The Key (1997)

Based on a potent novel by mid-century Japanese scribe Junichirô Tanizaki, Toshiharu Ikeda’s The Key (1997) stars Naomi Kawashima as a beautiful Kyoto housewife in a strained marriage. Dissatisfied with his wife’s lack of enthusiasm for sex, husband Soichiro (Akira Emoto) brings her to a liquor-soaked house party in hopes of loosening her up. The plan works all too well––before long, Ikuko (Kawashima) is lost in the throes of passion. Unfortunately her uncontrollable orgasms are prompted by a newly developed attraction to partygoer Kimura Kenichi (Mikio Ôsawa). Kawashima’s performance is as riveting as expected––watching the middle-aged beauty go from repressed wife to insatiable sexpot is irresistible.