Natto, mapo tofu and fatty ramen become objects of titillation in this intriguing Japanese triptych that centers on sex without ever depicting it.
A sexless husband queries his wife’s lover over a package of natto. A nervous driver on her way to buy mapo sauce finds her panic attack transform into a paroxysm of passion when she collides with an old schoolmate. And a married man obeys enigmatic instructions to rescue his paramour after she’s kidnapped from a ramen shop.
These three encounters form the wry Japanese triptych “Sexual Drive,” directed by Kota Yoshida. Consistently intriguing and occasionally hilarious, the movie does not depict sex itself. Instead, the characters eat food items that become objects of titillation, lust and pleasure: the sticky goo around soybeans, chili oil sizzling in a wok.
A man named Kurita (Tateto Serizawa) appears in each vignette as a mysterious raconteur spinning tales of lechery that — however disturbing and perhaps untrue — succeed in rousing his counterparts to their own desires. In two of the stories, Kurita is in conversation with men, and because of this, the movie lends disproportionate attention to the male libido. One can only take so many instances of male characters bragging about a sexual conquest or groaning in shame over being cuckolded.
But in the best of the three parts, called “Mapo Tofu,” a woman takes center stage. Driving to the grocery store, the anxious Akane (Honami Sato) bumps into Kurita, whom she used to bully in elementary school, and his memories of that time reawaken her taste for spice. Running a brief 70 minutes, “Sexual Drive” might have benefited from more women owning their appetites, especially since its erotica is such a fascinating new flavor.
Sexual Drive
Not rated. In Japanese, with subtitles. Running time: 1 hour 10 minutes. Rent or buy on Apple TV, Google Play and other streaming platforms and pay TV operators.
Source: Movies - nytimes.com
