Peeping Tom (2007) Plot Summary and Details

A nebbishy author finds his career is taking an unexpected detour into sex in this comedy from Japan. Ben Makiguri (Hidetoshi Nishijima) is a middle-aged writer whose most recent project has been turned down by his publisher, forcing him to move into a dingy apartment in a run-down building. One evening, Ben heads out to a bathhouse to relax and clear his mind, but en route he meets a friendly woman and is pleasantly surprised to find she wants to sleep with him. Ben's good fortune turns sour when he discovers someone broke into his flat while he was gone, and while he can't find anything missing, holes have been drilled into his walls that allow him to peek into the apartments of two of his neighbors. When a pair of tabloid reporters stop by to do a story on Ben's unusual situation, they put him in contact with the editor of a pornographic magazine who is willing to pay for fresh erotic fiction. Writing about sex hardly comes naturally to Ben, but after a mysterious peddler selling strange potions stops by the building, Ben's neighbors are suddenly providing all the raw material he needs. Makiguri no ana (aka Peeping Tom) was adapted by filmmaker Yoshihiro Fukagawa from the novel Hole by Akiko Yamamoto.