Bakushi 縛師
Hiroki Ryūichi's 2007 documentary about Japanese rope tiers Nureki Chimuo, Yukimura Haruki and Arisue Gō, premiered at Rotterdam and released in Japan in 2008.
Bakushi is a Japanese documentary directed by Hiroki Ryūichi about bakushi, the people who tie in Japanese erotic rope bondage, and the models they work with. It was made in 2007 by the production company Arcimboldo and had its world premiere at the International Film Festival Rotterdam in 2007. In Japan it opened on May 31, 2008. The festival lists a running time of 90 minutes and the Japanese listing 94 minutes.
The film follows three rope tiers, Nureki Chimuo, Yukimura Haruki and Arisue Gō, and three models; the Japanese listing’s cast also names Sugiyama Kei and Sugiura Norio. It has no story line. The festival’s program note describes it as a stylized documentary in which the tying sessions were staged specially for the camera, which brings it close to fiction, and notes the director’s evident admiration for his subjects. The Japanese listing presents it as a study of the relationship between the person who ties and the person who is tied.
The film is rated for adults. The National Diet Library holds the DVD released in December 2008.