Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		4.0

Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov February 11, 2025

Shogoro Nishimura's "Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon" (1971) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of 88 Films. The supplemental features on the release include exclusive introduction by critic Mio Hatokari; new audio commentary by critic Irene Gonzalez-Lopez; remastered original trailer; and vintage promotional materials. In Japanese, with optional English subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

You will enjoy it and get paid.

This Japanese film initiated arguably the greatest studio transformation of the modern era. In 1971, Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon launched the popular Roman Porno series for Nikkatsu, one of the Big Four studios in Japan, effectively legitimizing erotic cinema and permanently reshaping the local film industry. Interestingly, but perhaps not surprisingly, Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon is a very good drama and only a mediocre erotic film. (No, it is not a porno film).

Even though her social and cultural environments are drastically different, Ritsuko (Kazuko Shirakawa) is a lot like Belle de Jour -- young and beautiful, married to a very busy man (Tatsuya Hamaguschi) who only occasionally has time to make love to her. It is why Ritsuko begins drifting away from her husband and secretly goes out on a date with an old college friend she has not seen in years. It is why, like Belle de Jour, she also becomes an escort girl and begins recreating her most intense sexual desires.

But as Ritsuko’s reputation grows, her husband’s career begins collapsing, and on a day like any other, fate sends them on a date at the wrong place and time. Instead of meeting an American businessman, Ritsuko greets her husband, who has booked the date hoping to convince the foreigner to become his business partner. The shame and pain Ritsuko and her husband experience are so profound that both, after immediately asking for forgiveness, give up on life.

Shogoro Nishimura had done several other films before committing to Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon and none had substantial erotic material. Needless to say, working on Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon must have been a profoundly different experience.

Or, not at all.

Despite launching the Roman Porno series, Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon is neither a porno film nor a proper erotic film. It has several prolonged lovemaking sequences, but some feature strategic blurring and all are of the type that appear like variations of identical sequences from the then-very popular gangster films. (For reference, Japan’s notorious pink films, which emerged in the early 1960s, produce completely different thrills because the overwhelming majority of them are quite explicit). More importantly, Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon is scripted like a conventional drama, focusing on the evolving balance of powers between the two sexes in a hyper-industrialized post-war Japan.

If Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon was only a mediocre erotic film, why did it become such a hit and help the Roman Porno series flourish?

Its success is a combination of two things. Shirakawa was a good actress and an established pink star, so her involvement with Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon instantly expanded its potential audience, and with Nikkatsu’s publicity support, success was more likely. While a small film, Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon has solid production values. It looks very sleek and vibrant, a lot like the popular gangster films Nikkatsu produced. It even has a sultry jazzy score that would have been perfect in one of these popular gangster films.

This recent release of Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon has commentaries from female critics claiming that Nikkatsu’s Roman Porno series also initiated another important trend, which began diminishing the influence of male-dominated productions. These claims are way off-target. The Roman Porno films had big female stars, with a ‘dominating’ presence before the camera, for the same reason erotic and adult films in Europe and America did. The biggest consumers of these films were, and still are, males. They flocked to theaters and bought tickets to see beautiful female stars, not big male stars, This was the very reason behind Nikkatsu’s controversial decision to enter the erotic film business.

*The strategic blurring that is used in several sequences is very similar to that present in Roger Vadim's cult film Please, Not Now!. In it, during a previously considered scandalous sequence, in a nightclub somewhere in the French Alps, Brigitte Bardot performs a seductive dance with nothing else but some sort of tiny towel around her waist.

Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.45:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of 88 Films.

It is very easy to tell that this release is sourced from a recent master, prepared by a party that genuinely cared about accuracy and quality. To be honest, I was quite surprised to see how good the film looked on my system because its visuals boast the consistent strong organic quality that proper big restorations ensure. For example, delineation, clarity, and depth are almost always excellent. In the few areas I observed small fluctuations, it appears that some of the outdoor footage was shot under less than optimal conditions. Darker areas looked particularly good, revealing a wide range of fine nuances without ever flattening or crushing them. Color reproduction and balance are very good. There are no traces of problematic digital corrections. I think that grain exposure could be slightly better, but I did not notice any anomalies to report. A few tiny nicks can be spotted, but there are no large cuts, debris, marks, warped or torn frames to report. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

A surprisingly excellent jazzy soundtrack does a lot to enhance the desired atmosphere, but I still think that the dynamic strength of the audio is difficult to praise. Not because it could have been better, but because its native limitations are rather obvious. The dialog is clear and stable. The English translation is excellent. In one area early into the film, I noticed a bit of background hiss trying to sneak in, but it quickly disappeared.

Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction - presented here is an exclusive new video introduction by critic Mio Hatokari. The bulk of the comments address the production of Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon and its impact on the future of the Roman Porno series, Nikkatsu, and the Japanese film industry. Some key difference between the Roman Porno and pink films are highlighted as well.

• Commentary - this exclusive new audio commentary was recorded by critic Irene Gonzalez-Lopez.

• Trailer - presented here is a remastered trailer for Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon. In Japanese, with English subtitles. (2 min).

• Stills Gallery - a collection of vintage promotional materials for Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon. Presented with music. (2 min).

• Booklet - a 20-page illustrated booklet featuring Dimitri Ianni's essay "Kazuko Shirakawa: The Naked Joan of Arc" and technical credits.

Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Despite the presence of a few slightly longer lovemaking sequences, Apartment Wife: Affair in the Afternoon explores the same relationships and socio-cultural conditions European masterpieces like I Knew Her Well and Belle de Jour do. It was the first film in Nikkatsu's Roman Porno series, which permanently reshaped the Japanese film industry. I think people that give this film a chance will be shocked how good it is. It looks really, really good on Blu-ray, too. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.