Virgin Psychics (5 Stars)

A lot can happen in a week. One day Yoshiro Kamogawa is a normal 16-year-old boy growing up in an insignificant little town in Japan. The next day he finds he has the ability to read minds. A few days later his new English teacher wants to destroy all life on Earth, and he's the only one who can stop her. Society is falling apart all around him. The women in his town are transformed into sexual predators. Maybe that's the wrong expression. They don't actually seduce men, they just sexually arouse them so that they're too excited to function properly in society.

This is a film made by my favourite director, Sion Sono. As far as I know this is the only comedy film he's made. As such it's very successful. Other critics, including Sion Sono fans, disagree with me. They criticise the film for having a lot of implied sexuality but no real sex or even nudity. That's the point. The film is all about sexual excitement that doesn't reach a climax. It's about young people (and a few older people) who are still virgins and may stay that way forever. When Yoshiro is offered sex he turns it down because he wants to wait for "the one", a woman he may never meet.

This film is significant to me for another reason. It features Ai Shinozaki, who I consider to be the world's most attractive actress. She only plays a small role, unfortunately, but it's always a pleasure to see her appear in any film. Of the eight films she's made so far only two have been released in English and one in German. That borders on criminal negligence. The German release is this one, "Virgin Psychics". I recently spoke to the owner of the company that has released most of Sion Sono's films in English, and he said that he has no intention to release it.