Berlin Drifters

When it comes to sexually explicit movies there is often a fine line between art and pornography, and in�"Berlin Drifters" director�K�ichi Imaizumi�crosses it time and again.

This tale of two Japanese gay men - who are essentially trying to find their own very different ways in Berlin - is told through a whole series of sexual encounters that leave absolutely nothing to the imagination.�Ryota (Lyota Majima) arrives in the city after being lured from Japan by a German man online who�had promised him love but only really wanted a one-night stand.�K�ichi�(played by director Imaizumi), who is quite lonely after the break-up of a long-standing relationship, comes across Ryota at an underground club, where Ryota is at the center of an orgy.

He takes pity on the homeless Ryota and offers him a place�to stay in return for some help cleaning and shopping - with plenty of sex thrown in, too. The pair of them actually seems to settle into a life of domesticity, until restless Ryota becomes addicted to his Grindr app and keeps going out on dates.

K�ichi�is initially intrigued by the younger man's sexual exploits and insists that�each time he returns home the two of them re-enact whatever he had gotten up to on his date. This seems to work out well until Ryota announces one�day that he�has fallen in love with one of his�Grindr hookups (played by Dutch porn star�Michael Selvaggio), and he naively thinks that marriage is in the cards.

When Ryota leaves to find out if his new infatuation will all end happily ever�after,� it is obvious that�K�ichi has been carrying something of a torch for his young�roommate the whole time.

Like many indie movies filmed on a very�low budget, "Berlin Drifters" does suffer from low production values and some wooden performances. The cast members have obviously not been selected for their acting talents.�

Imaizumi himself is a very successful soft-porn actor in Japan, but by making this romance movie his heart is obviously in the right place. If you can look beyond all the sex (!) there are some very touching scenes, such as�K�ichi's reunion with his ex-boyfriend, which make this intriguing tale a compelling watch after all.