Speed Grapher, Limited Edition
Saiga, the lead character of the dystopic fantasySpeed Grapher(2005), is an ex-war photographer, scrounging for a living in Tokyo: Ten years after the "Bubble War," the city is divided between the super-rich and the wretchedly poor. Saiga stumbles onto an underground sex club where the corrupt elite meet to realize their kinky fantasies. A kiss from goddess-dancer Kagura gives him the ability to make anything he photographs explode, and he quickly puts this talent to use.Speed Grapherplays like a sleazy mixture ofCowboy Bebop,Eyes Wide Shut, andWicked City. The filmmakers try to capture the cynical charm of Spike Spiegel, but Saiga comes across as a jerk, not a wounded lion. The story is so ridiculously over the top, it's unintentionally funny, but the splatter scenes may turn viewers' stomachs. In Japan,Speed Grapherused Duran Duran's "Girls on Film" as the opening theme, but the rights weren't available for the U.S. release. (Rated TV MA, suitable for ages 17 and older: graphic violence; violence against women; suggested torture; partial nudity; profanity; sexual situations, including lesbianism; tobacco use)--Charles Solomon