Synopsis
As belated as it was, compared with other directors of the 1970's Roman Porno, Masaru KONUMA drew attentions from the general public and his films are still significantly interesting. KONUMA's world and the way his made films had strong influences over the movie industry, as can be seen in the documentary that Hideo NAKATA made on KONUMA. Based on Oniroku DAN's classic S&M novel, Hana and Hebi is the first to be made into a movies and the first S&M series in Nikkatsu Roman Porno. The company's president infatuated with S&M asks his subordinate to teach S&M to his wife. The subordinate, once impotent, starts to teach her in his mom's porn shop. Based on a novel, however the story was reconstructed by KONUMA as a psychological drama. It is men who teach S&M to the boss' wife but it is those traumatized minds who got cured. On the final scene, facial expression on the boss' wife shows she is even stronger than withered men. Since this film, strong women have been often seen in KONUMA's film. (KWON Yong Min)