Forest Of Beastly Desire — Forest Of Beastly Desire( Blu Ray)
Released in the early 1970’s, Forest Of Beastly Desire (aka Juyoku No Mori) was the second of six roman porno films filmed in Sweden by Japanese studio Nikkatsu. The film blends moodily shot softcore with drama and tragedy- it is relatively well acted (for this type of thing), and the whole thing is well shot, with some great use of lighting & colour. The plot revolves around the loves and losses of blond haired/ twenty something Mamy- played by centrefold model Lisbeth Lindeborg. Its soundtrack features music from key krautrock band Amon Düül II
Here from Sweden’s Klubb Super 8 is a Blu-ray release of the film- it’s the first time it’s been released outside of Japan. With a new commentary track featuring genre expert Jasper Sharp and a few extras. This release is available as either a standalone release or part of a six-film box set.
Forest Of Beastly Desire was shot in the year 1971. Moving between the city and countryside of Sweden. It was directed Masanao Sakao, who between the late 60s and early 70’s had quite an impressive twenty-seven features to his name. These went from pink crime thriller crossover Onna De Zeni O Dake (1966), and Onna No Shita(1969), which sounds like another pink film, going from its English title Woman’s Tongue.
The one-hour and thirteen-minute film opens dockside, where Mamy (Lindeborg) is saying goodbye to seemingly the love of her life, the floppy haired/ baggy trouser wearing André- who is going away for at least two years, maybe longer.
As the things unfold, she hooks up and marries thick-side-burned lawyer Börje. The marriage is far from perfect, and when the pair argues, she daydreams about André. Added into the mix, we have sleazy, smiling, gap-toothed, touchy/ feeling, wiry blond-haired Michel- who works with Börje. And his recently taken the her virginity from his girlfriend Linda.
On the softcore side of things- it’s all very moodily shot, well-timed, at points generally steamy. The encounters move from fireside/ red gel light lit/ on the sofa affairs- with pulling off of clothing, cushion clutching, and gusset caressing. Onto forest floor fumbling- with single breast uncovered and legs spread. Though to provocative dance encounters turning into all-out trust ‘n’ grind sessions, with flushed faces and tousled-haired passion. And forced and more troubling boundings- with bodies being held down under netted white fabric.
The whole thing is generally very well shot- with a wonderful emphasis on light, be it natural sunlight or atmospheric gel lighting. Aside from the softcore moments, there are a few memorable moments; we have club scenes that alternate between clubgoers' freakout dancing/ slowly stripping off, and the staring set face of the onlooker- making one wonder if it’s really happening or not. And we have the twist in the tail/ quite shocking resolve.
Score-wise, we move between mellow blends of flute, vibes, and percussion. Dramatic Spanish guitar strumming. And a few tracks by Amon Düül II- which work well with the dance freak-out club scene, and the forceful sexual encounter.
Lindeborg is good as our lead- selling well both the sexual encounters and a range of emotions, with often a feeling of true lostness/ tragedy about her. The rest of the cast is fine to passable- with no truly bad acting here. Though special mention must go to the man who plays the touchy/ feely Michel- as he really comes across as an ultimate creepy sleazoid.
All in all, Forest Of Beastly Desire was an entertaining/ engaging blend of softcore and drama- it’s well shot/ relished, with the balance between the flesh encounters and story unfold/ character arcs being just right.
Moving this region-free Blu-ray, and the new scan truly is a thing of beauty- with wonderfully defined colours, and general crystal-clear definition throughout. The balance between the Japanese dialogue and score is perfect. And you have the option to play the film with either without subs, English or Swedish subs.
On the extra side, we get a commentary track from writer/ genre expert Jasper Sharp, academic Johan Nordström and Rickard Gramfors from Klubb Super 8. This is both wonderfully researched and well observed, with some general quite amusing/ WTH moments. They point out the open location in the film, which is a notable area in Stockholm. We get a bio of the actor playing the go-way-to-sea André, he sadly got murdered in1996. He was a teacher at a college who invited one of his students back for a gay rendezvous, who ended up stabbing him to death. They discuss how the film plays up the more cliched elements of Swedish exotica, but in generally one of the better films of the six pictures. They touch on the film's soundtrack, and we find out the more mellow flute tracks were from 1968’s Trust In Me-the only album by all-star project, Soul Flutes- which featured Herbie Hancock, Eric Gale, Ray Barretto, Ron Carter, Grady Tate. We find out that the house location was in Mullhyttan-a small rural area in south-central Sweden. They chuckle about the butler character who often walks in during a few of the fleshy encounters. We find out that the middle-aged actor who plays lawyer Börje was a big Swedish teen heartthrob in the fifties- being seen as the country's James Dean, with his song “Spring Is In The Air” charting at number four on Sweden's chart in 1958. Later on, Mr Sharpe gives us a brief overview of the wider Pink genre. They comment on how they got the original negatives from Nikkatsu- and that they were in such a wonderful state. And they comment on who the film's assistant director was tasked with making the film's actress' nipples hard- he tried licking & pulling- this didn’t work, so he used ‘cold treatment ’. A well worth a play track.
Otherwise we have: Blonde Animals: Swedish Sin Through the Lens of Nikkatsu Roman Poruno. Video essay by Johan Nordström ( 34.15). He starts by talking about how all of the films sit in a strange liminal space, moving on to discuss both Swedish porn & Nikkatsu. He details how the whole thing came about, moving from adverts in two Swedish newspapers, and how Swedish theatre director Chister Holmgen became the go-to man for the Japanese crew. He then goes on to discuss each of the six films in detail. We get a great selection of newspapers, rare on-set stills, etc. Really an excellent and most informative extra. This was also on the first disc in the set…so I’m guessing it’ll appear on the other four discs.
Otherwise, we get a selection of image galleries- taking poster artwork & pictures of Lisbeth Lindeborg. There’s the original Japanese screenplay, and a theatrical trailer.
Forest Of Beastly Desire is a well-made/ perfectly executed blend of drama and erotica, where Scandinavian and Asian takes on softcore meeting to create quite a distinctive crossbreed. The scan is truly lovely, with a most informative/ at times entertaining commentary track.