Pimps, Prostitutes, and Pigs: Shohei Imamura’s Japan: I’ve seen some of these films and they are incredible! For more info: BAM.org

A leading force behind Japan’s New Wave and one of only five directors to win the Cannes Palme d’Or twice, Shohei Imamura (1926—2006) rebelled against the classical themes of his mentor, Yasujiro Ozu. Instead, he embraced the darker side of Japan that simmers beneath the manners, order, and ceremony—focusing on the carnality, squalor, and violence within his country’s social periphery.

Imamura’s striking Cinemascope images can barely contain the creative anarchy unleashed within them. In fact, Imamura was famously quoted as saying, "I like to make messy films," but this quote belies the meticulous research, intricate design, and visual precision that went into his work. His films are rarely screened in North America; so don’t miss this chance to discover one of Japan’s great visceral filmmakers. Here’s the one I want to see:

Pigs and Battleships
(Buta To Gunkan)
(1961) 108min

 
Fri, Mar 9 at 2, 4, 6:50, 9:15pm
Sat, Mar 10 at 6:50, 9:15pm


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With Hiroyuki Nagato, Jitsuko Yoshimura
An allegory with clear parallels to today’s international situation, Pigs and Battleships
is set within the brothels and teeming alleys of a small port town
under US occupation. Amidst the black market, which supplies the
American sailors, a young street tough makes his way by selling hogs
(Imamura’s equating of animals to human beings has never been more
evident), but soon gets caught up with the yakuza. Imamura elevates
this simple gangland tale with an astonishing damnation of American
imperialism.