Ambiguous (film)

Ambiguous
DVD cover for Ambiguous (2003)
Directed by	Toshiya Ueno[1]
Produced by	Nakato Kinukawa Kazuhito Morita Kyōichi Masuko
Written by	Hidekazu Takahara
Starring	Hidehisa Ebata Noriko Murayama Nikki Sasaki Minami Aoyama
Cinematography	Yasumasa Konishi
Distributed by	Kokuei
Release date(s)	December 9, 2003
Running time	63 min.
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Ambiguous (曖昧, Aimai^?) aka 猥褻ネット集団　いかせて!! (Waisetsu Netto Shūdan Ikasete!!^?) and Group Suicide: The Last Supper (集団自殺　最後の晩餐, Shūdan Jissatsu: Saigo no Bansan^?) is a 2003 Japanese Pink film directed by Toshiya Ueno. It was chosen as Best Film of the year at the Pink Grand Prix ceremony.

Synopsis

A diverse group of people, all with troubles in their daily lives, meet online and decide to commit suicide together. Isolated from society at large, they form a physical bond as the appointed time approaches.^[2]

Cast

• Hidehisa Ebata: "Hanko" (大友寛司)
• Noriko Murayama: "Maria" (Michiko Sano)
• Nikki Sasaki: "Screen" (Mamiko Yoshida)
• Minami Aoyama: "Myū" (Kazuki Aikawa)
• Akio Kurauchi: "Innocent" (Yutaka Matsunaga)
• Rumi Hoshino: Hiromi Shimada
• Yōta Kawase: Yukio Sano
• Suzuka Takaki: Miyuki
• Mika Ogawa: Ami
• Rie Sumiyoshi: Matsunaga's mother
• Shirō Shimomoto: Shop owner
• Takeshi Itō: Shop worker
• Kinuta: Fat woman

Critical reception

Anglophone pink film scholar Jasper Sharp notes that there are two different audiences for contemporary pink films: The traditional pink theater-goer who is generally interested in seeing sex on the screen, and the devotees of pink cinema represented by such publications as P*G magazine and its website.^[3] As with many of Kokuei's pink films, Ambiguous did not prove very marketable for the traditional softcore porn audience, in part because of its downbeat subject matter. However when looked at as a film which happens to include sex scenes—Kokuei's approach to the pink genre—Sharp writes Obscene Internet Group "stands as one of the most genuinely insightful and of-the-moment films produced within the Japanese independent sector in its year."^[2]

The readers of P*G magazine showed their approval of the film by awarding it Best Film and giving Hidekazu Takahara the Silver Prize for screenplay.^[4][5]

Availability

Like many pink films, Ambiguous has gone under more than one title. Originally released in theatres as Obscene Internet Group: Make Me Come!!, the film was shown at the Pink Grand Prix under the title Ambiguous, the title under which it was also released on DVD in Japan and internationally. The film has also been released on DVD in Japan as Group Suicide: The Last Supper.^[3] Sacrament released the film as "Ambiguous" on English-subtitled Region 2 DVD on 22nd February 2006.^[6]

Bibliography

English

• Apple, Mandi. "Ambiguous review". www.mandiapple.com. http://www.mandiapple.com/snowblood/ambiguous.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 
• Sharp, Jasper (2008). Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema. Guildford: FAB Press. pp. 309–11, 364. ISBN 978-1-903254-54-7. 
• Sharp, Jasper. "Midnight Eye Round-Up: Pink Films special : Obscene Internet Group: Make Me Come!!". www.midnighteye.com. http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/round-up_006.shtml#obscene-internet-group. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 

Japanese

• "集団自殺　最後の晩餐(2003)" (in Japanese). www.allcinema.net. http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=320563. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 
• "曖昧" (in Japanese). www.dmm.co.jp. http://www.dmm.co.jp/mono/dvd/-/detail/=/cid=n_640uld207/. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 
• "猥褻ネット集団　いかせて!!" (in Japanese). P.G. Web Site. http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~p-g/data/2003/031112/net.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 
• "猥褻ネット集団　いかせて！！" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/2003/ea004410.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 

Notes

1. ^ Infobox data from "猥褻ネット集団　いかせて!!" (in Japanese). P.G. Web Site. http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~p-g/data/2003/031112/net.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-26. ; "猥褻ネット集団　いかせて！！" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/2003/ea004410.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-26.  and "集団自殺　最後の晩餐(2003)" (in Japanese). www.allcinema.net. http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=320563. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Sharp, Jasper. "Midnight Eye Round-Up: Pink Films special : Obscene Internet Group: Make Me Come!!". Complete Index to World Film. http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/round-up_006.shtml#obscene-internet-group. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 
3. ^ ^{a b} Sharp, Jasper (2008). Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema. Guildford: FAB Press. pp. 309–11, 364. ISBN 978-1-903254-54-7. 
4. ^ "Best Ten of 2003 (２００３年度ベストテン)" (in Japanese). P*G Website. http://www2u.biglobe.ne.jp/~p-g/award/2003.htm. Retrieved January 18, 2009. 
5. ^ Toda, Miho (2004-04-30). "Infiltrating the "Pink Prize", the Academy Awards of the Pink Film: Not Only Erotic: Physical Sensation Report on the "Hidden Strength" of the Pink Film (ピンク映画界のアカデミー賞ともいうべき＜ピンク大賞＞に潜入エロだけじゃないピンク映画の“底力”を体感レポート！ - Pinku eigakai no Akademiisho to moiumeki "Pinku taishō" ni sennyu: Erodakejanai pinku eigo no "sokochikara" wo taikan report!)" (in Japanese). www.walkerplus.com. http://www.walkerplus.com/movie/report/report1486.html. Retrieved January 18, 2009. 
6. ^ "Ambiguous (2003)". dvd-subtitles.com. http://dvd-subtitles.com/ambiguous-d25448.html. Retrieved 2009-05-26. 

Preceded by A Saloon Wet with Beautiful Women

Pink Grand Prix for Best Film 2003

Succeeded by Lunch Box