Fest Track On Sirk TV Film Review: NUDE AT HEART [DOC NYC 2021 - Virtual]
The art of stripping has been melded into one with the notion of exotic versus titilating as well as the actual performance or design of it versus the actual money making aspect that fuels its popularity. In "Nude At Heart" [Kaleidoscope Competition], the lifestyle of Ordoriko which is a Japanese form of stripping is shown from a different perspective. For many of the older women, it is a calling and integrated into their being. What "Nude At Heart' does is offer an unvarnished view into these women who, considering some aspects of traditional Japanese society, are so open with their bodies backstage that it does feel more like a freeing aspect to them. One says she never shows her whole eart and they will never see her soul which is quite an existential statement. Some of the thoughts are poetic. Most don't see it strictly as a job. Some says they are tenets of a long tradition.
Director Yoichiro Okutani (it seems a man) sometimes makes himself aware in the room while talking to the women mostly in the full states of undress (constituting it would seem a trust of sorts) but most of the time he leaves the camera on using long shots capturing the girls speaking to each other frankly. One scene when a male handler is talking to one of the more popular dancers of why she doesn't have a boyfriend, she says it is because she never meets anybody. It is an interesting reality and irony which she says plays down to personality since some men flock to other girls. Most of the Odoriko agree that this profession is an art that is disappearing. Mnay patrons bring food or drinks for their favorite dancer and the entrance fee is one price. The patrons then pay for photographs which is how the dancers make their money. Most of the approach we see is one of reverence while still loving the aspect of the female form. The reflection shows that the venues are closing but in some form the art will live on. B
By Tim Wassberg
