Photographer Araki's muse is his pain and guilt. He's a middle-aged widower forever haunted by the passing of his wife. The theory-as-practice vibe of the documentary is: Not until you lose everything, do you understand anything. Still, Araki is clearly a free man and the genuine article.

Seeing such true tireless grit in a pornographer (and artist?) raises questions as to where the fine-line dividing art and porn (both as product) is, precisely. The contrast of Araki's passion with the ever-blasé posturing of other self-proclaimed artistic pornographers is startling. Perhaps loving one's work unleashes our true selves. Most importantly: Araki revitalized contemporary Japan's sexually repressed identity.