Customer Reviews

Bounce Ko Gals

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I stummbled upon bkg on vcd in honk kong over four years ago and its been sitting in my collection ever since, unwatched.
Yesterday on a whim i decided to give it a go and i can hounestly say i haven`t been that moved by a film in a very long time.
The film follows the blossoming of an intense [if short lived] friendship bettween three girls in tokyo whilst they franticaly spend twenty four hours trying to come up with 500, 000 yen for a journy to new york.
What makes bkg so intresting and at times disturbing is that it is set in the world of the kogals [Young school girls in japan willing to sell themselves to the less than savoury japanese buisness man for the latest in fashion brand names...]
The film is an incredibaly heart felt exploration of the loss of inosence and the destructive force of sexual corruption in a culture not willing to stop and look at its self, at one point brilliantly bought up in the film by one of the kogals,

`when adults don`t know when to say no they act like children, then it is us, the real children who have the real controle.`

I would recomend this film to anyone who loves cinema, espeacialy if you have any intrest in japan.

As a foreigner living in Japan, and for any foreigner, I think this film serves as a great documentary and social commentary on a very dark and perverse underbelly of Japanese culture that rarely gets exposed in the Western world. I did not know what to expect and I was pleasantly surprised by this raw, honest and shocking account of one aspect of modern Japanese culture. This film addresses a very (VERY) disturbing topic but does so with heart and with grace. I have always heard about the topics covered in this film but never imagined it would be portrayed in such a revealing and shocking manner by a Japanese film maker. Funny enough, whilst this film is primarily about the topic of young girls selling their time for money, it contains absolutely NO nudity what so ever. Instead, it very cleverly covers all aspects of this dark, dangerous and twisted black market in Tokyo- showing the perspective of the greedy girls involved, the Japanese Mafia businessman, and the lonely salary men looking for companionship.

The acting I thought was very solid and the portrayal of each of the characters very acute and detailed. A memorable scene and perhaps the pervasive "societal question" of the film, that between the mama-san proprietor of the "used panty shop" and the young girl who goes to make a trade. Is the shop there to cater to the men who have perverted fantasies about school girls or for the girls who are willing to sell their used undergarments to indulge such fantasies? It is all a bit of a downward spiral of morality and in the end the viewer feels as though he understand what drives each of the people in the film who in their own right is just looking for some form of happiness and fulfillment in a very stressful and rigid society devoid often of emotion and compassion. Along the way you also receive an accurate depiction of life in Tokyo Japan much more real and accurate than Sophia Coppola ever did justice!

It is a very clever story that encapsulate much whilst not confusing nor overbearing the viewer. This is very real Tokyo at its heart and soul.

*Please note the movie does contain very graphic subject matter.

I saw an oversees version of this movie and can't wait to get this U.S. release about the trendy young kogals in late 90's Japan and what they do to afford the latest name brand fashion. Let's just say no afterschool jobs at the mall for them, these girls "work" to sport their Gucci. When one girl sees her hopes of studying abroad stolen from her, a newly found kogal friend helps her out by finding "work" for her. She too is then exposed to the seedy world of men taking advantage of girls' materialistic desires in exchange for pleasure. Throughout it all the girls manage to keep their hope and pride intact, but not without a little sadness... and some fun too.

"Bounce Ko Gals," is a very good film centering on the lives of three young high school girls and their life in the sex industry. The films narrative takes place in a 24-hour period in Shibuya, one of the trendiest parts of Tokyo. The three central characters of the film are young school girls: The first one is named Raku (Yasue Sato), who appears to be a drop out from school. The second is Lisa (Yukiko Okamoto) who is trying to get money together in order to go to New York. Eventually Raku introduces Lisa to the films third protagonist, Jonko (Hitomi Sato).

The film is not a porno film, but it does explore the perverse underworld sexual desires of the men who are the clients of these young girls, who are followed throughout the films narrative. Tokyo is shown as a truly merciless city in the film. And the explotation, or sexploitation of these young girls shows the viewer that there is a dark side to Japan which most viewers never see, or hear about [unless you've read Donald Richie's novel dealing with his years in Japan]. Director Masato Harada does an excellent job in this fillm showing the ennui of todays youth in Japan [the film was realeased in 1997].

The film is definitely a strong social commentary of a very dark side of Japan. Further, this film deals with a very disturbing topic; therefore, it is not recommended for younger audiences. I have read enough about Japan, and have seen many, many films and documetaries of Japan, therefore, I was not shocked when I first viewed this film years ago. However, for those of you who want to understand a little bit more of some of the problems facing todays Japanese youth, then you might want to purchase this film. Or rent it. This film gives the viewer a much more accurate depiction of todays Japan than many westerners are usually given. I highly recommend the film. [Stars: 4.5]

A film about the world of compensated dating in Japan, made in Japan, could easily be exploitatively cheap or cheaply titillating, but Bounce Ko Gals is neither, and much to many people's chagrin, considering its subject matter, it turns out to be a sweet, sort of melodramatic film about friendship. There is no sex or nudity in the film but it is pretty insightful and blunt about such things. It's not a kids film by any means and as much as some adults might like to think its subject matter inappropriate for teens, it's pretty spot on in its portrayal of youth culture, particularly that of contemporary Tokyo.

The three teenage girls who play the leads are fantastic--all feature film debut performances. Hitomi Satô, as the tough and cynical one, owns the film every moment she's on screen. She's a leader who blasts her clients with a stun gun and robs them instead of sleeping with them. She banks on the fact that no one will ever report to the police they were robbed by an underage, would-be prostitute. Yasue Satô (no relation) is the free spirit, setting up "dates" for high school friends but never going on them herself. She street dances and suffers from "straight-line-itis", becoming nauseous if she ever finds herself walking a straight line in life, literally or figuratively. It's a hilarious schtick. And finally, Yukiko Okamoto plays the innocent one who stumbles into the world of ko girls because of a dire need to finance her education in America. She assists the film in a half-hearted attempt at finding a moral center and eventually brings things to a touching resolve.

The great Kôji Yakusho joins the three girls in the film and offers some old school perspective, adding color to the film's main theme. He plays a veteran sex trade yakusa boss who sees the teenage girls as a threat to his business but he can't help admiring their resourcefulness so a tenuous friendship ensues. He threatens the girls, because his position demands it, but he also assists them when they target the wrong people and get into trouble.

Bounce Ko Gals is a hip, fun, frank, and furious look at the, some would say uniquely Japanese, phenomenon of teenage girls who have discovered their sexual power and find very little reason not to use it even though the endgame of designer handbags and other assorted accessories might seem superficial--not to mention mind-boggling to those of a more mature bent. A straightforward approach to this subject matter results from the director's documentary style of filming, and it's got a great soundtrack. Highly recommended.

Scary in that it shows a Japan that doesn't have much substance any more. An even scarier (and better) film of similar intent, shot on a much lower budget, but done with much greater cinematic and narrative flare, is "Love & Pop," which I give 5 stars. Both films are very entertaining, with no overt social preaching of any kind. Sometimes, just telling it how it is, is quite enough.