Based on Ryu Murakami’s 1988 short story Topaz and lesser known than Hideaki Anno’s point-and-shoot adaptation of its sequel Love & Pop: Topaz 2, Tokyo Decadence marks the fourth feature directed by the transgressive author behind Audition and In the Miso Soup. A murky descent into Tokyo’s seductive underworld of BDSM, Murakami’s erotic drama whisks lovesick callgirl Ai (Miho Nikaido) between clients amid the empty spaces of high-rise lofts and dimly lit hotels in Tokyo’s nocturnal cityscape. Murakami formulates a bleak indictment of Japan’s bubble-era excess as Ai struggles to find purpose and meaning in catering to the degrading desires and hedonistic fantasies of an anesthetized elite.

Dir. Ryu Murakami, 1992, 113 min, DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Miho Nikaido, Sayoko Amano, Yayoi Kusama.

Part of Music by Ryuichi Sakamoto
September 11—12