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Features: DVD, Aspect Ratio 2.35:1, Black & White, Mono Audio, English, Subtitled
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 frankly ahead of its time.
"Exquisite...some of the funniest sequences ever to appear in a Japanese Film." Donald Richie
Editor's Note
In director Shohei Imamura's THE PORNOGRAPHERS, Yoshimoto Ogata (Shoichi Ozawa), a man who believes it is his patriotic duty to provide smut to his fellow men, uses the profits from his 8mm films to support his lover and her two children. Although there are never any explicit sex scenes, the film contains plenty of shocking material--intimations of incest, the exploitation of a mentally retarded girl, and the creation of the perfect sex doll are just some of the disturbing plot points. Based on a scandalous novel JINRUIGAKU NYUMON (Introduction to Anthropology) by Akiyuki Nozaka, the film is even lensed in a voyeuristic style, with shots through windows and cracks in open doors. Predating BOOGIE NIGHTS by several decades, THE PORNOGRAPHERS boldly investigates the relationship between sexual desire and one bizarre family, which includes a father believed to be reincarnated as a carp. The film is the first Imamura made after establishing his independent production company, Imamura Productions, in 1966.
Plot Summary
Director Shohei Imamaura's film focuses on three pornographers relying on 8mm blue films to support their wives and lovers, pay their children's tuition and run a family barbershop.
| Features | Subtitles: English | | Interactive Menus | | Scene Selection | | Audio: Japanese Dolby Digital Mono |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: Home Vision/Public Media |
| Release Date: 8/5/2003 |
| Running Time: 127 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 1966 | | Catalog ID: 090 | | UPC: 00037429178027 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: Japanese | | Available Audio Tracks: Japanese | | Available Subtitles: English | | Video: B&W |
Aspect Ratio | | 2.35:1 |
| Cast & Crew
| Memorable Quotes| "Dutch wife for freedom!"----Yoshimoto Ogata (Shoichi Ozawa) to Kabo | | "Delinquent at 10, a big boss a the age of 15...after 20, just a person."----Keiko (Keiko Sagawa) to customer |
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| | Professional Reviews | Entertainment Weekly
Rating: B - Recommended 08/20/1999 p.133New York Times
"...[Imamura shows] real and piquant eccentricity....A great many flashes of dark humor..." 05/22/1987 p.C10 |
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