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Odd Obsession
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by Homevision
Sales Rank: 34717
Price: $29.95
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Winner of Cannes' Special Jury Prize, <I>Odd Obsession</I> is one of acclaimed director Kon Ichikawa's (<I>Tokyo Olympiad</I>, <I>The Burmese Harp</I>) greatest works. This captivating blend of comic satire and drama follows an elderly man's attempts to satisfy his younger wife (Machiko Kyo, <I>Rashomon</I>, <I>Gate of Hell</I>). When "potency" injections fail, Mr. Kenmochi incites his own jealousy by orchestrating an affair between his wife and his doctor, who happens to be his daughter's fiance. The wife and doctor are eager to oblige Kenmochi, his daughter is furious, and the scheme proves both a success and a deadly disaster. With dazzling imagery, rich irony, and superb acting, <I>Odd Obsession</I> illuminates the ongoing battle between personal desire and societal convention.
Viewer Reviews
One of Ichikawa's first films, marred by a bad ending. Four characters are involved in a strange menage-a-quatre: an aging man who has high blood pressure and is worried about his virility; his dutiful wife; a young doctor he "uses" as an aprodisiac; and his daughter who becomes jealous of her mother.
The old man decides that seeing his wife dally with another man (the doctor) excites him, makes him feel younger; he talks her into continuing her philandering while he looks on. This "excitement" eventually kills him, but in the meantime his wife has come to enjoy her affair with the doctor and is not upset at her husband's death. Her daughter learns of the arrangement and becomes upset and jealous of her mother; this does little to alter her mother's behavior, however. At the end of the movie a maid suspects their wickedness and poisons all three of them - only the police don't believe her story and chalk it up as a triple suicide.
It's an interesting idea, and Ichikawa develops the ironies nicely. The fact that the mother, while at first acquiesing to her husbands wishes, discovers a hidden passionate need that she refuses to give up, is an idea much ahead of its time. We like to point fingers of blame but it's impossible here because all are just acting on natural impulses. The only misstep is the ending, which I found to be a letdown and somewhat unbelievable. The subtitles are sometimes confusing, bit it's a good movie; worth a watch.
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Odd Obsession
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