Flower and Snake (Hana to hebi) is a 2004 Japanese film directed by Takashi Ishii and starring Aya Sugimoto. It is based on the 1974 film Flower and Snake directed by Masaru Konuma and starring Naomi Tani. The earlier film, based on a novel by Oniroku Dan, was part of Nikkatsu's Roman Porno series. The 2004 version has been described as marking a watershed moment in the history of Japanese film censorship with some of the most extravagant scenes of sexual cruelty and graphic nudity to be passed off as mainstream entertainment in any part of the world. The storyline beginning at Toyama, a weak-willed businessman, is in debt to the Yakuza. They also have a video of him bribing a government minister. To clear his debts, he agrees to let them drug and kidnap his wife Shizuko (Aya Sugimoto), Japan's queen of the tango, and subject her to the proclivities of a 95-year-old voyeur, who's a Yakuza boss. After a masked ball, Shizuko is taken prisoner; she fights her captors, submitting only when the life of Kyoko, her female bodyguard, is threatened. Toyama feels regret and seeks to buy back Shizuko, but by this time, she may be enjoying her situation. Is she, or is she pretending in order to protect herself and Kyoko..? Would she want a way out if there is one..?
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