Sexual Drive

A Japanese triptych about sex, aphrodisiac foods and secret desires. Kurita appears in every part, always with a box of Chinese chestnuts under his arm. In part one, Natto, named after a traditional fermented soy bean dish, Kurita visits designer Enatsu purporting to be in an affair with the latter’s wife Masumi. In Mapo, named after Chinese tofu, Kurita asks Akane, the woman who used to bully him, to hit him with her car. The final part, Ramen, centres on the adulterous affair between married Ikeyama and Momoka. Although Sexual Drive contains no explicit sex scenes, it is definitely an erotic film. Director Yoshida Kota’s sensual close-ups of the female leads relishing their favourite dishes with increasing arousal are reminiscent of the Japanese classic Tampopo (1985). Almost orgiastically, natto-eating Masumi asks Enatsu: “Do you want some?” A massive double entendre. (International Film Festival Rotterdam)