I know its possible to have a serious movie that has explicit sex in it. I encounter these enough to know that they should exist and I am glad of it.
Its a bit different when the intent of a film is to serve a prurient need outside of the context of what we consider "real" movies. Porn is usually discriminated from other films by existing outside of the need for story. This isn't quite right because there's always story, its just with porn the stories the viewer brings are so strong and deep that they only have to be referenced in the briefest of shorthands. These stories and shorthands interest me because the implied stories are (I think) complex and the shorthands are clean, universally understood and succinct in their visual form.
So I spend time with films that purport to mix porn and real storytelling. Michael Ninn impressed. Max Candy maybe. Some single projects from the 70s.
Now this. Its unapologetically porn, but on the softish side. What's interesting is that if you take it as porn it seems to deliberately cancel itself because (like "Sex Psycho") it covers so many types of sexual encounter that it is bound to offend whatever story a porn-inclined viewer will bring.
The story thread of this is clever enough to warrant description. Its designed as if it were a chapter in a "Bladerunner" world: replicants designed for (or at least adapted for) sex. The story is pretty complex, not in what you see but in what is explained. A replicant takes on seven bodily forms, so as to collect a variety of intense orgasms (apparently the Japanese term for orgasm is iku). The purpose of this is to transfer them to a pill so an evil corporation can make money and gain power. By transferring the orgasmic knowledge to the company, the replicant will buy her freedom.
The "Bladerunner" allusions are scant except for one critical piece in the very beginning where we (and it seems the replicant's control) encounter an origami crane from "Bladerunner." If you know that movie, you'll know that the crane plays a key role in switching the whole focus of the story from that of the theatrical release to a radically different and more exciting one in the "director's cut." I won't detail the shift here, but it had to do with shifting into the realm of directed dreams. And that's big when it comes to stylish porn. Worth looking into.
Speaking of "into," for some reason the filmmaker chose to have a repeated effect of a woman's (and one a man's) "insides" as penis/hand/probe thrusts. Its a puzzling choice.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.