Call Boy (2018)

Let's start with clarifying our lead's entry and continued existence in the world of prostitution. The lead isn't being coerced or forced, he gets something out of each and every encounter in this movie.
Now that's out of the way,

This movie contains some 'difficult to watch scenes' and explicit, yet realistic portrayals of sex.

''I want to know what women want, what they're thinking. If they could have ANYTHING, what do women really desire?''

When do our desires become perverse, what is perversion?
This movie seeks to explore not only human sexuality, but the disconnection from humanity that so much of today's youth experience.
We don't know how to connect, where to begin.
For some, sexual encounters are the ultimate disconnect we seek, for others it's the single point of connection.
This movie seeks to portray ''meaningless sexual encounters'' in their correct context, it will perhaps help YOU redefine your interpretation of meaningless sex.
Once this movie is finished, take a moment to ponder - what kind of sexual encounter was meaningless to him?
I have my own thoughts on that.

We follow a completely ordinary man, in an extraordinary occupation in which he ultimately finds solace, defeating loneliness by gaining his own version of ''great purpose''.

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In contrast to director Daisuke Miura’s earlier film about Tokyo’s sexual underground (“Love’s Whirlpool”), which was equally explicit but nihilistic in its portrayal of ordinary people paying for meaningless sex, “Call Boy” is a sex-positive tale about how sex, even when paid for, can bring happiness to one'e self and others. Ryo starts the movie bored and disinterested with women, but inadvertently falls into the world of male prostitution and finds that he generally cares about all of his clients. From trapped housewives to lonely widows to kinky pleasure-seekers, he seeks to give them whatever fulfillment they are searching for, without judgment and even when their requests are not his cup of tea. His work as a gigolo increases his own empathy and fuels personal growth, until he becomes almost a literal sex god by the end. Featuring a fearless performance by Tori Matsuzaka (his agent must have had a heart attack), “Call Boy” is an unforgettable coming of age story for mature audiences.

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This movie showcases how a person can be connected to his feelings while doing a sexual act and how disconnected he can also be. What I like about this movie is the play on the emotions of the main character. He controls his feelings depending on the situation and he gets more involved as he matures and experience life.

As expected , this Japanese movie can be viewed as weird and it is not for normal audiences. However, I find the movie very engaging not only because of the “actions” of the main character but also the possible psychology of a prostitute.

It is a hard to talk about the world of prostitution but it explains why some people get into that act. I am not sure how close this movie to reality but it got into me in terms of how deep the main character thinks.

Some people might find this movie very disturbing but I hope they will focus on the message and human perspectives on sex and its connection to emotions.

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I know Call Boy is suuuuuper pornographic but doesn't lack depth. Seriously there was more character growth and development of story and a touch of psychological drama than most mainstream stuff. Matsuzaka Tori played the main lead Ryu so well and with so much heart, none of the pervy scenes were lewd or unnecessary. The story is about a boy who was left behind one night by his mother who never comes back. As a result even though he tries to be a good, loving boy like his mother told him to be he ends up becoming rather cold and lacking in social grace especially toward women and confesses that he finds women boring and takes sex as just some annoying way to procreate. Until the day he runs into the owner of a underground club and meets the female owner who is in her late thirties. She challenges Ryu's view of women and sex by asking him to work for her escort service even when he's clearly lacking. And so begins an unusual journey where not only does Ryu start to find women exciting but also gets a thrill from sex and starts enjoying life in general. But it all goes downward when he falls in love with the owner who isn’t the least bit interested in him, and his friends find out he's a prostitute and shame him for it. Ok, so I truly appreciated everything about this film and how it basically humanizes people with sex perversions. I don't think any other film I've seen so far does this in such a beautiful way. Ok so because I live for BL interactions lol my favorite scene was between Ryu and Azuma. But ok if you get easily offended this is really not for you though.

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The other reviews on here had me looking for an english subbed version of this film and in doing so, I found many other reviews extolling it's virtues. A movie critic was quoted as saying "One of those films that you have no idea how it got made, but are so glad it did." and I wholeheartedly agree.

The story is one of Ryo - a young, intelligent student who would rather work as a bartender than attend university. He's handsome so can easily attract female, sexual partners but he finds women boring and sex with them ritualistic. When his friend, who is an escort at a hosts bar introduces him to the female boss of a high-class host bar, she encourages him to profit from getting a deeper understanding of women and their desires. The exposure catapults Ryo to the top of the escort game and the story has a slightly episodic tone to it, with the various women he meets and ultimately has sex with each wanting or needing something slightly different from Ryo and as he learns to fulfil those needs, his earning potential as well as his own enjoyment in his new-found profession significantly increases.

This movie has multiple sex scenes that leave nothing to the imagination so take heed of the 18+ rating associated to it but they are all necessary to the story as what is really being demonstrated here is the deep-rooted psychological complexity of our leading man and how his clients, in their situations and with their individual needs change his thinking.

Which leads us nicely onto how well the various actors and actresses fared. Very well is the answer and although it's not a particularly difficult story to tell, there are at least 2 or 3 character studies within this movie that wouldn't be anywhere near as good without the actors doing their parts so well.

I probably would re-watch this because of the behaviourial, psychological aspects that whilst not easily missed, could potentially be mis-construed so watching it at least once more would help and given I watched a subbed version, I think some things can literally become lost in translation so I might try and watch another version to see if meaning or interpretation changes.

Whether it does or not, I cannot recommend this film highly enough.

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extremely mature

First of all, every 15 minutes, there is a sex scene.
This is raw and shows the darkest sides of women which you might have a hard time accepting. Some might say it's gross but trust me, these kinds of women exist and there is nothing wrong with that. They just show their vulnerability to someone who they feel a little sensible and vulnerable like them.
I still can not accept many scenes from this drama, because I felt really gross but I know these are some glimpse of reality.
I hated when his friends slut-shamed him bruh what kinda friend are you? you don't scold someone you love by shaming them.
Overall this was a great movie. I really liked when the woman said "If you don't open up your heart, they won't want your body" and this is very deep. Many dialogues are very quote-worthy.

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Just finished watching this movie, and It was a really good story about finding ones balance and place in life. It is also a story of helping others find a small slice of peace in their life. The main lead by helping others finds his center and resolves issues in his past and then finds his peace.

Please read Johanna Linnea Karlsson's review as it is really good to an echos my thoughts as well.

I will add that at first i thought if some people were really adverse to watching the sex scenes they could just FF and still get the story, but some of the stories are told in the sex.

i recommend this and I hope it gets awards because the truth in this story echoes in my heart.

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Before I saw Call Boy, I actually didn't really have respect for prostitutes. But I think this movie gave me a completely different view on the industry, and I feel that it's maybe not as bad since they're trying to help other people overcome their sufferings. In fact I think this was one of the most original stories I have watched because topics like this are taboo most of the time (especially women's sexual desires) and although there were a lot of sex scenes, it felt like it was all more a part of the story. Honestly I found it a bit sad, especially with the guy's past but at the same time I completely understand how the guy feels and if someone finds fulfillment in their job then maybe it's not so bad.

I liked this movie overall, and the main character really developed a lot in terms of personality and physical ability (lol). It's kinda sad though but I liked it. I might rewatch it if I ever find time...

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Ok, here I'll disagree with my fellows reviewers... It's a first!

This movie didn't work for me, apart from Tori's acting that was superb! Ryou's expression when he catches the real feeling/emotion from his clients is super!

In my opinion , the way the sex scenes had been shown was more pornographic/graphic than necessary, even if the theme is prostitution into complex situations.

Of course, it's a dark movie with broken, incomplete lives that end up interlaced so, over emotions and pain are part of it... But the interaction between Midou Shizuka and Ryou were not properly built up to justify so much emotion/expectations into any kind of relationship between them (apart from the business connection).

I easily empathize with characters and their counterpart in movies - even the slightest connection do touch me, but this movie lacks the connections and end up overloading the main character.

Also, Ryou revealing his past related to his mother to Shizuka, does not justify the need of Shizuka revealing about Ryou's mother's way of life... if the cause of his mother death was related to her 'job' then yes Shizuka's explanation would have made sense, but it lost the meaning altogether ... I mean, there you have someone that is still in pain about a loss and you just go there and poke the wound? ...

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This film in some ways describes a situation that some people with "normal life" have gone through, perhaps in less disruptive circumstances according to society. Seeking comfort, oblivion, the need to exist in someone's arms.

I forgot after a while the profession of this young man and I was embroiled in the story of these women, from the young prude to the widowed grandmother. They share with us their distress, their fear, their choice, their hope. We understand a little better the boxes in which they are placed in Japanese society.

The intimate scenes are very explicit but if we dwell on them, we forget the real message of this film: Morinaka Ryou learns from his clients, discovers himself, grows and accepts his choices.

This movie has many explicit scenes, some offensive behaviors for some people . So please check the synopsis and tag if you want to watch mainly for the actor.

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This is a lot more than just some trashy smut-film.

This is one of only a handful of movies I've ever watched where the sex scenes aren't gratuitous. Each one conveys something different, and when you add them all up, you have a very beautiful message, in which the director is trying to convey how for some people in some situations, sex and love aren't a straight line. Sometimes people, through complex situations, get wired differently in that area of life.

I see this movie as controversial because in a very distinct way, it romanticizes prostitution, and romanticizes dysfunctional sexuality. Yet the opposite side of that is that it humanizes sexual dysfunction, so that a person isn't defined by their kink, it's just another aspect of their personhood. Also in defense of the film, it is highly respectful of how it treats the topic of AIDS.

If you skip the dialogue and just watch for the smut factor, you miss the entire artistry of the movie. If you skip the smut and just watch for the dialogue, you also miss the artistry of the movie, because each sex scene has something to convey. In this sense, the movie is sort of genius. A very deliberate movie.

We have all seen shows that depict sex work as seedy, dirty, depressing, hopeless. This is the opposite side of that. I think it's relying on the concept that most of the viewers already have seen the sordid side of the sex industry and know what it entails, and this movie is almost like an apology to that. A serious attempt at an explanation for why people end up in the industry, why they stay, or why they support it.

I don't agree entirely with some of the viewpoints the film takes, but I respect that at least it wasn't at all just another piece of smut. There are very deep emotions running through this movie.

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Hardship is necessary to shine

This is my first review I posted here, nevertheless I hope I can help to give my insight a bit about the movie. I am sorry in advance should any typos or grammar errors incurred here.

The movie generally tackles Oedipus Complex in a beautiful way. Thus, the explicit scenes incorporated was not gratuitously given, but necessarily inherent to the story as her late mother's last word.
"I'll be back before it gets dark.
Be a good boy and stay warm in bed.
Alright, Ryo?"
Of course we do not warm our beds by manner of ironing, but to have company in bed. The words are the first lines in the movie, lingering inside MC head while he dreamt of her departure. It also recurred later while he opened up his heart.
The tear scene also come near the end of story, after the surreal explicit scene. Makes it almost a round narration.

It was trying to say however hardship a person gone through, he/ she would make it in any way to survive. Hence MC make his own flaw to his trade even the best among his peers. Even though there is some gay perversion here nothing too much like gay movies would.

Unlike most explicit scenes movies, the movie was filmed subtly and satisfying. The editing too was gentle and felt natural. I can't comment much about the cinematography since the movie rarely shot panoramic, if there is any.

Characters are well developed to support MC prominent role. I can say they all acted naturally, except for Sakura. But maybe that is only my preference, for I've only seen her in Antiporno. She was doing better there. MC worth to note as he acted superbly, from novice to advanced having matured by work.

Soundtracks here was made originally to accompany the narrative. Ending music was Mr. Wonderful by Peggy Lee, it was like a revelation tribute to MC. Excellent song pick, the music and lyric matched so well to conclude the atmosphere.

I definitely would watch it some other time I find convenient, but I cannot recommend this well-made movie to anyone since the explicit scenes may offend some. That's it wrapped, thank you for reading and enjoy the movie.

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