, Japan 1969)

Here are some pictures I took during a private screening of Susumu Hani's extremely rare and seldom seen feature film AIDO - SLAVE OF LOVE, which is the movie Hani made after the famous NANAMI: INFERNO OF FIRST LOVE. The film is beautifully shot, completely absorbing and structurally abandoning all narrative consensus - it is somehow - for most of the time - a subjective trip into the mind of the protagonist Shusei (Kenzo Kawarasaki). As you can asume, a dreamlike state predominates the film; and with its' devotion to extensively focussing on the details of the body while making love, presented in detailed close-ups, aswell as its' beautifully daring setpieces, it reminded me to some extent of Toshio Matsumoto's experimental oeuvre, as for example in his short film PHANTOM. AIDO was submitted to the competition-section of the 19th Berlin International Film Festival (aka Berlinale) - a fact that is quite astonishing, if you consider the direction the main section of the festival has taken in the last and recent years. You should definitely watch this, if you ever get the chance to... and now to the pictures:

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Abschied

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