If you want to get your perv on, but come out of the experience feeling squeaky clean like you just got done watching “Amelie” with grandma, then “Man Woman and the Wall” is the flick for you.
When Ryo, a young magazine writer, moves into his new apartment, he is excited to discover that his walls are practically paper thin, allowing him to hear much of what goes on in the apartment next door. Why is this exciting? Because his neighbor is a totally hot girl. And so begins the aural voyeurism and masturbation – it certainly beats cable TV. Ryo spends much of his time listening to his hot neighbor’s every move, which includes naughty time with her boyfriend. As time goes on, Ryo finds himself wanting to get closer to her, so he obtains a device that amplifies sound coming from the other side of his wall, so that he gets a good front row seat to every little noise made in his neighbor’s apartment. He finally rigs a meeting with her and begins worming his way into her life, but as he gets closer he discovers that her boyfriend is a total creep and is also spying on her by placing a video camera in her apartment. Ryo’s obsessive perviness soon turns to concern as he finds himself beginning to care for his neighbor’s well-being.
What pulls this film together so well and sets it apart from your average Japanese “Pink Film” is that our main character, Ryo, is a pretty likeable guy. Yes, he’s perverted and he’s totally invading someone’s privacy, but he’s not a creepy a*****e about it. In fact, he’s doing what many of us would like to do whether we admit it or not.
So on one hand there’s plenty of kinkiness here to please many a hardened (huh huh huh) pervert – the sex scenes are actually pretty explicit without going porno graphic and the voyeurism aspect is lovingly handled by someone who seemingly enjoys being a peeping tom. And on the other hand we have a nicely composed story with likeable characters that get us through the sketchy subject matter. I was pleasantly surprised with this one. I think you will be too.
