I Became An Instant Fan of Der Fan

One of the funniest scenes in Eckhart Schmidt's DER FAN ('82) shows the film's heroine, Simone (Desiree Nosbusch), accosting her mailman on the street and beating him up because he wasn't in possession of a letter she was waiting for. This scene reminded me of a time in my own life when my brother pointed an air rifle at our mailman because he failed to deliver a processed Super-8 monster film we were hanging out to see.

DER FAN is about a young woman who's obsessed with a Gary Numan-/John Foxx-style pop artist named "R". This fellow has the on-screen charisma of ice (which makes him cool, I suppose), and sings in a strange monotone with unique electronic backing that sounds like a cross between Kraftwerk, Serge Blenner, and an el cheapo Pet Shop Boys. The band credited with the film's tuneful music is Rheingold.

Schmidt made the movie after witnessing the way young pop music fans interact with their idols. He captures the madness and loneliness of obsession with authenticity, and, lucky for him, managed to cast a young lady who was just right for the job of portraying a sexy teenage psycho. A striking creature, Ms. Nosbusch takes her character from immature juvenile to nihilistic viper without missing a beat. And her voice-over documents a descent into greater madness that manages to feel logical and complete.

I had never seen DER FAN (also known as TRANCE) before, so my first viewing, on Mondo Macabro's BluRay, was a most satisfying experience.  Never released in the US, according to the jacket copy, it packs a punch content-wise, and earns its Unrated tag with some surprising violence, and nudity that would surpass any R-rating today.

It was released in the UK, but I'm uncertain if it was uncut. I'm sure a British reader could answer that question.

The film is a favorite of Japanese cannibal Issei Sagawa, and was released one year after he killed and dined on a female student in France.

Director Schmidt also made the fascinating LOFT. Perhaps Mondo-Macabro will give that a BluRay spin, too, if this one does some business. So don't pirate it, folks, buy it, or your options will soon diminish.

This excellent film from a by-gone era (which is a damn fucking shame) would make a fine double feature with DON'T DELIVER US FROM EVIL, another sweet tale of teenage temptresses gone nuts.

The distributor's Red Box BluRay is limited to 500, although it may remain available beyond the 500 as a standard issue disk.

The Women of Sagawa's Psyche

Just as Playboy delights in showcasing the women of a particular institution or college ('The Women of Walmart', for example, or 'The Women of UCLA'), it seems fair to provide an album of women favored and adored by Issei Sagawa, Japan's Godfather of Cannibalism.

Recently, he admitted that his penchant for European women has finally been sated, and he's focusing his appetite on the creamy delights of his home country.  

Of the beautiful Aya Ueda (above), he said: "She is too good to eat."  I say: "Literally, perhaps, but..."

The gorgeous Kyoko Hasagawa (above) is another lass who has captured a cannibal's heart. "Her legs are beautiful," he said in Vice.com's 2010 documentary

Akiko Yada, another beauty from Okinawa, Sagawa's preferred destination for Nippon delicacies, has also earned a place on the flesh eater's bedroom wall. It's hard to argue that his tastes aren't impeccable.

Finally, Erika Toda, who appeared in the filmic adaptation of popular manga Death Note, is another favorite of Mr. Sagawa. When he beholds these dreamy ladies, he "feels an appetite".

Not entirely surprising.

Sagawa's Last Supper

This was Issei Sagawa's last supper, a carefully prepared meal of French female.

As is well documented, the infamous Japanese cannibal, sometimes referred to as 'The Godfather of Cannibalism', spent very little time in French prison, and was speedily returned to Japan for psychological assessment (finding: insane). Soon afterwards, he was released.

These scans are from a Japanese publication that, according to Sagawa himself, caused him a lot of trouble.

Although the book contains mostly Japanese text, there are 16 pages of truly grotesque crime scene photos, some of which I had never seen before.  

 

 

I find this photo of the suitcase Sagawa dumped in a park to be the most disturbing. Note the severed foot.

The cannibal's decision to leave this item in a public place resulted in his apprehension.

If you're an admirer of John McNaughton's Henry - Portrait of a Serial Killer, you will recall the final scene where Henry dumps a suitcase containing the dismembered body of his unofficial girlfriend Becky. Although the suitcase is sealed, we imagine its contents. The above photo comes close to what I imagined.

 

In a recent interview, Sagawa expressed his wish to be eaten by a beautiful woman. This raises some questions: Is this wish indicating a desire to be punished in kind for his crime? -- or is it an extension of his perversion? 

Sagawa also explained that he is no longer obsessed with European women. His "tastes" have changed. He has finally found several Japanese women whose thighs, in particular, appeal to him.

An admitted "pervert", he lives a lonely life writing, reflecting, and appearing occasionally in the media.  

When he was young, sex was "a taboo subject".   

Seems that approach to the birds and bees worked out well, didn't it?!

"By shooting a bullet as small as my fingertip, I have  hurt and changed many people"

-- from Issei Sagawa Part 1; h**p://vice.com

Not The Lighter Side of Cannibalism

The crimes of Issei Sagawa have been pretty well documented.

In Paris, he invited a female student (Renee Hartevelt) to his apartment, killed her, slept with her, and ate her over the course of a week. Although the French authorities caught up with the flesh-loving fiend and incarcerated him, his wealthy, influential father petitioned for his release and he was spirited back to Japan. There, he was retried for his crimes, found insane, and released back onto the streets.

In the subsequent decades, he has worked as a painter, become a celebrity restaurant reviewer, and starred in a number of pink films (and documentaries).

In the totally nutty 7 Days of Sagawa, he recreates his crimes on videotape and agrees to have his non-existent athletic abilities scrutinized for purposes of mockery. He is clocked running (?) a single man race at a large sports stadium. He dribbles a basketball and drops it. He huffs and puffs his through an obstacle course, and attempts the long jump with disastrous consequences. Watching such a puny, sickly gnome participating in track sports provokes a mixture of incredulity and sadness. Later in the show, a hidden camera records Sagawa on a blind date with two unsuspecting schoolgirls. The most outrageous section is when the girls learn that their Romeo has a flesh-loving resume.

Sagawa starred in the odd Unfaithful Wife - Shameful Torture aka The Bedroom (Uwakizuma: Chijokuzeme; '92) from prolific and notorious pink director Hisayasu Sato, the unique talent behind Naked Blood, Lolita Vibrator Torture, and Survey Map of a Paradise Lost. He also has a small part in my friend Tomoaki Hosoyama's A Weatherman (Otenki-oneesan; '96). No doubt about it, Sagawa is a bizarre and troubling blip on Japanese subculture.

On top of these achievements, he also appeared in an X-rated movie (from the notorious Bazooka!) and released his own CD (see below).

Recently, I came across Sagawa's first person account of his flesh eating. I consider myself quite jaded when it comes to such material, but I must admit to not being unmoved by the thoughts and details below. My stomach did a somersault more than once.

If anybody is considering cannibalism, the reality of the act may provoke reconsideration.

We pick up the account after Sagawa has shot his victim. The accompanying art, which is rather good, is courtesy of Sagawa himself.

In his own words:

Afterwards I sleep with her.

Next morning she is still here. She doesn't smell bad. Today I must finish cutting up her body.I have to put it into suitcases and sink it in the lake. It will be her grave.

I touch the cold body again and I wonder where I should start. I start to cut off all the meat before amputating the limbs. While I cut her calf I suddenly want to taste it. I see the beautiful red meat beneath the fat. I grasp her knee and her ankle, and tear it with my teeth. It is tender. I slowly chew and savor it. After eating most of the calf I look at myself in the mirror. There is grease all over my face. And then I start to eat at random. I bite her little toe. It still smell of her feet. I stab the knife into her arch and see the red meat deep inside. I thrust my fingers inside and dig out the meat and put it in my mouth. It tastes okay. Then I stab the knife into her armpit. Ever since I saw it under her yellow sleeveless top I wondered how it would taste this good. The wonderful taste cheers me up and I devour her underarm up to the elbow.

Finally I cut off her private parts. When I touch the pubic hair it has a very bad smell. I bite her clit, but it won't come off, it just stretches. So I throw it in the frying pan and pop it in my mouth. I chew very carefully and swallow it. It is so sweet. After I swallow it, I feel her in my body and get hot. I turn the body over and open her buttocks, revealing her anus. I scoop it out with my knife and try to put it in my mouth. It smells too much. I put it in the frying pan and throw it in my mouth. It still smells. I spit it out. I go into the next room. It smell of fat, like I've been frying a chicken.

It's been twenty-four hours now. Some huge flies hover and buzz in the bathroom. I try to chase them away, but they came back. They swarm on her face. They seem to tell me that I've lost her forever. It is no longer her. Where is she? She's gone far away. I've broken her. Like a child who breaks his toy. I try to use an electric knife to cut her body. It doesn't work. It just makes a loud sound. I use a hatchet. I strike several times. It's hard work. I strike her thigh. Her body jumps up. If she could feel, it would have hurt.

Finally the thigh separates from her body. I bite it again, like I would bite a chicken leg. Then I cut off her arms. It is even harder than the thigh. I use the electric knife again. It makes a shrill sound, like the sound of her shrill voice. It works this time. Her hand still wears a ring and a bracelet. When I see her long fingers I am driven by another impulse. I use her hand to masturbate. Her long fingers excite me.

When I'm finished I try to bite her finger. I can't. I'm disappointed. I put her hands into the plastic bag along with her legs. And then I see her face. It is still quiet. She has a small nose and a sweet lower lip. When she was alive I wanted to bite them. Now I can satisfy that desire. It's so easy to bite off her nose. As I chew the cartilage I can hear the noise. I use a knife to cut off more of the cartilage and put it in my mouth. It really doesn't taste very good. I scoop out her lower lip with my knife and put it in my mouth. It has hard skin. I decide to eat it later when I can fry it. So I put it in the refrigerator.I want her tongue. I can't open her lower jaw, but I can reach in between her teeth. Finally it comes out. I cut it off and put it in my mouth. It's hard to chew. I see my face in the mirror. Her tongue entwined with my tongue. I try to close my mouth, but her tongue slips out.

Finally I cut the skin off the tongue and taste the meat.I try to eat her eyes. It's hard for me to stab into them, though it is the easiest part of her face. I can tears coming from them. It frightens me. Her eyes are all that is left of her face. It is nearly a skull.

I decide to take out her stomach. When I stab under her navel a little fat appears and then I can see the red meat under the fat. I slice a piece of the red meat and put it on a plate. Then I stab into the stomach. The internal organs appear. There is a great length of rolled tubes and I find a gray bag at the end of the tubes. It must be the bladder. There is a strong smell as soon as I pick it up. I thrust my hand into her body cavity. There is another bag. It must be her womb. If she had lived she would have had a baby in this womb. The thought depresses me for a moment.

"The public has made me the godfather of cannibalism, and I am happy about that. I will always look at the world through the eyes of a cannibal." Issei Sagawa