A Night in Nude: Salvation (2010) [Film Review]

A Night in Nude: Salvation; or, Living in Disgrace
     Ren… you’re an angel!
It took me a while but, as promised, I return to the exploitation-charged world of neo-noir crafted by the late director Takashi Ishii. A Night in Nude: Salvation is a continuation of the original film from 1993, in which we see the return of the main protagonist played by Naoto Takenaka.

Release Info

Directed by: Takashi Ishii Starring: Naoto Takenaka, Machiko Kochi, Harumi Inoue

Language: Japanese Original Title: ヌードの夜／愛は惜しみなく奪う Runtime: 127 min

Synopsis
Jiro (Naoto Takenaka) continues his work as a handyman for hire, 17 years after the Nami Tsuchiya case. While working, he is caught by the police. They initially consider him to be a burglar, but after clearing the matter, Jiro is released. Guilt-ridden police officer Chichiro Anzai (Machiko Kochi) apologises to Jiro and frequently visits him at his homestead. In the meantime, Jiro is hired by a mysterious woman (Harumi Inoue) to help her find a precious watch in the woods. When Jiro finds the watch, it turns out there are remains of human flesh on it.

Angels and Demons
Well, perhaps my expectations were too high, but I was not as shocked as I thought I would be by this modern-day sequel. Indeed, A Night in Nude: Salvation is a NSFW picture that takes the exploitation factor to another level, but the engaging storyline takes centerstage.

Whereas the original film provided a broad commentary on the post-Bubble state of Japanese society, the sequel chooses to focus on people from the social margin. Naoto Takenaka’s character feels even more like a private detective (similar to Nic Cage from 8mm) who goes through many levels of human depravity to uncover family abuse, prostitution, and even worse practices.

The sequel indeed has the similar feel like the original 1993 film, but it is not a rehash. The only major similarity that stood out for me were the neon scenes. Personally, I think they symbolise in both films the peaceful emotional state the protagonist aspires to achieve when interacting with femme fatales, but inevitably he is unable to do so because femme fatales being femme fatales lead to their own damnation.

The subtitle “Salvation” is also interesting. Takashi Ishii woves into the story the motif of an angel; that is, the main heroine perceives herself to be such and desires to be saved, but the movie is in fact about Jiro’s salvation, about his return from the gutters to human life thanks to the sacrifice of an unlikely ally.

With regard to performances, Naoto Takenaka is absolutely amazing in the lead and has even more opportunities to show his acting range than in the original film. Machiko Kochi is equally outstanding and it is a real shame that she is not very recognizable in the movie industry. Harumi Inoue really overplays her part of a femme fatale, but I think there was no better way to portray such a complex character.

Recommendations
All in all, if you like neo-noir vibes and you do not mind the exploitation aspect, I recommend A Night in Nude: Salvation. In fact, this movie motivated me to check out more unusual roles done by Naoto Takenaka. As for the late director Takashi Ishii, I respect his courage to explore the dark depths of the human psyche.
Overall score: 7/10

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