RSSYuriko Shiratori – Face
17 Jun 2007 Comments Off
in Reviews
Yuriko Shiratori – Face (2007)
Liverpool/Mel’s Club
The Skinny: An eclectic series of vignettes are the composition of this DVD entitled Face. While the overall style squarely places this one in the Gravure Idol camp, I get the feeling that the producers – Liverpool Productions and Mel’s Club – are still trying to figure how to best market this model.
As the DVD begins – we get our first look at Yuriko Shiratori. She’s walking on the promenade of a major resort hotel. We see a green park below with the sea further out. Her facial expression is that of one of those joyless runway models; you know the kind. They have a killer walk, but don’t even think about seeing them smile.
Unfortunately this was a poor selection for the opening scene of a DVD entitled Face. Yuriko looks mad, or upset as her frown is evident throughout. The suddenly the crew appears and they thank her for her posing. Only then does she smile. Immediately following is the montage, and it is here that we discover that she is indeed a beauty.
The first chapter has Yuriko dressed in the full Japanese school uniform for girls. Her costume is a white and blue sailor style blouse and a short navy skirt – a version of the standard uniform all Japanese girls wear as students. She looks great as she slowly walks towards us on this lane without a hint of any vehicles. Later we will watch her dress in a similar uniform.Only this time she has her hair in pigtails which are very cute.
A swimming pool scene is next. Actually I should say as the scene begins, she is climbing out of the pool. Yuriko is tall and lanky, not exactly busty, She wears a black bikini with some sequins. After barely settling in to the chair for what can be no more than a few minutes – the scene appears to end.
Immediately we have another scene at the same pool. This time she’s wearing a one piece racing swimsuit. And her has gone from down to up. We watch a few partial laps from the surface. But every once in a while they inter-cut in some footage of the same swimming only this is with an underwater camera.
A mall scene follows. They used a different technique here. While Yuriko poses, all the other shoppers at the mall seem to whiz by leaving streaks in their wake. You can’t quite see them clearly, but Yuriko remains in focus. She doesn’t move much. As they speed the footage up to give the impression of a girl at the mall as life runs by at high speed, you will enjoy this, and it is interesting.
Two outdoors scenes follow:
Yuriko wears a white dress with a large floppy straw hat and walks in a green field. A stand of trees make up the background. I didn’t care for the style of this scene – it was too artsy, especially when the air was suddenly filled with soap bubbles.
The beach scene finds Yuriko in a red bikini. She doesn’t do much except walk around. But unlike the scene before it, this scene utilized the natural lighting to great effect.
Next a sunset scene on the beach. Yuriko wears a beautiful kimono. She’s mostly stationary – lost in her thoughts as the camera circles her slowly. Nothing wrong with this scene except for the tacky buildings across the street from the beach. They might have walked further down on the beach to get these ugly signs of civilization out of view.
The next scene features Yuriko in the same garment albeit with a different obi (sash or belt). This is in full sunshine and is a rather pleasant scene with lots of camera angle changes. Note the flower in Yuriko’s hair.
Back at poolside in the next chapter, Yuriko relaxes in the brilliant sunshine. The rich blue of the pool adds plenty of color to this very brief scene.
Another bikini scene follows – this time the bikini is a rich dark green. Yuriko doesn’t move around much but the camera does. But midway through the scene, she heads for the jacuzzi. Excellent shot composition and a fine musical soundtrack make this scene great.
In the next scene, Yuriko wears a nightgown and we are behind her as she brushes her teeth while standing on the balcony of her hotel room. The camera does get into a better position than remaining behind her. There’s a filter in play to create that bluish tinge – not needed in my opinion.
Back in the bedroom we find Yuriko wearing some ugly pink and white checked pajamas. The light streams through the windows creating an overabundance of light – the scene is washed out.
Back on the beach for another sunset and perfect lighting next. Yuriko wears a knit white one piece suit. While she may have a wee but too much lip gloss on – they’ve managed to bring in some beautiful colors from the sunset.
We head back to the beach next. The sea is glittering. For the opening we see Yuriko in silhouette from behind. When she turns to face us (there’s that word ‘face’ again) once again the video soars. This time the camera does all the work capturing Yuriko’s beauty as it whirls and swirls around her.
She does get down on all fours later on in the scene…but only the closeups of her face are memorable. The camera is limited as to where it can go when she’s closer to the ground.
This scene closes out the main part of the DVD. There’s a making of segment that follows. We hear cast and crew laughing as well as the whirring click/clack of the still camera’s shutter. What makes this segment enjoyable is Yuriko’s animation and spirit which comes to the surface; whereas in many of the main chapters she is asked to maintain a model’s demeanor which is to control her emotions.
Summary: Yuriko set her sights high once she decided to become a gravure model. I think she’ll garner quite a following in the future. This production had a few superior scenes, and a few that failed. However the music was a major plus, as was her beauty. Three point five is the score with a recommendation.
