I Love it From Behind! (1981)

Director:	Koyu Ohara
Writers:	Kazuhiko Ban
Starring:	Junko Asahina, Yumi Hayakawa, Kazuhiko Ishida, and Mari Kishida

The Plot: I Love it From Behind! tells the story of Mimei (Junko Asahina), a woman who is soon to be given away in an arranged marriage, but before she does that she wants to live her life to its fullest potential. To do this, she feels the need to sleep with one hundred men. I’ll repeat that, in order to give her life meaning, she feels the need to sleep with one hundred men. With every man she has an encounter with, she takes an ink print of their manhood in order to best hold onto the memories. When we first meet this young woman, she is about halfway through her goal. Although we do not watch every single one of her fifty remaining encounters, we get the drift. She begins to court as many men as possible, but she finds other missions to occupy her mind. Chief among these subplots is one dealing with Mimei’s roommates who have been so let down by the men in Tokyo that they’ve resorted to a lesbian lifestyle. Mimei decides to help them out, while also trying to find the one man in Tokyo who actively refuses to sleep with her. This gent who refuses Mimei’s charms is a rough and tumble fellow who seems impervious to Mimei’s flirting, and that is precisely why she MUST bed him.

	The Review

Sometimes, when you dig into these old roman porno titles, you run into a film that has a lot to say about gender politics and the lifestyle of women in Japan during the seventies and early 80s. Sometimes the films are so inundated with social commentary that it actually begins to overshadow the actual sex. Then, sometimes, you run into a movie that opens with a freezeframe of Junko Asahina’s rearend as she leans inside of a taxi cab. That opening shot speaks volumes for the film. Intended to be humorous and sexy, it is generally lacking in both departments. However, I Love it From Behind! is enough of an oddity, even for the roman porno market, that it warrants a viewing for most fans. With lots of politically incorrect social comments, some over-the-top comedy, and a couple of intriguing performances, I Love it From Behind! has enough going for it that viewers will likely forgive the movie for not being the anal-fetish flick that they may have originally expected.

The movie, unlike many of the other roman porno films that I’ve reviewed here on Varied Celluloid, is primarily a comedy. Although it does deal with some occasionally dark material, for the most part I Love it From Behind! isn’t meant to be taken completely serious. Sure, it does demonstrate a rebellious attitude that might have been a decent fit during those rebellious years during the late seventies, but this movie is genuinely kooky, no matter how you twist it. Featuring plenty of sexual deviance that is proudly put on display, I Love it… tries to be everything for all audiences, and this might be its greatest downfall. While part of the movie wants to be a sexy romp, it moves past being simple cheesecake and tries to be too dirty to actually remain light. The sex is rather typical of the roman porno genre, but there are occasional scenes that go further than one might expect of such a light-hearted affair.

As mentioned above, if you’ve come into this one looking for anal fetishism, unfortunately you have come to the wrong place. Despite its title, I Love it From Behind! vaguely touches on rear entry. Instead, it’s a rather simplistic tale of sex, empowerment, and typical genre motifs. Now, do take note that I said the film vaguely touches upon issues pertaining to this particular style of sex. If anything, the title comes from the anal rape that is inflicted on the male subjects that are kidnapped and tortured by Mimei’s roommate. Although featuring no penetration, the scenes do go pretty far in what they are willing to display for the audience. In one scene, we watch as the roommate takes her vibrator and heavily coats it with butter before sloshing the buttocks of her kidnapped victim and then forcefully penetrating him. So, yes, this one does go into some pretty bizarre areas.

During the final act, we are treated to one of the more bizarre sex sequences to come out of the roman porno subgenre. It is a “sex war” of sorts between Mimei and the man whom she has been chasing throughout the majority of the film. The sequence, which is probably the standout of the movie, begins with our two characters approaching their lovemaking session as if they are a pair of gunslingers entering into a big showdown. They each stare their partner down from opposite sides of the bed and begin to disrobe. As they stand completely naked, we get a pretty spectacular widescreen shot of this duo before they begin to gesture like a pair of yakuza before battle. What follows is a sex session that lasts for hours and hours. This is essentially where the movie enters into the world of ridiculous fantasy. As we see our characters in the process of having sex for days, the movie enters some rather broad territories. There’s even a bit where our characters are shown eating lunch while in doggystyle position. There’s nothing sexier than a woman dining on a plate of spaghetti whilst having sex, of this I am sure. A considerable amount of time is spent here, but after the episodic plot leading up to this, the goofy sequence has a lot to try and make up for.

	The Conclusion

I Love it From Behind! is not a great film, not even for the roman porno genre. The positive characteristics that it has come from its humor and offensive sense of morality. Especially when judged by the morals of modern society. Still, there are those who aren’t going to find such things humorous, but if you’re a fan of politically incorrect cinema, then this might prove to be worth a watch. Still, the movie is mostly only recommended for pinku fans. For everyone else, it’s probably worth passing up.