CommentsXp Best movie ever!

ActuallyGlimmer The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Brenda The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

ebiros2 The ultimate focus of this film is Aya Sugimoto, who've grown up from a graphic idol of the'80s into an entrepreneur and an actress amongst other things. She's really matured from the beautiful young girl into a nice multi-talented lady. A rarity in a field where new comers fade away just as quickly as they appear.If you look at the combination of Dan Oniroku, and Takashi Ishii, you can bet that this is going to be a hard core movie in many ways (and it is).A husband in debt is asked to submit his wife to a 95 year old man's pleasure item. He has little choice but to submit. The wife (Aya Sugimoto) who doesn't know anything about the deal becomes the unwitting sacrifice in the game of sadistic sexual display.I actually haven't seen Aya Sugimoto for almost 20 years, and had to do a double take to make sure that she was the same Aya Sugimoto that I've seen in the '80s. She's changed, but into a respectable lady. I'm not a big fan of Dan Oniroku or Takashi Ishii, but this movie was of good quality mainly due to the performance of Aya Sugimoto.

djestic03 This is what Eyes Wide Shut should have been. This is Zalman King eroticism with a sharp story line and excellent acting. Super erotic without blatant pornography; that would seem to be the test of great acting/directing/storytelling. I'd give it 10 but the ending seems subject to much interpretation. Although much of the movie is involved in bondage and forms of S&M, I get easily bored if THAT'S all that is going on. There's much more to this, the sequences do not feel contrived, and the reaction of the actors seems very genuine. This is not a slasher/blood splatter flick. In many respects, this is more erotic than what an actual porn flick would be. Overall, a very well done movie!

lleeheflin Takashi Ishii is my best movie 'find' of the last year (along with Park Chan Wook). When I finished watching BLACK ANGEL #1 I said to myself (silently since the film had left me utterly speechless) I have seen the face of grand opera for the 21st century. FLOWER & SNAKE takes its place on that same lofty summit. But whereas BLACK ANGEL fits neatly into the groove of Verdi and Wagner, FLOWER & SNAKE is more attuned to the hothouse orchid atmosphere of Strauss' SALOME, but dressed up (and down) in very contemporary style. I can imagine that Strauss would have loved for his SALOME to look like this! It is all about unrequited 'forbidden' love/lust. Westerners tend to be very uneasy with this area of human experience: witness S. Kubrick's last gasp of a dying breath EYES WIDE SHUT. Not so the Japanese. They grab Priapus by the horns and do their damnedest to wrestle him to the ground. More often than not leaving a trail of their own blood and guts strewn along the wayside. AND making ART of it all the while.While all S&M is ritualized to one degree or another, in a culture like Japan where RITUAL is fundamental to all cultural experience, the ritualization of the 'forbidden' is raised to the level of the sublime. This is most especially true in its artistic expressions. Erotic art is a very well established genre in Japan. And S&M erotic art is a very well established sub-genre there as well. One need not be an 'S&Mer' to appreciate it's artistic merits. But you can not deny it's artistic merits. I have seen rather a lot of (gay) Japanese erotic art on the web and a lot of it belonged to this sub-genre. If this is not Ishii's bag, then he did his homework very well. The traditional male loin cloth plays a very big role in Japanese homoerotic art, so I was rather surprised to see this fetish lavished so lovingly on the woman in the film. And the whole bondage business!!! The ritualistic binding with rope and knot tying is astonishing!!! And nearly verbatim from the many Japanese prints I have seen. (To see for your self google 'Gengoroh Tagame') This is erotic art of the highest order, albeit of a very specialized order. I can not recommend it too highly. On the other hand, if your sexual tastes are firmly entrenched in the vanilla flavors of Hollywood 'tweenky' sexploitation movies, then you might want to knock back a few before watching this. On the other hand if you enjoy sex while riding a roller coaster thru the funhouse and the chamber of horrors, you will die over this. It gives a whole new meaning to 'two thumbs up'!!!!

HumanoidOfFlesh Incredibly hot Aya Sugimoto stars as Shizuko,a bored and unfulfilled wife of a wealthy businessman.When her husband is blackmailed by the Yakuza,Shizuko is sold to Oyabun Tashiro as payment.Tashiro quickly places Shizuko in a private S&M show for an elite audience in order to satisfy his own unfulfilled sexual needs.Shizuko is then subjected to sexual humiliation in front of the masked audience."Flower and Snake" is based on Oniroku Dan's highly successful novel.The film is perverse and sexually explicit,so fans of Japanese pinku eiga should get it as soon as possible.A famous Japanese singer and model Aya Sugimoto spends lots of her screen time naked and she has truly wonderful body.The story may be shocking for casual viewers,however if you are curious give this stunningly erotic masterpiece a look.9 out of 10.