Review of MAID-DROID (2008) by Brian S — 10 Nov 2010

This is one of those movies that people need to be warned about, so: WARNING! THIS FILM CONTAINS GRAPHICALLY-DEPICTED ADULT THEMES INVOLVING HUMAN BEINGS HAVING SEX WITH ROBOTS INCLUDING ROBOT DOGS AND A COUPLE OF RAPES, NUDITY AND FEMALE MASTURBATION! In sort, this isn't a film for the easily offended. It isn't for everyone. It isn't even for a lot of people, and that may be why I'd never heard of it and had no idea to expect from it. Now that we're past all that, though, I can say this: I loved this flick. It's poignant, twisted, shocking, poetic, and unflinching in looking at how screwed up humans can be in adult relationships.

"Maid-Droid" weaves together three stories, each involving a relationship between a robot and a human being. First, there's the tale of a pensioner who has spent his whole life in the company of the eponymous maid-droid and has fallen in love with her. The droid has taken care of him since his teenage years and we see their developing relationship in flashback. She has been unquestioningly devoted to him, and in his old age he is returning the favor. Even though they could not have a sexual relationship, he has been willing to forego that his entire life. Now, her batteries have run down. She can no longer move or speak, and nobody makes batteries for the 60-year old prototype robot. The old man spends his days caring for the inanimate robot and hoping to find a way to bring her back to life. Hint: the story of Pinocchio is important here.

At the same time, a rogue robot of some kind is sexually assaulting women on the streets. A female police detective is out to stop the mechanical offender, but she'll have to figure out how. Asimov's Three Laws come into play through this, as does the question of what love and devotion are and how they can turn into something horrible when they aren't mutual. What exactly do the two genders really want from one another, and what happens when only one side in a relationship gets what it wants or is discarded (literally) when it doesn't? This piece of the film turns unexpectedly poignant; the direction in which it goes took me very much by surprise. Despite the medium being potentially difficult to negotiate, the writer and director bring a sensitivity to the story here that one might not expect.

Finally, there's the story of an otaku who has no idea how to interact with other human beings. His insecurity about himself and his awkwardness are brought to the fore in a scene where he "test-drives" a sex slave robot... and even here, he fails. This story line is played largely for laughs and has none of the sentiment of the other two. Instead, here is where we get a cold, clinical analysis of sexual relationships between men and women and what it really looks like when a man wants a woman for just one thing, as the saying goes.

"Maid-Droid" is pornographic at times, but it does so in an interesting way; it looks at sex through three lenses of devotion, betrayal, and unadulterated selfishness. The bleakness of the otaku's life, the failure of the detective, and the ultimate success of the old man and his maid-droid all contrast beautifully with one another, and by keeping them all separate, director Tomomatsu has given us something that will not only make us look at these three kinds of relationships objectively but make us think about where we stand ourselves in this skewed love-triangle, as it were. Even though this means that the plot lines may not come together, leaving the film seeming a bit disjointed at times, everything does get resolved at the end in a scene that's straight out of fairytales -- a last twist in this otherwise VERY non-traditional film.

If you are comfortable with Japanese pinku, have made it through Miike's "Visitor Q" at least once without having to look away, and could find the poetry among the gross-out value of "Mermaid in a Manhole," you'll have no problem with "Maid-Droid." Otherwise, this flick should be approached with a caution that will be well-rewarded if you don't need to turn it off before you get all the way through. I consider this one a hidden gem. Just make sure the kids are out of the room.