R-17

R-17 is a serious, hard-hitting drama about life at an all-girls high school. Miki Nakatani plays a school counselor out to set the place right, but it will be a herculean task. The script incorporates a shopping list full of educational and social problems into the plot.

Nakatani faces drugs, sex, bullying, sexual harassment, teacher burnout and neuroses, pompous, out-of-touch administrators, and students too scared to speak up. A few students are just plain scary, such as the headmaster's daughter who urges others toward suicide because she likes to watch. Poor Nakatani herself isn't completely in control. She has a few hangups of her own, like having to run for a toilet at moments of crisis. But she will no doubt solve some of the school's problems by the end of the quarter.

The exceedingly gloomy script has a touch of honesty and stark realism to it that makes it a very disheartening (but well acted) hour.

Synopsis: getvcds