Director: Hiroki Ryuichi Duration: 95 minutes
This film opens in a convenience store where the pretty, but exhausted looking, Hayakawa Rei finishes off her daily ritual by purchasing a bottle of wine and a bottle of gin. A bit unstable, Rei continuously talks to herself and is almost unable to distinguish if she speaks out loud or not. The alcohol helps to silence the voice in her head, but it always returns. While browsing the bottles and wondering why there is no red German wine available, a trucker wanders into the store and Rei becomes entranced with his boots that look like those of a fisherman. The trucker immediately notices that Rei has an interest in him, so he wanders by her and taps her on the backside before returning to his truck. Rei follows and the two strangers soon engage in a sex.
The next day, instead of heading back home to her job as a freelance writer for magazines, Rei asks the trucker, Takatoshi, if she can accompany him on his deliveries. Takatoshi agrees and soon the couple begins their journey across the frosty winter back roads of Japan's countryside. Surrounded by the natural beauty of the country Rei and Takatoshi tell each other of their struggles, Rei, besides being an alcoholic is also bulimic and Takatoshi tells of his days working for the yakuza. Rei seems to be happy, but her inner demons soon overpower her. Can a bleached-blond trucker truly help her?
Based on a novel by Akasaka Mari, Vibrator is a highly sexualized film without being raunchy. The scene where Rei and Takatoshi sit together in a bathtub is very touching. Taking place almost exclusively in the environs of Takatoshi's truck, the film is little more than a dialogue between two characters, however, it is quite an enjoyable trip watching the relationship between the two characters grow. The film also has an awesome soundtrack. Check it out if you get the chance.
This film opens in a convenience store where the pretty, but exhausted looking, Hayakawa Rei finishes off her daily ritual by purchasing a bottle of wine and a bottle of gin. A bit unstable, Rei continuously talks to herself and is almost unable to distinguish if she speaks out loud or not. The alcohol helps to silence the voice in her head, but it always returns. While browsing the bottles and wondering why there is no red German wine available, a trucker wanders into the store and Rei becomes entranced with his boots that look like those of a fisherman. The trucker immediately notices that Rei has an interest in him, so he wanders by her and taps her on the backside before returning to his truck. Rei follows and the two strangers soon engage in a sex.
The next day, instead of heading back home to her job as a freelance writer for magazines, Rei asks the trucker, Takatoshi, if she can accompany him on his deliveries. Takatoshi agrees and soon the couple begins their journey across the frosty winter back roads of Japan's countryside. Surrounded by the natural beauty of the country Rei and Takatoshi tell each other of their struggles, Rei, besides being an alcoholic is also bulimic and Takatoshi tells of his days working for the yakuza. Rei seems to be happy, but her inner demons soon overpower her. Can a bleached-blond trucker truly help her?
Based on a novel by Akasaka Mari, Vibrator is a highly sexualized film without being raunchy. The scene where Rei and Takatoshi sit together in a bathtub is very touching. Taking place almost exclusively in the environs of Takatoshi's truck, the film is little more than a dialogue between two characters, however, it is quite an enjoyable trip watching the relationship between the two characters grow. The film also has an awesome soundtrack. Check it out if you get the chance.