Director
Shinji Imaoka
Cast
Konatsu………Akemi Kudo
Rinako Hirasawa………Kyoko Ito
DVD Release Date: November 13, 2007
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 65 Minutes
The Movie
Words can’t even begin to describe the sheer confusion that this film instilled upon me. Frog Song starts out with Akemi (whose name we don’t find out until about thirty minutes into the film) hitting her boyfriend on the head with a bottle. We soon come to find out that he is the cheating type and has done it to her repeatedly. So one night Akemi walks out on him and heads to a small library/caf� to read some manga. Here she meets Kyoko who also happens to like manga, likes frogs, befriends Akemi and teaches her the way of prostitution. Akemi is ready to live her life now as she wants to.
That is essentially all that happens in the film because the point isn’t really easy to grasp. No scratch that, reverse it. There is no point to this film. The acting is horrible, the story is nonexistent, and the direction seems as if it was given by an untrained dolphin. Frog Song is strictly made up of random scenes that have no real bearing on the one before it or the next. There’s a few sex scenes, some shots in the caf�, a couple of the girls walking down the street, and a frog suit hence the title.
At one point Akemi is walking down the street and sees a person in a frog suit at a store. She walks up and puts her hand on his chest and he slaps it away. End scene. About ten minutes later, Kyoko comes home and sees Akemi sleeping on the floor in the frog suit and tells her to go home.
What?
Don’t be surprised if you ask yourself that same question repeatedly if you should so choose to watch Frog Song. While you’re at it, see if you realize the same thing I did. Ok, I’ll just tell you. No-one changes clothes ever. Akemi is in the same blue sweater and jeans for days and not a soul seems to notice or let her know. Same with Kyoko and Akemi’s boyfriend. Everyone always seems to be in the same clothes, but no matter because if the people of Japan are oblivious to a giant frog walking the streets then I doubt they care if you’re in dirty clothes.
The Video
The film is shown in 1.66:1 Anamorphic Widescreen format and looks surprisingly good. All the bright colors of the street lights and especially the frog costume come through perfectly while the darker scenes are always easily seen and not too shadowy.
The Audio
The film is heard in Dolby Digital Stereo Sound and is shown with English subtitles that are well-timed. One thing I found kind of weird is that the Japanese voices actually seem to be dubbed in and not coming from those speaking.
Special Features
Pink Cinema Introduction – A three paragraph introduction all about Pink Cinema which in a nutshell is Japan’s creative take on erotica when extreme censorship took place starting in the sixties. Pink Cinema decided to take the route of the sadist and show the dark and disturbing side of both romance and erotica.
Short film: Japanese Box – This is a fifteen minute short film and I really have no idea what the hell is going on in it. Two girls are in a house of some sort with a box that seems to have evil things happen from it. Two English voices narrate, but don’t really talk about what is happening on screen. It seems like a shortened cheap version of Ringu to some extent. I use my exact same description of this special feature that I did for Bitter Sweet because that’s what it is.
Japanese Box Stills Gallery – This feature is exactly what it says it is and consists of some still frames from the short film.
Satanic Slut Book Teaser: “Blood & Dishonour” – A book of satanic looking women in slutty clothes.
Trailers – The Nude Vampire, Black Mass, and The Witching Hour
The Inside Pulse
Don’t buy this film. Never see it. There is nothing more that needs to be said about it. The special features aren’t worth purchasing a DVD for a film that sucks so incredibly bad. Come to think of it, I don’t even know if the film even sucks. I’m not sure what it is or if it’s bad. It’s just there when it never should have been created; let alone gotten distribution. The only way this film could have any type of redeeming quality is if Kermit the Frog showed up and started pimp-slapping the hell out of everyone in it.
