Product Details

• Actors: Shota Kotaki, Konatsu, Yota Kawase, Rio Mochizuki, Yutaka Ikejima
• Directors: Daisuke Goto
• Format: NTSC, Widescreen
• Language: Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: All Regions
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Pink Eiga
• DVD Release Date: November 23, 2009
• Run Time: 65 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B002VB69YW
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #113,369 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Blind Love" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars 3 ½ Stars: A Japanese "PINK" Film That Portrays Loneliness, Insecurities and Denial, December 27, 2009

By 

Woopak "The THRILL" (Where Dark Asian Knights Dwell) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Blind Love (DVD)

I have often said that Japanese "pink" films have a more intricate storyline and even has a moral message than your regular exploitive soft core seen on cable television. Director/writer Daisuke Goto's "Blind Love" (2005) is his follow up to his sleeper hit "A Lonely Cow Weeps At Dawn" and follows the formula of other pink erotic dramas. The film has themes of loneliness, insecurities and love that is captured through its portrayal of lust and desire. The film is an Official selection in the 2009 New York Asian film festival.

Daisuke (played by Shota Kotaki, Patlabor 2) is a struggling ventriloquist whose career may be on its last legs. Aside from his career issues, Daisuke has a very opportunistic and greedy ex-wife and has several personal insecurities. One day, a blind woman named Hikari (Konatsu) becomes infatuated with his act and falls in love with his voice. However, she mistakes him for his taller assistant Yoichi (Yota Kawase) when he meets him in his dressing room. For reasons unknown, Daisuke lets the mistake play out as it leads to a quirky, bizarre relationship based on mistaken identity and sexual awakening.

The themes in "Blind Love" are easy to spot. When we meet Daisuke, we see him having sex with his ex-wife who he actually has to pay after their divorce. He kind of represents that meek, gentle insecure man whom a woman would have to get to know before they grow fond of him. The direction brings the audience into his character with the opening scenes so that it would be better to understand and have sympathy for him. Hikari is one woman who tries to be confident; yet she is also insecure in a way because of her handicap. The bad guy in the film is Yoichi, Daisuke's promiscuous assistant; who takes advantage of almost any situation. I guess Daisuke Goto is making a subtle commentary on becoming confident, that pretending to be someone else often leads to disaster and that it is always a great idea to be `yourself'.

We also catch a glimpse on Japan's sex industry as we see several scenes of weird role-playing enacted by Hikari's friend, Luna. I always get puzzled as to how the Japanese can execute their fetishes and fantasies in their filmmaking. The film has a lot of graphic sequences of sex and nudity but none of them were offensive. Goto shoots the scenes quite carefully and manages to capture the emotions during the lovemaking. You see Yoichi becoming more and more stupid and arrogant as he seems to have sex with most of the women in the film. The women in the film are very different from one another, and each have their own sense of individuality; each actress had their share of graphic sex scenes and they all get to show their nice attributes. Director Goto also touches upon the dependence of each gender upon the other; for happiness, security and perhaps even financially. (Yoichi uses a woman to advance himself).

The film takes on a more serious tone than I expected, but Goto remembers to pitch in some nice bits of black comedy in the film. I couldn't help smiling when Yoichi and Daisuke was trying to act as if they were the same person, I just couldn't believe my eyes when I saw just how outrageous their ideas can be. However, the film does require a large suspension of disbelief as I am sure that a blind woman with heightened sense would be able to tell that something was amiss in the lovemaking. The film's plot is quite simple but it does manage to pull off a few surprises in its 65 minute runtime. The film is well-acted; Konatsu became a very convincing handicapped woman that I found it easy to have sympathy for her. Shota Kotaki is a veteran actor so he had no problems with this type of role. I felt a little repulsed as to how Daisuke treated Hikari but later on, I began to understand. Though his actions weren't justified, it sure was understandable.

"Blind Love" may not be as shocking nor as clever as "Sachiko Hanai" or even "Flower and Snake" but its strength is also its simplicity in the way it portrayed loneliness and insecurities. It felt quite believable and the premise is easy to connect with. The film is about taking chances, and being yourself; that the journey is better when you grab opportunities and get hurt than someone who hides from opportunities for fear of getting hurt emotionally. "Blind Love" manages to make its characters feel very human and flawed; I guess this is why I liked the film. The Japanese always have a way with portraying sadness around sex.

Recommended! To fans of Japanese cinema [3 ½ Stars]

The Video in the film looked pretty good for a Letterboxed (non-anamorphic) transfer. Colors and sharpness are very good.

10 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "This is the best of the best Pink Eiga!!", November 20, 2009

By 

Ayumu Oda - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Blind Love (DVD)

I saw this film at New York Film Festival in June. The Director, Daisuke Goto is amazing!! He is my favorite Pink Eiga director from Japan! He is just genius... he always creates the polished scenario, which is to be produced only at Pink Eiga production.
As the heroine is blind, the story goes to be twisted and very sad. Soon you will be involved into the story from the beginning... All the characters are attractive, and adorable. Nothing is missing. This is the best of the best Pink Eiga!

5.0 out of 5 stars Quirky, strange and slightly sad, August 3, 2011

By 

Akira XXX Kurosawa - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blind Love (DVD)

Pink Eiga is a genre defined in eroticism and powerful narration. Blind Love is certainly no exception.

Blind Love is the story of a goofy, slightly eccentric and self obsessed ventriloquist, his lanky brute assistant and a young beautiful blind girl.
The movie is rife with commentary on the state of humanity and the concept that love is truly blind.

Throughout the film, there are sequences that are sure to shock certain audiences, after all it is a Pink film, a genre that is not known for its innocence.
However when one looks past the gratuitous and over the top sex scenes, one may find a certain connection and continuity to all of it. Why is the scene here? What role does it play? These are just some of the deeper questions that audiences may ask. Going deeper one can see a truly heartwarming message of love and betrayal, of lost innocence and a final coup de gras of redemption.
It's not your typical love story with light and dark intermixed throughout the film. Some scenes will place the antagonist in the protagonist costume and vice a versa, but really when it comes down to it, this film illustrates humanity in it's darkest moment when dealing with matters of the heart.
Hikari's character retains a certain innocence about her, possibly using the blindness factor as a metaphor for love, while the relationship between her and ventriloquist seems to be symbolic of puppetry. The assistant being the puppet and the ventriloquist pulling the strings behind the pseudo love between them.
One may be led to believe the puppet master himself is truly an evil man, why would he lead on this girl to believe that he is the assistant just because she loves the sound of his voice. Could it be a plot to get the assistant laid? Or is the assistant planning on making the reveal and live happily ever after with Hikari? All of this is very cloudy in the beginning and seems to represent the ambiguity of relationships and how one may not be as they seem.
However, as the film progresses, one is hard pressed to really find a sincere soul amongst the throngs of men who try to take advantage of poor Hikari and when it is found that that sincerity actually does come from the puppet master himself, it leaves a sense of clarity and confusion. Clarity in knowing what the man really wanted but confusion as to why he wasn't the picture perfect knight to rescue the princess type all along. Really it is an expose on human flaw and guilt. The ventriloquist certainly isn't perfect but he is nonetheless worthy of redemption as he finally breaks the cycle of hiding and comes out into the open.
This is a film which, though steeped in quirkiness and an almost bizarre atmosphere, is one of the truest portraits of love I have found.
I highly recommend this film as not only a wonderful piece of eroticism but a very touching piece of story telling.