Celluloid Snaps - Message from Space (1978)

Director -  KINJI FUKASAKU
Country -  JAPAN

 

Genocide - War of the Insects (1968)

Dir: KAZUI NIHONMATSU

Country: JAPAN

AKA:

Konchû daisensô

Genocide

War of the Insects 

One of the more intriguing responses to the monster movie (kaiju-eiga) boom of the 1950’s and 1960’s was the one undertaken by Shochiku. The studio was more commonly associated with the prestigious and formally precise productions of Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasujiro Ozu, and the burgeoning formal experimentation of the politically motivated Japanese new wave. But in the late 1960’s the studio produced four science-fiction/horror/fantasy productions in quick succession in order to reap the fertile and profitable soil sown by the likes of Godzilla, Gamera, Mothra, King Kong and Ghidorah.  The first was the laughably inept The X from Outer Space (1967), a film generally regarded as one of the weaker entries in the kaiju-eiga cycle. The next was the more conceptually ambitious Goke, Bodysnatcher from Hell (1968), an intriguing blend of UFO’s, vampirism and apocalyptic disaster. The films arresting visual palette and its strong premise have enabled it to become the most visible of the Shociku quartet. The third was the peculiar The Living Skeleton (1968), which was shot in black and white, and was an eerie tale of revenge overflowing with the atmospherics of kaidan. The fourth and final effort is the film under discussion here, a revolt of nature horror film with an elaborate and complicated narrative that includes the search for an H-bomb, a man wrongly convicted of murder, communist infiltrators, a survivor of the Holocaust, and the apocalypse. It’s a heady mix, drowning in a sea of ideas, an unwieldy beast that ultimately slays itself on its own convolution.

Hanzo the Razor - Sword of Justice (1972)

Dir: KENJI MISUMI
Country: JAPAN

AKA:
Goyokiba
Sword of Justice

Sword of Justice is the first film in a trilogy of pictures exploring the controversial character Hanzo the Razor. Hanzo was the brainchild of Kazuo Koike who brought his adventures to life in a series of Manga publications. Koike is perhaps best known however for his Lone Wolf and Cub series, which ran to twenty eight instalments, and over 8 million sales. The success of this series spawned six feature films that showcased the stoic talents of Tomisaburo Wakayama, and found their way to the West via the hotchpotch efforts of Robert Houston and David Weisman under the title Shogun Assassin (1980). The enterprising pair grafted twelve minutes of the first picture Sword of Vengeance (1972) onto the vast majority of the second picture Baby Cart at the River Styx (1972), gave it a contemporary electronic soundtrack by Mark Lindsey, dubbed it into English, and enjoyed a notable success. Koike also created the character of Lady Snowblood, and though not as successful as Lone Wolf and Cub, still ran for fifteen instalments, and led to two feature films starring Meiko Kaji as the titular lady who seeks revenge for the rape of her mother, and the murders of her mother’s husband and son. All of Koike’s most famous Manga creations are marked by grand stylisation and extreme violence, and the film adaptations do not skimp in these areas. But Hanzo possesses a grotesquery that the others do not, and this is largely due to the Policeman’s novel interrogation technique, which sees him target mistresses, whom he then fucks into such a lather of ecstasy with his oversized penis that they are begging to spill the beans in order for the pleasure to continue.

Visitor Q (2001)

Dir: TAKASHI MIIKE
Country: JAPAN

AKA:
Bijita Q
Love Cinema Volume 6

When prolific Japanese director Takashi Miike was invited to contribute to the Love Cinema series, few could have predicted the outcome would be the highly controversial Visitor Q. Love Cinema was a series of six direct to rental films from independent filmmakers which were all shot on digital video for ultra low budgets. Of the six films, five vanished without trace into the abyss of celluloid history, but the sheer outrageousness of Visitor Q, and the increasing cult reputation of its director, ensured a limited theatrical run beyond the confines of the series for which it was intended. Miike was no stranger to controversy at this point in time. His cinema was marked by excessive violence, bizarre sexual perversity, and a refreshingly rebellious attitude toward past traditions. Miike embodied a punk ethic, and a particular gift for offensive grotesquery, the like of which had rarely been distributed in the west. In many ways Visitor Q is Miike’s ultimate work of transgression. A vile cocktail featuring one abhorrent event after another. The challenge to social taboo is nothing new, even if Miike piles it on with typical exaggerated relish. The problem with Visitor Q however lies in the fact that for much of its brief running time it is uproariously funny.

Drunken Angel (1948)

Dir: AKIRA KUROSAWA
Country: JAPAN

AKA
Yoidore tenshi

This beautifully constructed and expertly composed noir gangster film was Akira Kurosawa’s eighth production as director. Prior to Drunken Angel is it fair to say that Kurosawa’s career had been one of interesting, but ultimately forgettable films. Kurosawa himself believed that Drunken Angel represented a major creative breakthrough, and although there is evidence of brilliance in his debut picture Sanshiro Sugata (1943), and moments of sublime quality in No Regrets for Our Youth (1946) and Those Who Make Tomorrow (1946) I am inclined to agree that Drunken Angel is light years ahead of those earlier efforts. Here Kurosawa utilises the generic tropes of imported genres such as noir and the American gangster film and fuses it with a political symbolism that makes clear statements about post-war Japan. The inbuilt pessimism and gloom of noir is a suitable form within which too address questions of national identity and social fragmentation, and the archetypes of the gangster film are used as stand ins for the country at large and become walking metaphors. The film sits uneasily in a discussion of genre. The screenplay which Kurosawa wrote in collaboration with Keinosuke Uekusa is patient in its replication of westernised conventions, but its symbolic and allegorical ambitions and mode of address takes it far closer to art cinema.

A Snake of June (2002)

Dir: SHINYA TSUKAMOTO
Country: JAPAN

AKA:
Rokugatsu no hebi

Cult Japanese filmmaker Shinya Tsukamoto has time and again proven himself to be the perfect embodiment of what is traditionally understood as an auteur. From the moment he exploded in a shower of twisted metal onto the international scene with his dystopian tale of bodily transformation Tetsuo (1989), he has written, directed, produced, and designed a raft of uniquely distinctive and unusual feature films. In the years since the hyper-stylised avant-garde formalism of Tetsuo, Tsukamoto’s visual experimentalism has mellowed somewhat. But films such as Hiruko the Goblin (1991), Tokyo Fist (1995), Bullet Ballet (1998) and Vital (2004) continue to document his fascination with the human body.  Whether it be in states of decay or in revolt. The revolution of the human body in the face of a decaying urbanisation is a persistent theme of his work. In his films technology and capitalism are rendered banal and are often the initial cause for an evolution of the flesh. Tsukamoto’s vision is at times a unique one, but it is couched within stylistic and thematic terms which evoke the industrialised dreamscapes of David Lynch, and the grotesque body horror of David Cronenberg. His own influence can be felt on filmmakers such as Darren Aronofsky, Takashi Miike and Jan Kounen. Tsukamoto is also fiercely independent and through his own production company Kaijyu Theatre commands complete autonomy and the freedom too express his innermost fantasies.

Evil Dead Trap (1988)

Dir: TOSHIHARU IKEDA
Country: JAPAN

AKA:
Shiryô no wana
Tokyo Snuff

Evil Dead Trap is an absorbing oddity that takes it inspiration from a myriad of western sources. Unusually for a Japanese horror film it pays little heed to its own indigenous traditions and history, preferring to take its cue from the expectations of westernised genres. The screenplay by Takashi Ishii could have conceivably been set anywhere and it gives the film a strange lack of cultural specificity which only confirms the artifice of the whole proposition. Ishii went on to much more interesting things as a writer and director. Films such as the Takeshi Kitano starring Gonin (1995) and the unusual arty rape/revenge thriller Freeze Me (2000). The director Toshiharu Ikeda remains something of an obscurity in the west. Evil Dead Trap is the only film of his that had reasonable trans-national distribution. It is incredibly easy to see why it achieved this. The title itself is a reference to Sam Raimi’s irreverent gore soaked debut The Evil Dead (1981), and the film abounds with the echoes of other filmmakers and films. Perhaps the most notable influence here is the hyper-stylised baroque fantasies of Dario Argento. This inter-textual plundering includes a scene in which maggots fall from a ceiling onto an unsuspecting woman’s head lifted from Suspiria (1977), the use of a colour scheme that evokes both Suspiria and its sequel Inferno (1980), and the repetition of a musical theme courtesy of composer Tomohiko Kira. Unfortunately shoddy prints and patchwork distribution have lessened the effect of Ikeda’s carefully constructed pallette. But the film still emerges as highly inventive and incredibly gory. Qualities that have helped it to become something of a cult film.

Uzumaki (2000)

Dir: HIGUCHINSKY
Country: JAPAN

AKA:
Spiral
Vortex

For many J-Horror began with the investigation into a certain cursed video tape, and the cycle of death and tragedy that followed a viewing of it. Although Hideo Nakata’s low budget Ring (1998) exposed the limitations of modern technology through the incursion of the supernatural, it overflowed with the signifiers of past traditions. Nakata was essentially telling a very old story, and it was only correct that the narrative should have the cautionary quality of a fable or fairy tale. For several years the long haired avenging ghost girl was the trans-national symbol most associated with the Japanese film industry, but few horror films produced during this period offered anything new or original. Their success in the west was almost certainly due to a carefully constructed and self-conscious depiction of a Japanese culture that appealed to a western conception. By the year 2000 I for one was sick to the back teeth of long haired ghost girls, and if derivative Japanese product wasn’t enough, even South Korea got in on the act with their own brand of imitative celluloid waste. With the bubble well and truly burst on this form of cultural expression it’s easier to look back now and see that Higuchinsky’s peculiar feature film debut Uzumaki was one of the most distinctive and original productions of this cycle.

Onibaba (1964)

Dir: KANETO SHINDO
Country: JAPAN

AKA:
Devil Woman
The Hole
The Ogress
The Witch
The Demon

Legendary Japanese filmmaker Kaneto Shindô directed his 45th feature film Ichimai no Hagaki in 2010 at the tender age of 98. Born in Hiroshima in 1912 Shindô has also written some 158 screenplays, making him easily one of the most prolific filmmakers in world cinema. Shindô’s failure to secure the type of distribution enjoyed by Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, and Ozu remains a mystery. His early films are slightly more visible in the West. In recent times we have enjoyed pristine DVD presentations of The Naked Island (1960), Onibaba (1964) and Kuroneko (1968) and they have afforded us a glimpse into a highly stylised and expressive formal style that is both challenging and invigorating. The latter two titles have also illustrated Shindô’s ability to meld this formal eloquence with popular genres and past theatrical traditions. However the unavailability of Children of Hiroshima (1952) still remains a mystifying aberration. It is certainly the case that as the 1960’s wore on Shindô’s work became less distinctive and his interest in social purpose took a back seat to explorations of sexuality. But as we saw in Nagisa Oshima’s In the Realm of the Senses (1976), sex in its purest form can be a potent political and social weapon. The success of his quasi historical horror film Onibaba isn’t particularly surprising as it retains just enough generic signifiers to satisfy western audiences, and possessed the added draw of an unusually frank exploration of frustrated sexuality.

The Mysterians (1957)

Dir: ISHIRO HONDA
Country: JAPAN

aka:

Chikyû Bôeigun
Defence Force of the Earth
Earth Defense Force

Released originally in Japan under the title Chikyû Bôeigun in 1957, Ishirô Honda’s second major foray into science fiction after the success of Gojira (1954) was picked up for distribution in the United States by MGM and released in 1959 under the title The Mysterians. No doubt the abominated bastardisation that Gojira experienced when released under the title Godzilla, King of Monsters! (1956) prompted US distributors to keep a keen eye on the development of Japanese science-fiction/monster movies, even if ham fisted dubbing and subtitle translation reduced the enjoyment and power of the films. The Mysterians was particularly fitting for US distribution because it is an invasion narrative, and it fed nicely into the fears and anxieties of the day. If Gojira borrowed numerous plot elements from King Kong (1933), then the major influence on The Mysterians is War of the Worlds (1953). What is most distinctive now is the wonderfully expansive use of Tohoscope, which gives the film an epic grandeur, some impressive model work, and the rich colour cinematography of Hajime Koizumi. The combination of these stylistic elements gives the film a look that would be repeated for many years in numerous Japanese monster movies. In this respect The Mysterians holds a significant position in the influence of Japanese science-fiction, a position that is somewhat underappreciated in the west.

Kuroneko (1968)

Dir: KANETO SHINDO
Country: JAPAN

aka:
Yabu no naka no kuroneko
The Black Cat
The Black Cat from the Grove

Japanese filmmaker Kaneto Shindo is best known to western audiences for his shattering and moving tribute to the survivors of atomic destruction in the drama Children of Hiroshima (1952) and his sultry and sensual historical horror film Onibaba (1964). The latter is an evocative and oppressive allegory of Japanese class and social divisions and the tragic effects of a corrosive sexual jealousy. For Kuroneko Shindo recycled the basic premise of Onibaba (in which two resourceful women lure samurai to their death for material gain) and retained the same historical setting, war torn landscape and aesthetics of hunger. Kuroneko is a more conventional horror film in the sense that it foregrounds aspects of the supernatural, demon curses, and the quasi-mythical image of the cat. It makes use of the Kaidan or avenging spirit motif which unites much traditional Japanese horror and is brought to atmospheric life by beautiful monochrome cinematography and a formal eloquence that marks it out as one of Shindo’s most visually elegant productions. Despite these familiar signifiers however the film is still strange and otherworldly, and in its attention to traditional theatrical modes of narrative address possesses an inherently alien quality which is eminently fascinating.

Audition (1999)

Dir: TAKASHI MIIKE
Country: JAPAN

Prolific filmmaker Takashi Miike made his international breakthrough with this mischievous and beautifully controlled examination of spectatorship, generic expectation, and gender relationships. With its subtle hints that eventually lead to a nightmare world of sadism and torture Miike proves himself to be a filmmaker that audiences cannot trust. The slow burning narrative build up of the first half affords the male characters an opportunity to express their weaknesses and vulnerabilities. For widower Shigeharu Aoyama (Ryo Ishibashi) his emotional frailties centre on the persistence of his son in finding a replacement for the wife who perished several years before. Aoyama still loves his departed wife, but the idea of a sexual partner, and a housewife to keep everything in order is very attractive. Aoyama’s sexism is outmoded and old fashioned, but he is essentially an harmless individual. He doesn’t possess the same level of vitriol and spite his friends do at the rising number of women in the work place. Despite the dubious morality of holding a fake audition in order to find himself a suitable wife, Aoyama scarcely deserves the shocking punishment he suffers at the end of the film.

Scandal (1950)

Dir: AKIRA KUROSAWA
Country: JAPAN

aka:
Shubun

1950 saw the release of two films by Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa. The first Scandal has largely remained an obscurity in Kurosawa’s filmography, far overshadowed by the second film of the year Rashomon. The latter introduced western audiences to a new world of Japanese cinema when it scooped the Golden Lion award at the Venice Film Festival in 1951. Kurosawa was soon heralded as an artistic genius and feted by art cinema enthusiasts eager for something outside their experiential world. The historical films of Kurosawa often betray their indebtedness to Hollywood, Rashomon however is the most atypical of his historical adventures in its attitude to point of view and subjectivity, which perhaps accounts for its art circuit success. Personally I have always found Kurosawa’s contemporary set social dramas to be more interesting, and as a representation of the complexities, anxieties, and dilemma’s of a Japan occupied by a foreign force Scandal emerges as a more important film than Rashomon from a socio/historical point of view.

Agitator: The Cinema of Takashi Miike

Writer: TOM MES
Publisher: FAB PRESS
Year: 2003

Since the advent of DVD the distribution of Japanese films in the UK market has improved markedly. Whilst distributors like the BFI, Tartan and Eureka continue to do good work in releasing major films by major directors, contemporary Japanese cinema (say from 1995 to the present) still remains an area of potential limbo. The films of Takashi Miike are representative of this. It doesn’t help that Miike is so prolific - regularly seeing four to six films released in a calendar year, and whilst UK audiences can enjoy his major works, a large swathe (most specifically his more recent work) remains unavailable here. It therefore becomes night on impossible to join the dots of meaning between his films and construct any sense of thematic continuity. Progressions of form and style and his attitude to genre are difficult to decipher when one only sees a handful of works, and despite academia’s best efforts, auteur constructions of filmmakers continue unabated.