The history of the Japanese softcore pornography industry is explored with great detail in Kenjiro Fujii's 2004 documentary Pink Ribbon. The shot-on-video piece chronicles the rise and fall of the wildly popular "pink film" through a healthy mixture of film clips, interviews and making-of footage. Many of these simulated sex films were revolutionary for their time (especially during the 1960s) not only for their frank depictions of nudity and sexual assault, but for the socio-political messages they often conveyed.

The film is at its strongest during its candid interviews with a number of top pink film directors, including Kiyoshi Kurosawa, female director and pink film star Yoshiyuki Yumi and legendary radical Koji Wakamatsu. Fujii has wisely chosen to focus on the directors rather than dime-a-dozen porn starlets, as their insights paint the pink movie as a more complex artistic work than film historians would ever dare admit.

Using early pink films (like Market of Flesh and Violated Angels) as examples, the directors discuss the extensive censorship hurdles that forced them to invent new ways of making sexual intercourse — the most common act on earth — look completely awkward and unnatural. Pink Ribbon's absorbing behind-the-scenes segments provide a glimpse into the production of pink films via penile stand-ins, synthetic semen (possibly vanilla-flavored) and even a moan-filled dub session.

Pink Ribbon is a trifle too long at 118 minutes and can be overly dry at times, though this can probably be chalked up to the Fujii's thorough approach. What truly drags the film down though is his insistence on documenting the struggles of young filmmaker Meiki Mitsoru as he haplessly tries to complete the disastrous Private Tutor's Love Juice shoot. Particular segments seem to be edited out of sequence — misplaced text placards are common — and the film peters out without leaving a lasting impression of its ultimate message.

Despite these problems, Pink Ribbon is nonetheless a comprehensive and informative look at a genre that typically doesn't receive much attention outside of its clientele of loyal perverts.

Thumbs Up. Pink Ribbon is ultimately entertaining despite its slipshod editing and languid pace.