Flower and Snake (1974 film) 花と蛇
Konuma Masaru's 1974 Nikkatsu Roman Porno film of Dan Oniroku's novel, starring Tani Naomi, the series' first SM-themed film.
Flower and Snake (Hana to Hebi) is a Japanese film released by Nikkatsu on June 22, 1974, as part of the studio’s Roman Porno line of adult films. It was directed by Konuma Masaru from a script by Tanaka Yōzō, based on Dan Oniroku’s novel of the same name, and stars Tani Naomi. English Wikipedia gives its running time as 74 minutes.
According to English Wikipedia, Tani, already a leading actress of independent pink films, agreed to work for Nikkatsu only if her first film there was an adaptation of Dan’s novel. Konuma and Tanaka considered the book impossible to film as written and changed it substantially, which caused friction with both Dan and Tani. Dan’s official chronology calls the film the first entry in Nikkatsu’s full-scale SM line.
English Wikipedia describes it as the first Roman Porno film built on an SM theme and says that critics value it more for its place in history than for its artistry, generally preferring Konuma’s next film with Tani, Wife to Be Sacrificed. The two films together are credited with starting the SM strand that helped carry Nikkatsu through the 1970s. Daily Sports’ 2023 obituary of Konuma notes that his SM films were highly regarded abroad. The novel was filmed again many times, including four Nikkatsu sequels between 1985 and 1987 and a Toei remake in 2004.