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90 of 92 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sexy and very sweet, January 4, 2000
By A Customer
This review is from: Fruit is Swelling (DVD)
I didn't realize that this was a Category III film (roughly equivalent to NC-17, Category III is usually applied to soft-core porn) when I bought it, but that turned out to be a good thing, because I might not have bought it and discovered this charming film otherwise. The story: an 8 year old girl named Peach (in the subtitles, anyway) keeps trying to learn about the adult world, and is continually lied to or told that she'll find out such things when she grows up. She wishes that she were grown up already, and wakes up to find herself in an 18 year old body. With a little help from her older sister, she explores that world, falls in love, and has her heart broken. If this movie were made in the US, it would never work. It would be a disgusting voyeurism about an 8 year old girl going out and having lots of sex in an adult body. But this film is a modern fairy tale about an 8 year old girl learning about love (of which sex is an essential part, but only one part), and how she retains her innocence while losing her naivete. As such, this is a far better film than I would ever have expected.
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19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Like Big, But With a Twist, January 29, 2006
This review is from: Fruit is Swelling (DVD)
Peach is a young girl of eight who makes a wish on a wishing tree. She wants to be older. Then she wakes up as an eighteen-year-old. Her friend Fatty-Girl undergoes a similar transformation. Only Peach's older sister Lychee knows the truth.
Peach and Fatty now can observe the adult world in all of its guises be they good or bad. Peach discovers that while she is not ready for a physical relationship, she has developed a romantic attachment. But the world of adults is not a bed of roses and Peach's innocence is tested as she witnesses lies, infidelity and lust wherever she goes. It seems that no adult is truthful. The ending series of twists helps to elevate the story above the more superficial BIG.
Lots of nudity and simulated sex makes this far less of a family picture than its American counterpart but I feel it has the better message to deliver and the more truthful ending. I was surprised that Peach was never shocked by her father carrying on with any woman he could get near but she may have already been immune to that behavior. Peach does a good job of remaining a child while in a woman's body. Very good film but not for the prudish.
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20 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Puberty Blues, October 15, 2005
This review is from: Fruit is Swelling (DVD)
Most reviewers saw just an above average HK Cat 111 film. But this is a real rarity. It deals with sex (which makes most reviewers nervous), takes it seriously (US sex films play it like slapstick they're so nervous), is both witty and wise, and the performances of the lead actresses make it quite affecting. The subject is how we, and especially women, deal with our discovery of sex. The subject is highlighted by accelerating the discovery to an overnight affair courtesy of a god (be careful what you pray for, you might get it!). The humour is ironic, using what we know of sex and letting us watch an eight year old discover it suddenly. But it's also self depreciatory humour, for we are all vulnerable after all, no matter how adult. And alongside the child learning about sex, the film shows us adults who have a decidedly immature attitude to sex. The girls get naked, have the most adorable bodies, but the film, incredibly for any kind of porn, never loses its feather light touch. While the romance eventually becomes sentimental and a 'girl thing', the film both teaches and entertains throughout its length. The Cat 111 label puts it in a basket with a lot of bad films, but it is miles ahead of a great many wholesome G rated films. So much for censorship.
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