#207: IMAMURA, Shohei: The Pornographers (1966)

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IMAMURA, Shohei (Japan)
The Pornographers [1966]
Spine #207
DVD


Subu makes pornographic films. He sees nothing wrong with it. They are an aid to a repressed society, and he uses the money to support his landlady, Haru, and her family. From time to time, Haru shares her bed with Subu, though she believes her dead husband, reincarnated as a carp, disapproves. Director Shohei Imamura has always delighted in the kinky exploits of lowlifes, and in this 1966 classic, he finds subversive humor in the bizarre dynamics of Haru, her Oedipal son, and her daughter, the true object of her pornographer-boyfriend's obsession. Imamura's comic treatment of such taboos as voyeurism and incest sparked controversy when the film was released, but The Pornographers has outlasted its critics, and now seems ahead of its time.

127 minutes
Black & White
Monaural
in Japanese
2:35:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2003
Director/Writers


From the novel by Akiyuki Nozaka.
Screenplay by Shohei Imamura and Koji Numata.
Imamura was 40 when he directed The Pornographers.

Other Imamura films in the Collection:

#472: Pigs And Battleships (1962)
#473: The Insect Woman (1963)
#474: Intentions Of Murder (1964)
#384: Vengeance Is Mine (1979)

The Film

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

The Booklet

Eight-page wraparound featuring an essay by J. Hoberman.

Commentary

None.

Original theatrical trailer

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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