ARAKIMENTARI

Travis Klose, 2004

The first time I saw some of Nobuyoshi Araki's work, I fell completely in love. Granted I was in my early teens and it shocked the hell out of me, but aside from being saucy, explicit, erotic, and taboo-breaking, his photography is beautiful and is worth viewing again and again. Arakimentari documents the great photographer's life and work. It comes highly recommended to any of his fans or to those seeking an introduction to Japanese bondage photography.

Most of the documentary takes place while Araki is working, so we are able to see his methods, sit in on some of his shoots, and meet his models. He also goes through several old and unpublished books of work with a look of absolutely child-like glee on his face. He discusses his early career, his passionate relationship with his wife, journalist Yoko Araki (who died in 1990), and some of the Japanese taboos he has broken over the years. The many moments with Araki are by far the best parts of the documentary and I honestly wish they went on longer.

There are also a few interviews with celebrities who love his work, were inspired by him, or who have worked with him. Most of them poignantly cover different areas: Bjork hired him to photograph her, Takeshi Kitano worked with him in Japan, and Richard Kern is a fellow boundary-pushing photographer (from the U.S., if you're unfamiliar). Bjork is kind of lackluster, doesn't go very in depth, and mostly talks about how amazing he is. Takeshi Kitano is more insightful, though I adore him so much I could listen to him talk about the grass growing. Richard Kern also gives a great interview and provides insight on how influential Araki is in the photography industry, particularly in the world of erotica and sexually subversive art.

As I said, this comes highly recommended. In addition to providing a loose introduction to erotic photography, it is a great place to discover Araki's work. He's an artist anyone with an interest in porn, erotica, or bondage should know about, though he has done a lot more than just erotic photography. Aside from the fact that his work is amazing, he's one of the most prolific photographers in the world. With 350+ books of art and more always ready to come out, his work ranges from erotica, pornography, fashion, portraiture, flowers, etc. His bondage photography is masterful, beautiful, and comes particularly recommended. Tartan has a nice single disc DVD that is at least worthy of a rental.

RIP Nagisa Oshima 大島 渚 (1932 - 2013)

So many things have already been written about the wonderful Nagisa Oshima, who was, until he died today of pneumonia, the greatest living Japanese director. Tons of basic information is available on his Wikipedia and IMDB pages, in a lengthy introduction from Senses of Cinema, and a page from Criterion. There have already been many thoughtful obituaries: from the Guardian UK, another one, another one, and yet another one, because the Guardian writers understandably love him, the BFI, a visual tribute on the Criterion site, the A.V. Club, and many more. There’s also a must-read article from Jonathan Rosenbaum, reprinted from Art Forum. My favorite is the simple entry from Film Studies for Free who encourage you to read (for free) more about this great director and his impactful films. If you prefer to pay for your reading and do it away from a computer, check out The Films of Oshima Nagisa from Maureen Turim, Eros Plus Massacre by David Desser, A Hundred Years of Japanese Film by Donald Richie, or The Midnight Eye Guide to New Japanese Film by Tom Mes and Jasper Sharp. 

There are a lot of things I could write about Oshima's life and cinema, but since you can read all of those things above, I decided to write about what he meant to me. Like many others budding cinephiles, I heard about Oshima through his most infamous film, In the Realm of the Senses (1976), which remains my favorite, though there are others rightly considered superior. I saw the film when I was about 19 or 20, right around the time I started having an active sex life. The two things are probably not coincidental. Due to a lengthy history of abuse, sex was something I discovered later than most of my peers and regarded with anxiety and suspicion. It was largely meaningless to me outside of its political uses: to act out a social game that I recognized but didn’t really understand, as an effective tool of manipulation, as a necessary life experience I was supposed to have because people wrote novels and songs and films about it, etc. By this point I had seen many movies with implied, softcore, or hardcore sex, but most of them were horror movies or porn and had little emotional resonance. 

In the Realm of the Senses was a major turning point for me. It was the first film I had ever seen (and remains to be one of maybe a dozen total) where another person showed me -- through cinema -- what sex and intimacy were supposed to (or could) mean and that intimacy is not purely about sexual contact, it’s about vulnerability. Granted this particular film was banned for obscenity and the two main characters became obsessed with one another and killed themselves during sex, but in every scene they are in together it is evident -- often painfully -- that they feel something overwhelming. Whether they are characters experiencing a passionate, disturbing level of intimacy or actors feeling very un-simulated sexual activity, Oshima captured every horrifying ounce of feeling. He made it vulnerable, terrifying, utterly unsentimental.

Writing this felt selfish and stupid. but hopefully it remains a testament to Oshima's skill as a director and talent for molding the transgressive and the extreme. Here is a list of his feature films, though there are many more documentaries and shorts. Watch any or all of them. 

A Town of Love and Hope (1959)

Cruel Story of Youth (1960)

The Sun’s Burial (1960)

Night and Fog in Japan (1960)

The Catch (1961)

Shiro Amakusa, the Christian Rebel (1962)

A Small Child’s First Adventure (1964)

It’s Me Here, Bellett (1964)

Pleasures of the Flesh (1965)

Violence at Noon (1966)

Band of Ninja (1967)

Sing a Song of Sex (1967)

Japanese Summer: Double Suicide (1967)

Death by Hanging (1968)

Three Resurrected Drunkards (1968)

Diary of a Shinjuku Thief (1969)

Boy (1969)

The Who Put His Will on Film (1970)

The Ceremony (1971)

Dear Summer Sister (1972)

In the Real of the Senses (1976)

Empire of Passion (1978)

Merry Christmas Mr. Lawrence (1983)

Max mon amour (1986)

Taboo (1999)

13 ASSASSINS

Takashi Miike, 2010

Starring: Koji Yakusho, Takayuki Yamada, Yusuke Iseya, Goro Inagaki

During peacetime, an aging samurai, Shinzaemon, is secretly charged with the task of assassinating the young, sadistic Lord Naritsugu. He is the Shogun's brother and has legal immunity, but his devastating acts of cruelty and murder have forced the council to move against him. Shinzaemon begrudgingly comes out of retirement to gather a small band of warriors for this suicide mission.

Shinzaemon gathers 11 other samurai and their apprentices. Among them are the experienced, sassy Kuranaga, his second-in-command, who brings some of his students, and Shinzaemon's nephew, who drinks, gambles, and otherwise has nothing to live for. Most of the band are either older, experienced ronin samurai looking for one last battle, or newcomers hoping to prove themselves. They also accidentally collect a dirty, renegade hunter who guides them through the forest and stubbornly stays on to fight.

With some incredible planning, the assassins intend to confront Naritsugu and his men in a village they have emptied and outfitted with a variety of nasty booby traps. When Naritsugu is successfully re-routed from his original path and finally arrives, they are dismayed to find that he has brought 200 men, more than twice the number they expected. It is up to the skill of the samurai and their military-style fortifications to trap Naritsugu and stop him once and for all.

Jusan-non no shikaku aka 13 Assassins is essentially a remake of Eiichi Kudo's film of the same name from 1963. Much to my surprise, I absolutely loved this film. I don't want to sound overly skeptical, because I'm a huge Takashi Miike fan, but I haven't been up to date with his releases over the last few years and wasn't sure what to expect. After the major disappointment of "Imprint," his Masters of Horror episode, I've tried to take his newer work with a grain of salt. Plus, I adore classic chanbara and tend to dislike modern samurai-themed films.

13 Assassins is an absolute joy. It's perfectly paced and has the right mix of adventure, justice dispensing, sword fighting, and general samurai awesomeness to thrill anyone who loves the genre. There are many welcome references to Seven Samurai and other beloved jidaigeki, a sub-genre of Japanese period drama that focuses on samurai and sometimes working class people from the Edo period. If you're unfamiliar, check out Kurosawa films like Ran and Throne of Blood, or the Hanzo and Lady Snowblood series for jidaigeki with a healthy dose of exploitation. A side element of the genre is the use of the supernatural. Films like Ugetsu Monogatari and Onibaba pit working class people against yokai. Miike snuck in an element of this with the character of Kiga, the hunter and guide, who may or may not be human.

There's a great mix of humor with the usual Miike touches of violence and depravity. In particular, there's a gruesome scene in the beginning of the film involving one of Naritsugu's naked, limbless victims. In general, the violence is spectacular. It doesn't feel at all like Miike's earlier, excessive horror films and is perfectly suited to the heroic-epic style of the film. The violence leads linearly towards the death of Lord Naritsugu, his men, and the end of the 13 assassins, though if you've seen films in the genre before, you have a good idea of where things are heading.

Another aspect I really enjoyed, and was again surprised by, were the well-developed characters. For the most part, all 13 of the warriors stand out clearly, even if they are just given little tidbits of personality and motivation. There is something especially touching about the fact that this is a group of men all born in the wrong century. They are sacrificing their lives to restore justice, but it is clear that they would rather be great warriors at one final battle, than live long, healthy, but flaccid lives in a stale time of peace.

I also have to applaud the acting. Koji Yakusho (The Cure, Charisma) is great as the serious, take-no-prisoners Shinzaemon. He's a wonderful actor in everything I've seen him in, but seems particularly suited to play a world-weary samurai. Hiroki Matsukada (Battles Without Honor and Humanity) is equally wonderful as the humorous Kuranaga, who is unmistakably deadly, but capable of some much needed mirth. Goro Inagaki is delightful as the spoiled, villainous Lord Naritsugu. Though he doesn't have an abundance of scenes, he does a lot with the little given to him and our understanding of his character shifts immensely throughout the film.

13 Assassins comes highly recommended and is one of my favorite theatrical releases of 2011. I saw the theatrical international cut, which is 126 minutes, but if you get a chance to see the 141-minute uncut Japanese version, go for it. The Magnolia DVD is the international cut, but the missing footage is included in the extras. If you have a Blu-ray player, you should probably view this like it was meant to be seen, in all its Blu-ray glory.

WILD ZERO

Tetsuro Takeuchi, 2000
Starring: Guitar Wolf, Bass Wolf, Drum Wolf, Masashi Endo, Kwancharu Shitichai

This has pretty much everything I've ever wanted in a move: zombies, gore, aliens, a punk band, transgender love, a drinking game, motorcycles, muscle cars, guns, hot Japanese dudes, and the spirit of true rock'n roll. It's an absolutely fun time and bears a lot in common with the spirit of Return of the Living Dead. Anyone who likes that film will surely enjoy Wild Zero (and anyone who doesn't like Return has no business reading this blog).

Ace (Masashi Endo) is the biggest Guitar Wolf fan in the world. While he is following them on tour he runs afoul of some zombies, who have come to earth because a flying saucer crashed somewhere in Japan. He has to protect Tobio, a cute girl he develops a crush on. Guitar Wolf, who are actually extra-terrestrials with super powers, become blood brothers with Ace and come to his aid. They wind up in an abandoned warehouse with a rag-tag band of people who have managed to survive the zombie invasion. Can they fight the zombies and the Captain, a club-owner and drug dealer who has come to defeat Guitar Wolf once and for all?

It's utterly ridiculous and joyful. I love this movie. It borrows mercilessly from Western horror, particularly over the top films like Evil Dead II and the aforementioned Return of the Living Dead. There are a couple things you need to know. First Guitar Wolf is a real band. They're actually pretty awesome. It's a mix of rockabilly, punk, and noise. In the film they play "themselves": Guitar Wolf, Seiji, the singer and guitarist, Bass Wolf, who is now deceased and has been replaced by a dude named U.G., and Drum Wolf, Toro.

Instead of the normal method of contagion found in Western zombie films -- toxic chemicals -- a couple of Japanese movies feature zombies that comes from space and are brought to earth by crashed UFOs. It seems a little ridiculous at first, but you get used to it. Wild Zero and Zombie Self Defense Force (2005) are my two favorite examples of this plot device. If you like to consider these things, it says a little something about cultural differences and unconscious fears. Obviously we aren't as concerned about things falling from the sky. But then, we've never been hit with an atomic bomb. Let alone two.

One of the best things about the movie, ridiculous though it may be, is its message: love has no boundaries. It openly supports love regardless of race, nationality, sexual orientation, or gender. Fuck yeah, Guitar Wolf.

I'm reviewing the Synapse DVD, which has a number of cool special features. The best of which is a drinking game you can select like a commentary track. A little foaming beer mug pops up in the corner anytime someone drinks or combs their hair, says "rock'n roll," a zombie's head explodes, anything explodes, or fire shoots out of something. Supposedly there are about 100 drinks total. I've made it halfway through with serious drinking and all the way through with little sips of beer. Hang over city.

I leave you with this...

SCHOOL OF THE HOLY BEAST

1974, Norifumi Suzuki
Starring: Yumi Takagawa, Emiko Yamauchi, Yayoi Watanabe, Ryouko Ima

Known as the most notorious Japanese nunsploitation film of all time, Seiju gakuen is a production of the infamous Toei studios, known mostly for their pinku eiga or pink film subgenre. Holy Beast definitely falls into this category, so if you are expecting it to be like some of the Italian nunsploitation greats, beware. And in case you are unaware, pink films are essentially small studio productions featuring softcore pornography, occasionally violence and, more towards the second half of the period, plots dealing with girl gangs, women in prison, and overall bad girls who kick a lot of ass and have a lot of sex. Check out the Pinky Violence box set for the best of the bunch. School of the Holy Beast fits into this category because of the sex and violence, though there isn't a whole lot of the former.

I have to say that I was a little disappointed by the film, mostly because of my expectations. I think I thought it would be like the best of the European nunsploitation films, with a lot of nudity, a good amount of sex, violence, preferably some Satan worship, lesbians, and some sort of corruption in the Church hierarchy. This film has a small amount of sex, some very beautiful torture scenes, no Satan worship whatsoever, a scant amount of lesbians, and a very corrupt, sex-obsessed archbishop. So, really, it doesn't meet all my standards. And I have no idea why this film is called School of the Holy Beast, as this takes place in a convent, there is no devil worship and no holy beast.

Other than being a misled by the title and my lofty expectations, the film is a little slow, but overall pretty successful. It concerns Maya, a young Japanese woman who willingly takes holy vows and enters a Sacred Heart convent to unravel the mystery of who killed her nun-mother many years ago. She endures standing around naked a lot, watching other naked girls get tortured by the senior nuns in some bizarre ways, and, in the most extreme and beautiful scene of the film, getting trapped in a frenzy of nuns whipping her with long-stemmed, thorny roses. The most extreme thing about School of the Holy Beast is the over the top punishment sequences, which includes the aforementioned rose-whipping and a somewhat difficult scene involving salt water torture. The entire film, but particularly these scenes of torture, have beautiful, dreamy cinematography reminiscent of the Gothic films of Mario Bava. The director, Norifumi Suzuki, does a solid job and this film is at least more artistically accomplished than his earlier Beautiful Girl Hunter.

You can get School of the Holy Beast through Cult Epics in a widescreen, unrated and uncut release. The only extras are two interviews and a trailer, along with a reproduction of the poster art in a sturdy, large postcard style insert. Thankfully the audio track is in the original Japanese language with clear English subtitles, though I suspect they could use a new translation.

BLACK RAIN aka KUROI AME

1989, Shohei Imamura
Starring: Yoshiko Tanaka, Kazuo Kitamura, Etsuko Ichihara, Shoichi Ozawa

Back in October 2007, the International House in Philadelphia was luckily part of "A Man Vanishes: The Legacy of Shohei Imamura," an eighteen film retrospective of the director's long and illustrious career that toured some of the major art-house theaters in the country. Ten of these films are not yet available on DVD, so the tour was probably the best opportunity to see the majority of Imamura's films for a good long while. The Northwest Film Forum was also kind enough to provide a booklet full of articles and stills, something classy enough to accompany a Criterion release.

Black Rain is an adaptation of Masuji Ibuse's novel about the attempt of an aunt and uncle to find a husband for their niece, Yasuko. Though she is lovely, graceful, and would obviously make a good wife, no one will go near her. During the aftermath of the bomb, Yasuko was caught out in a downpour of black rain, presumably a mixture of radioactive ash falling from the distant bomb blast. Though the local doctor has repeatedly given her a clean bill of health, the stigma refuses to disappear. Her aunt and uncle begin to succumb to radiation sickness and as they gradually fade away, they become desperate for Yasuko to carry on a traditional Japanese lifestyle and find a husband. After repeatedly being rejected, she falls deathly ill and her only comfort is the local idiot, a kind man desperately in love with her, whose war-time neurosis is triggered by the sound of engines.

On the surface, this is another film about the atomic bomb. Though there are brutal scenes of the family escaping the carnage in the beginning of Black Rain, for the most part this is a slow, but ultimately rewarding melodrama. What could have been a boring, forgettable film in the hands of another director becomes a tense, bleak exercise in sifting through the undercurrent of working class Japanese society. The film ultimately questions whether a traditional way of life is still valuable, though it refuses to provide an answer. Yasuko rejects both modernity and tradition; though she could easily find a husband by moving to a new village, she decides to stay with her aunt and uncle and remain unmarried.

There is also the collision between the rational and irrational. Though Yasuko's uncle, the paragon of tradition, is the trusted voice of reason who supports her and gives sound advice, there are also several mentally deranged characters who are able to see and speak hidden truths. Black Rain refuses to side with one voice over the other, which adds a layer of confusing unease about the shifting social order.

Finally, there are brilliant undercurrents to the film. There is a strange subplot involving Yasuko's parents. It is established that her mother is dead, though her aunt and grandmother are convinced in different ways that Yasuko's mother unavoidably lingers in their daily lives. Her father is introduced mostly to point out that Yasuko neither knows him or desires to live with him. This gives the film a Greek tragedy-like slant, because though she attempts to live a traditional life, she has already in some fundamental way polluted this by choosing an alternative family over her birth parents. This aura of uncleanliness seeps into the film and forces us to think about the final historical possible sub-current: HIV and AIDS.

The film comes recommended. There's an out-of-print Image disc available, though I can't vouch for its quality, and a newer disc from Animeigo. Criterion has a box set dedicated to Imamura's films and hopefully will eventually require the rights to this somber masterpiece.

HAUSU

Nobuhiko Obayashi, 1977
Starring: Kimiko Ikegami, Kumiko Ohba, Yoko Minamida, Ai Matsubara, Miki Jinbo, Masayo Miyako, Mieko Sato, Eriko Tanaka

I had the good fortune to see this FUCKING INSANE film in the theatre earlier this summer, which is where it belongs. Though I doubt Janus will do another theatrical release soon, its sister company Criterion is giving the film the treatment it deserves: a restored DVD and Blu-ray release October 26th, complete with a documentary and new subtitles. So after you read my review and want to go gaga for Hausu (House), you will only have to wait a few short months to do so.

Pretty, spoiled high-schooler Gorgeous rebels when her father announces he will remarry and that his fiancee is coming on summer vacation with them. Instead, she rounds up six of her best friends, all nicknamed for personality attributes, and they head to visit Auntie, her dead mother's sister she has been out of touch with for over a decade. Things go from strange to worse when they arrive at Auntie's creepy house in the middle of the woods and it turns out that Auntie has become a demon who, in cahoots with her house and her crazy cat, feeds on the souls of virgins. Bad choice for a summer vacation.

Hausu is insane and wonderful and everything I hoped it would be. I've heard it described as a Scooby Doo episode directed by Dario Argento, a psychedelic, Japanese Evil Dead II, and as an avant-garde ghost story. All of these things are true, but none of them really prepares you for the full insanity of Hausu. It is funny, both purposefully and unintentionally, gory, charming, psychedelic, and crazed. For the time, the effects are impressive and the film comes across as a sort of live action anime, regularly bending the rules of time, space, and narrative filmmaking with aplomb.

It comes very highly recommended, though I'm sure there are people out there not prepared for this level of insanity. I felt like I was high when I left the theater, but immediately wanted to see it again. Buy or rent the Criterion release when it comes out in October and check out the trailer on their page. Considering it comes out less than a week before Halloween, it would be a perfect inclusion to any Halloween party. Chances are 95% of your guests have never heard of it and fewer have seen it - whether they love or hate it, I guarantee it will be a film-viewing experience they will never forget.

A PAGE OF MADNESS

Teinosuke Kinugasa, 1926

Starring: Masuo Inoue, Yoshie Nakagawa, Ayako Iijima, Hiroshi Nemoto

As soon as I saw Valerie and Her Week of Wonders with an original live score, I was hooked on the concept of turning cinema into a multimedia experience. And Kinugasa's silent film Kurutta Ippeji aka A Page of Madness is uniquely suited to this. Lost for fifty years, it was originally intended to be screened with a storyteller (a common feature of Japanese bunraku theatre) and musical accompaniment. As a result, the film is a little hard to follow. Unlike most silent films, it lacks intertitles, as these would have been provided by the narrator. Almost a third of the film is also sadly missing, but watching it is still definitely a worthwhile experience.

I saw it in October of 2011 at the International House as part of the Philadelphia Film Fest and will happily do so again if the opportunity ever presents itself. Amazingly, Philadelphia was chosen as the world premiere of this recently recovered film and it's newly written score - I can't believe we got it before MoMA. It was also a good choice for pre-Halloween viewing, as the film takes place in an asylum and concerns an ever widening circle of insanity surrounding a small family. Alternating between sad, spooky, confusing, and absolutely crazy, A Page of Madness is not for the faint of heart or for anyone with a short attention span.

Check out the most famous sequence, which is also the most over the top:

A Page of Madness is definitely recommended for fans of Japanese cinema. Kinugasa was part of an early avant-garde group, the School of New Perceptions or Neo-Sensationalists, depending which translation you use, and the film was believed to be written by famous writer Yasunari Kawabata. I would also recommend it if you like surrealism, studies of madness, and experimental silent cinema. It's an absolutely beautiful work that will sweep you away for it's hour running time and make you feel absolutely nuts when you have to return to the real world.

You can't find it on DVD yet, but I'm hoping that either Criterion or Kino will acquire the rights, clean it up, and find some nice special features. Until then, here's a great interview with a Swiss film historian who wrote a book on the film. Also keep your eyes peeled for the haunting score by Gene Coleman and Akikazu Nakamura.