Sex Family

Wakamatsu coming off of his 60s high. The first 10 years in his career were a real whirlwind, with '69 as one of the most pivotal years in his oeuvre. After that Wakamatsu slowly started to swerve, finding it harder to keep the pace and to keep coming up with new variations on the same old theme.

Sex Family is Wakamatsu's take on the family drama. Of course this is no ordinary family, the issues they face aren't exactly copies from Ozu's films either. But even when its topically every bit as provocative as his 60s work, the film lacks a sense of urgency to set itself apart from his other work.

The black and white cinematography is nice, though not quite as dashing as his better films. The plot and characters are a little meandering and the impact isn't quite as big as Wakamatsu clearly hoped it would be, but the film is short 'n sweet and even when it doesn't really stand out in Wakamatsu's oeuvre, it's still a pretty wicked and crazy film by any other standard.