BODY TEMPERATURE – Fantastic Fest Review

When it comes the romantic comedies, the standard plan of action seems to be a formulaic approach, but it doesn’t need to be that way. BODY TEMPERATURE is really more of a dramedy, but the connection is close enough to be filed under the same category. I mention this because the better romantic comedies are usually the ones not trying so hard to make us laugh, but are more interested in telling a story with some underlying message or greater purpose.

Takaomi Ogata presents BODY TEMPERATURE as a character study, focused almost entirely on Rintaro (Chavetaro Ishizaki), a loner who works from home and lives with Ibuki, his girlfriend of six years… who just happens to be a very life-like sex doll. Rintaro has conversations with her, dresses her, buys her things, even goes on walks with her, but it’s only when he meets Rinko (Rin Sakuragi) that his fantasy begins to fall apart.

In a twist of fate, Rintaro notices an attractive woman entering the subway who eerily resembles Ibuki. Instantly, Rintaro’s focus on Ibuki succumbs to a minor, yet undeniably present fracture. This is the moment that his world begin to dissolve back into the real world. Rintaro, despite his social awkwardness, makes contact with Rinko and slowly builds a strong friendship. One thing leads to another, as they often do, and the truth of the situation begins to reveal itself regarding Rinko’s intentions as well as Rintaro’s little secret.

At only 72-minutes in length, BODY TEMPERATURE is a short, but slowly developing story. Ogata takes his time revealing Rintaro to the audience, detailing his eccentricities. Ogata chooses to dwell on moments, often with long steady shots. This strengthens our understanding of Rintaro’s world. There are no moments of outside criticism, no moments of being bullied or being ostracized as a social outcast. Rintaro exists fully in his world, oblivious to whatever may be occurring in the real world.

Ishizaki reminds me of a Michael Cera character, but far less obnoxious, but looks vaguely like a Japanese Justin Long. In a film that features a cast of only two actors, performance is key. Surprisingly, the strongest performance comes from Sakuragi, who happens to be a Japanese porn star in real life. Who says porn stars can’t act? For the majority of BODY TEMPERATURE, Sakuragi portrays the sex doll herself, seriously… and does so marvelously. This sounds on as it rolls off my own tongue, but the truth is, she was convincing as a lifeless facsimile of a real human being. Yes, that is a compliment!

There are several moments of touching, slightly awkward humor as we watch Rintaro with his Ibuki, like voyeurs in a PG-13 level peep show. The story, however, as well as the “intimacy” of Rintaro with Ibuki get a bit more intense near the end of the film. Without revealing an key plot points, there really is only one genuinely uncomfortable moment in BODY TEMPERATURE. Rintaro does hook up once with Rinko, and it goes surprisingly well, but a visually jarring close-up that occurs at the “climax” of this scene will likely cause audiences to double-take, wince or even vocalize their disbelief.

While the film lingers slowly, at times even too slowly, it’s the lingering that makes it unique. Already compared heavily to LARS AND THE REAL GIRL — I too am guilty of this — BODY TEMPERATURE still strays from the general concept and tells its own story. Ogata focuses on the intimacy angle as its key driving factor, whereas LARS AND THE REAL GIRL focused far more on the social angle. In either case, both films are worth seeing.