Scoutman

Twenty-year-old Atsushi and his seventeen-year-old girlfriend Mari arrive in Tokyo from the suburbs with plans to marry despite their parent's objections but they are soon pulled into the city's dark underside. Atsushi meets Miki, a fading adult video (AV) actress, and gets introduced by the veteran Yoshiya to the occupation of "scoutman", recruiters who ply the streets trying to convince young girls to join the AV industry. Meanwhile, Mari, looking for work, runs into Kana who initiates her into the business of selling tickets to swinger's parties. The young couple continue to fall deeper into the seductions of Tokyo's sex industry and away from each other.

• Miku Matsumoto as Mari
• Hideo Nakaizumi as Atsushi
• Yuka Fujimoto as Kana
• Akihito Yoshiie as Yoshiya
• Yuri Komuro as Miki
• Shirō Shimomoto as Sugishita
• Kei Morikawa as Director

Director Masato Ishioka learned his trade working as an assistant director in the adult video (AV) industry under Tadashi Yoyogi at Athena Eizou for several years.{{cite web|url=http://www.midnighteye.com/reviews/scoutman/|title=Scoutman|access-date=2012-12-20|publisher= Midnight Eye|date=May 20, 2002|last=Sharp|first=Jasper}}{{cite web|url=http://www.goldview.co.jp/e010.html|title=Masato Ishioka|access-date=2012-12-19|publisher= www.goldview.co.jp}} Other veterans of the adult industry in the film include former AV star Yuri Komuro, playing the part of Miki, as well as actresses Fuka Sakurai ({{nihongo2|桜井風花}}){{cite web|url=http://www.urabon-navigator.com/profiles/n0746|title=Profile Fuka Sakurai 桜井風花|access-date=2013-01-13|publisher= Urabon Navigator}} and Yuna Miyazawa ({{nihongo2|宮澤ゆうな}}),{{cite web|url=http://xcity.jp/avod/idol/detail/?id=1957&style=simple|script-title=ja:宮澤ゆうな (みやざわゆうな)|access-date=2013-01-13|publisher= xcity.jp|language=Japanese}} and AV director Kei Morikawa in small roles.{{cite web|url=http://movie.walkerplus.com/mv32160/|title=PAIN ペイン|access-date=2013-01-13|publisher= MovieWalker|language=Japanese}}

The film made the round of the international film festivals, appearing at the Venice Film Festival on September 6, 2000, the Toronto International Film Festival on September 14, 2000, the Hong Kong International Film Festival on April 8, 2001, and the Singapore International Film Festival on April 21, 2001.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0266945/releaseinfo|title=Scoutman (2000)|access-date=2013-01-09|publisher=IMDb}} The movie made its theatrical debut in Japan as {{nihongo2|ＰＡＩＮ／ペイン}} on October 27, 2001, at the Nakano Musashino Hall,{{cite web|url=http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/2001/dy002920.htm|script-title=ja:ＰＡＩＮ／ペイン|access-date=2013-01-09|publisher= JMDB|language=Japanese}} known for showcasing new Japanese filmmakers.{{cite web|url=http://www.cinema-st.com/mini/m018.html|title=Nakano Musashino Hall|access-date=2013-01-09|publisher= www.cinema-st.com|language=Japanese}} A Region 2 DVD version of {{nihongo2|ＰＡＩＮ／ペイン}} was released in Japan on November 22, 2002{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.co.jp/PAIN%E3%80%88%E3%83%9A%E3%82%A4%E3%83%B3%E3%80%89-DVD-%E7%9F%B3%E5%B2%A1%E6%AD%A3%E4%BA%BA/dp/B00006RTJQ|title=PAIN〈ペイン〉 (DVD)|access-date=2013-01-14|publisher= www.amazon.co.jp|language=Japanese}} and an NTSC All Regions version (as Scout Man) was also produced.{{cite web|url=https://www.amazon.com/Ishioka-Matsumoto-Nakaizumi-Fujimoto-Shimomoto/dp/B00147R4ZC|title=SCOUT MAN (NTSC All Region Import)|access-date=2013-01-14}}

The film was generally well received by critics, Mark Schilling at the Japan Times Online gives the movie four stars and praises its realistic portrayal of Japan's sex industry{{cite web|url=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/text/ff20011128a2.html|title=Hunters on the mean streets|access-date=2013-01-13|publisher= JapanTimes|date=November 28, 2001|last=Schilling|first=Mark}} while Jasper Sharp calls it "perhaps the most honest and realistic films about the sex industry from the past few years."

The film won director Ishioka the Directors Guild of Japan New Directors Award for 2001{{cite web|url=http://www.dgj.or.jp/english/article/000289.html|title=New Directors Award|publisher=Directors Guild of Japan|access-date=11 December 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100921045649/http://dgj.or.jp/english/article/000289.html|archive-date=21 September 2010}} and the Directors' Week Special Jury Award at the 2001 Fantasporto.{{cite web|url=https://www.imdb.com/event/ev0000236/2001|title=Fantasporto|access-date=2012-12-20|publisher= IMDb}}

{{reflist}}

• {{IMDb title|id=0266945|title=Scoutman}}
• {{jmdb title|year=2001|id=dy002920|title=ＰＡＩＮ／ペイン}}

Category:2000 films

Category:Japanese romantic drama films