Rope Cosmetology

Rope Cosmetology
Theatrical poster for Rope Cosmetology (1978)
Directed by	Shōgorō Nishimura[1]
Produced by	Yoshiki Yūki
Written by	Oniroku Dan (original story) Akio Ido (screenplay)
Starring	Naomi Tani Aoi Nakajima Katsu Yamada
Cinematography	Yonezō Maeda
Editing by	Toyoharu Nishimura
Distributed by	Nikkatsu
Release date(s)	December 2, 1978
Running time	67 min.
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Rope Cosmetology (団鬼六　縄化粧, Dan Oniroku nawa geshō^?) aka Rope Makeover and Oniroku Dan: Rope Makeover is a 1978 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's Roman porno series, directed by Shōgorō Nishimura and starring Naomi Tani.

Synopsis

Kanako is a married woman who receives an invitation from Tomoe, a lesbian lover from her past, to attend a showing of artwork by Isaku, Tomoe's husband. Isaku's paintings have an S&M theme which surprises Kanako. Tomoe persuades Kanako to begin going with her to a class in which she is learning how to behave like a proper female dog. Kanako's husband, Eiichirō, is suspicious about her activities. After hiring a private detective and learning about her perverse hobbies, Eiichirō throws Kanako into a landfill. The film ends with Eiichirō apparently taking his dog for a walk. The camera pans down to show that, despite his apparent objections to her lessons, Eiichirō is in fact walking Kanako, who is on all fours on a dog leash.^[2]

Cast

• Naomi Tani: Kanako Ishino^[3]
• Aoi Nakajima: Tomoe Takita
• Katsu Yamada: Eiichirō Ishino
• Akira Takahashi: Isaku Takita
• Tayori Hinatsu: Takita's assistant

Background and critical appraisal

Lead actress Naomi Tani and director Shōgorō Nishimura had worked together previously in the successful Lady Black Rose (1978).^[4] Jasper Sharp uses Rope Cosmetology to help explain Tani's popularity in the pink film genre. Despite her image as a proud, matronly, high-class woman, she was willing, if not eager, to submit to extremes of degradation to make her films memorable. Sharp notes that the highlight of the film, in this respect, is when Tani is covered in butter and humped by a German Shepherd Dog.^[5] After delving into the extreme and perverse side of Roman Porno with Rope Cosmetology, director Nishimura returned to his usual, more standard fare with his next film, Forbidden Ordeal (1979).^[6]

Allmovie writes of the film, "Well-directed and convincingly played, the film manages to walk the fine line between the nauseating misogyny of Japan's appalling 'turtle girl' films and the outright silliness of American and British 'pony girl' efforts, presenting a reasonable introduction to the oft-misunderstood world of erotic discipline."^[7]

Availability

Rope Cosmetology was released theatrically in Japan on December 2, 1978.^[8] It was released to home video in VHS format on April 27, 1990, and re-released on September 10, 1993.^[9][10] It was released on DVD in Japan on March 21, 2007, as part of Geneon's seventh wave of Nikkatsu Roman porno series.^[11]

Bibliography

English

• Dan Oniroku Nawagesho at AllRovi
• "DAN ONIROKU NAWAGESHO". Complete Index to World Film. http://www.citwf.com/film78490.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-13. 
• Dan Oniroku nawagesho (1978) at the Internet Movie Database
• Sharp, Jasper (2008). Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema. Guildford: FAB Press. ISBN 978-1-903254-54-7. 
• Weisser, Thomas; Yuko Mihara Weisser (1998). Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films. Miami: Vital Books : Asian Cult Cinema Publications. pp. 220, 353. ISBN 1-88928-852-7. 

Japanese

• "団鬼六　縄化粧(1978)" (in Japanese). www.allcinema.net. http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=146513. Retrieved 2009-09-13. 
• "団鬼六　縄化粧" (in Japanese). Japanese Cinema Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs). http://www.japanese-cinema-db.jp/details/13062. Retrieved 2009-09-13. 
• "団鬼六　縄化粧" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1978/db003390.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-13. 
• "団鬼六　縄化粧(邦画)" (in Japanese). Kinema Junpo. http://www.kinejun.jp/cinema/id/18917. Retrieved 2009-09-13. 
• "団鬼六・縄化粧" (in Japanese). www.nikkatsu-romanporno.com. http://www.nikkatsu-romanporno.com/shousai/h21.html. Retrieved 2009-09-13. 

Notes

1. ^ "団鬼六　縄化粧(1978)" (in Japanese). www.allcinema.net. http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=146513. Retrieved 2009-09-13. 
2. ^ Weisser, Thomas; Yuko Mihara Weisser (1998). Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films. Miami: Vital Books : Asian Cult Cinema Publications. pp. 353–354. ISBN 1-88928-852-7. 
3. ^ "団鬼六　縄化粧(邦画)" (in Japanese). Kinema Junpo. http://www.kinejun.jp/cinema/id/18917. Retrieved 2009-09-13. 
4. ^ Weisser, p. 353.
5. ^ Sharp, Jasper (2008). Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema. Guildford: FAB Press. p. 220. ISBN 978-1-903254-54-7. 
6. ^ Weisser, p. 157.
7. ^ Firsching, Robert. "Dan Oniroku Nawagesho". Allmovie). http://www.allmovie.com/work/dan-oniroku-nawagesho-245212. Retrieved 2009-09-13. 
8. ^ "団鬼六　縄化粧". Japanese Cinema Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs). http://www.japanese-cinema-db.jp/details/13062. Retrieved 2009-09-13. 
9. ^ "団鬼六 縄化粧 (VHS)" (in Japanese). Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00005FD0P/. Retrieved 2009-09-13. 
10. ^ "~団鬼六~縄化粧 (VHS)" (in Japanese). Amazon.com. http://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00005FBXE/. Retrieved 2009-09-13. 
11. ^ "ジェネオン エンタテインメントよりＤＶＤリリース" (in Japanese). P.G. Web Site. http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~p-g/video/romanporno/romanporno.htm. Retrieved 2009-09-13. ^{[dead link]}