Slight Fever of a 20 Year Old
by Ryosuke Hashiguchi
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Reiko Kataoka, Yoshihiko HakamadaDirector: Ryosuke Hashiguchi
Brand: Water Bearer Films
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Subtitled); Japanese (Original Language)
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, NTSC, Subtitled, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 114 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2005-11-01
Audience Rating: Unrated
Studio: Water Bearer Films, Inc
Movie Reviews of Slight Fever of a 20 Year Old
Movie Review: Japanese tale of sullen youth and unrequitted love
Summary: 4 Stars
Tatsuro is a bored and sullen middle-class Tokyo young man just out of his teens, who skips college classes to work as a male prostitute in hustler bar. There he meets Shin, a younger, less motivated but equally bored co-worker, who quickly develops a crush on the older boy. They are friendly to each other, but actually confide more in their respective female best friends, who sense an attraction between the two boys before they see it themselves. When Shin "comes out" to his parents, Tatsuro lets him stay at his place temporarily, which forces both boys to face their feelings, which their work has taught them to repress.
"Hatachi no binetsu" translates literally to "A Touch of Fever", but has been renamed "Slight Fever of a 20-Year-Old" for its recent release on DVD. Released theatrically in Japan in 1993, at a time when gays were never "out" publicly to friends or family, it was an extremely popular landmark film for its non-stereotypical portrayal of its gay characters. In the DVD commentary (filmed ten years later), Screenwriter/Director Ryosuke Hashiguchi recalls that he did not describe the characters as gay, even to the actors, for fear that they would lean toward the feminine, campy depictions of homosexuals that were the rule in Japanese cinema. He also reports receiving "hundreds" of letters from gay and lesbian teens, thanking him for letting them feel that they were not the only ones.
Shot on a small budget, with amateur actors and by an amateur filmmaker (at the time, although he has had subsequent successes), "Slight Fever.." isn't visually impressive, but valuable for providing a little-seen insight into the attitudes of middle class Tokyp teenagers, about sexuality as well as life in general. Trivia note: director Hashiguchi also appears in the film, as the final "john" of Tatsuro in a pivotal, emotional scene at the end of the film. Not for everyone, but I give it 4 stars out of 5.
Summary of Slight Fever of a 20 Year Old
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