Product Details

• Actors: Yoshihiko Hakamada, Reiko Kataoka
• Directors: Ryosuke Hashiguchi
• Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
• Language: Japanese
• Subtitles: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Water Bearer Films, Inc
• DVD Release Date: November 1, 2005
• Run Time: 114 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000BCE9EA
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #156,388 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

SLIGHT FEVER OF A 20-YEAR-OLD - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Japanese tale of sullen youth and unrequitted love, November 18, 2005

By 

Bob Lind "camelwest" (Phoenix, AZ United States) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Slight Fever of a 20 Year Old (DVD)

Tatsuro is a bored and sullen middle-class Tokyo young man just out of his teens, who skips college classes to work as a male prostitute in hustler bar. There he meets Shin, a younger, less motivated but equally bored co-worker, who quickly develops a crush on the older boy. They are friendly to each other, but actually confide more in their respective female best friends, who sense an attraction between the two boys before they see it themselves. When Shin "comes out" to his parents, Tatsuro lets him stay at his place temporarily, which forces both boys to face their feelings, which their work has taught them to repress.

"Hatachi no binetsu" translates literally to "A Touch of Fever", but has been renamed "Slight Fever of a 20-Year-Old" for its recent release on DVD. Released theatrically in Japan in 1993, at a time when gays were never "out" publicly to friends or family, it was an extremely popular landmark film for its non-stereotypical portrayal of its gay characters. In the DVD commentary (filmed ten years later), Screenwriter/Director Ryosuke Hashiguchi recalls that he did not describe the characters as gay, even to the actors, for fear that they would lean toward the feminine, campy depictions of homosexuals that were the rule in Japanese cinema. He also reports receiving "hundreds" of letters from gay and lesbian teens, thanking him for letting them feel that they were not the only ones.

Shot on a small budget, with amateur actors and by an amateur filmmaker (at the time, although he has had subsequent successes), "Slight Fever.." isn't visually impressive, but valuable for providing a little-seen insight into the attitudes of middle class Tokyp teenagers, about sexuality as well as life in general. Trivia note: director Hashiguchi also appears in the film, as the final "john" of Tatsuro in a pivotal, emotional scene at the end of the film. Not for everyone, but I give it 4 stars out of 5.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars i think it is a nice movie, August 20, 2008

By 

Akira Touya (Berlin) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Slight Fever of a 20 Year Old (DVD)

it is a nice movie in spite of the fact that i was not certain how i felt about it. i am happy i watched it, to be sure, but it was more soft and emotional than i expected. yes it was quite good and you should watch it.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Great Movie, May 17, 2007

By 

H. Sevor (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Slight Fever of a 20 Year Old (DVD)

I really liked this movie. The story was intriguing, and the characters all seemed real enough. The only problem I had with the movie was that it was vague in some places, but not so much that it distracted from the story. I would recommend this movie to anyone interested.