Castle Orgies
{{Infobox film
| name = Castle Orgies
| image = Castle Orgies.jpg
| caption = Theatrical poster for Castle Orgies (1971)
| director = Isao HayashiInfobox data from {{cite web |url=http://www.japanese-cinema-db.jp/details/11689 |title=色暦大奥秘話 |access-date=2009-08-29 |publisher=Japanese Cinema Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs) |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008095430/http://www.japanese-cinema-db.jp/details/11689 |archive-date=2011-10-08 |url-status=dead }}
| producer = Rō Miura
| writer = Jirō Niizeki
Masayasu Ōebara
| narrator =
| starring = Setsuko Ogawa
Yoichi Nishikawa
| music = Hajime Kaburagi
| cinematography = Kenji Hagiwara
| editing =
| distributor = Nikkatsu
| released = {{Film date|1971|11|20}}
| runtime = 67 minutes
| country = Japan
| language = Japanese
| budget =
| gross =
}}
{{nihongo|Castle Orgies|色暦大奥秘話|Irogoyomi ōoku hiwa}} aka Eros Schedule Book: Concubine Secrets and Sensual History: Shogun's Harem Secret Story is a 1971 Japanese film in Nikkatsu's Roman porno series, directed by Isao Hayashi and starring Setsuko Ogawa and Yoichi Nishikawa. Part of Nikkatsu's first Roman porno double-bill release, it was the first film in the 9-film Eros Schedule Book series, and actress Setsuko Ogawa's debut film.
Synopsis
Sae is a girl in love with a samurai in Edo period Japan. Her father sends her to the Shogun's court, where she is intended to serve as a concubine to the Shogun. When her rivals start rumors that Sae is not a virgin, the Shogun angrily banishes her to a nunnery. With help from her samurai boyfriend, Sae escapes, and the two flee together.{{cite journal |last=Fentone |first=Steve |year=1998 |title=A Rip of the Flesh: The Japanese 'Pink Film' Cycle: Castle Origes |journal=She |volume=2 |issue=11 |page=9}}{{cite web |url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/246727 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090526041920/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/246727 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-05-26 |title=IROGOYOMI - OHOKU HIWA |access-date=2009-08-31 |publisher=British Film Institute}}
Cast
- Setsuko Ogawa: Sae{{cite book |last=Sharp |first=Jasper |title=Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema |page=344 |year=2008 |publisher=FAB Press |location=Guildford |isbn=978-1-903254-54-7}}
- Yōichi Nishikawa
- Yasuko Matsui
- Megumi Fuji
- Midori Mori
- Kōju Ran
Background and legacy
Though Apartment Wife: Affair In the Afternoon (1971) is usually credited as the first of Nikkatsu's line of Roman Porno films, the films were released in double- or triple-bills,Yūji Tajiri, quoted in Sharp, p. 315 indicates that the Roman Pornos, following the pattern set up in pink films were shown in triple-bills. When only two Nikkatsu films were released for a particular month, the third film was an independently-produced film distributed by Nikkatsu. and Castle Orgies was Apartment Wife's partner release.Sharp, p. 123. These two productions indicated two directions that Nikkatsu intended to explore in its venture into the pink film genre. Apartment Wife represented the contemporary, urban stories, and Eros Schedule Book the historical period film. Both films were immediately successful with critics and audiences.{{cite book |last=Weisser |first=Thomas |author2=Yuko Mihara Weisser |title=Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films |page=127 |year=1998 |publisher=Vital Books : Asian Cult Cinema Publications |location=Miami |isbn=1-889288-52-7}} Apartment Wife inspired 20 official sequels, several unofficial sequel series, and created a new theme in Japanese erotic cinema-- the "Apartment wife".{{cite book |last=Sharp |first=Jasper |title=Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema |year=2008 |publisher=FAB Press |location=Guildford |isbn=978-1-903254-54-7 |pages=272, 291}} Eros Schedule Book was followed by eight direct sequels. The film was actress Setsuko Ogawa's debut. Ogawa become one of Nikkatsu's first idols, focusing on historical erotic dramas throughout her career with the studio.Weisser, p. 57.Sharp, p. 132.
Availability
Castle Orgies was first released theatrically in Japan on a double-bill with Apartment Wife: Affair In the Afternoon, on November 20, 1971. It was released on VHS in Japan on December 21, 1988,{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00005FD33/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20241216024346/https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00005FD33/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=December 16, 2024 |script-title=ja:色暦大奥秘話 |publisher=Amazon.co.jp |language=Japanese |access-date=2009-08-31 }} and again on January 14, 1994.{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.co.jp/dp/B00005FCKP/ |script-title=ja:色暦大奥秘話 |publisher=Amazon.co.jp |language=Japanese |access-date=2009-08-31 }}{{Dead link|date=October 2022 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
Along with Coed Report: Yuko's White Breasts (1971)-- part of Nikkatsu's second double-bill-- Castle Orgies was the subject of "Japan: Ancient and Modern", a feature in the March 1973 issue of the British journal Continental Film Review.Sharp, pp. 179, 200. The film was released by Tai Seng on all-region DVD on April 17, 2001, with Chinese and English subtitles.{{cite web |url=https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000059XU5/ |title=Castle Orgies (1971) |website=Amazon |date=17 April 2001 |access-date=2009-08-31}}
Bibliography
=English=
- {{cite journal |date=January 1972 |title=Castle Orgies |journal=UniJapan Film Quarterly |volume=15 |issue=1 |page=22}}
- {{cite journal |last=Fentone |first=Steve |year=1998 |title=A Rip of the Flesh: The Japanese 'Pink Film' Cycle: Castle Origes |journal=She |volume=2 |issue=11 |page=9}}
- {{cite web |url=http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/246727 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090526041920/http://ftvdb.bfi.org.uk/sift/title/246727 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2009-05-26 |title=IROGOYOMI - OHOKU HIWA |access-date=2009-08-31 |publisher=British Film Institute}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.citwf.com/film168096.htm |title=IROGOYOMI OOKU HIWA |access-date=2009-08-29 |publisher=Complete Index to World Film}}
- {{IMDb title|0212841|Irogoyomi ooku hiwa (1971) }}
- {{cite book |last=Sharp |first=Jasper |title=Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema |year=2008 |publisher=FAB Press |location=Guildford |isbn=978-1-903254-54-7}}
- {{cite book |last=Weisser |first=Thomas |author2=Yuko Mihara Weisser |title=Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films |year=1998 |publisher=Vital Books : Asian Cult Cinema Publications |location=Miami |isbn=1-889288-52-7}}
=Japanese=
- {{cite web |url=http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=143779|script-title=ja:色暦大奥秘話(1971) |access-date=2009-08-29 |publisher=allcinema.net |language=Japanese}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.japanese-cinema-db.jp/details/11689 |script-title=ja:色暦大奥秘話 |access-date=2009-08-29 |publisher=Japanese Cinema Database (Agency for Cultural Affairs) |language=Japanese |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008095430/http://www.japanese-cinema-db.jp/details/11689 |archive-date=2011-10-08 |url-status=dead }}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1971/cu003320.htm|script-title=ja:色暦大奥秘話 |access-date=2009-08-29 |language=Japanese |publisher=Japanese Movie Database}}
- {{cite web |url=http://www.kinejun.jp/cinema/色暦大奥秘話 |script-title=ja:色暦大奥秘話(邦画 ) |access-date=2009-08-29 |language=Japanese |publisher=Kinema Junpo }}{{Dead link|date=November 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}
- {{cite web|url=http://www.nikkatsu-romanporno.com/shousai/r076.html|script-title=ja:色暦大奥秘話|access-date=2009-08-29|publisher=www.nikkatsu-romanporno.com|language=Japanese|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110714183756/http://www.nikkatsu-romanporno.com/shousai/r076.html|archive-date=2011-07-14|url-status=dead}}