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<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>For lbosters within shouting distance of Brooklyn,
the opportunity to see the films of Shohei Imamura should not be
missed. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>In his own words:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>"I am interested in the relationship of the lower part of the human body
and the lower part of the social structure on which the reality of daily
Japanese life obstinately supports itself."</DIV>
<DIV><EM></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><EM>&</EM></DIV>
<DIV><EM></EM> </DIV>
<DIV> “I want to make messy, really human, Japanese, unsettling
films.”</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Imamura is the rare filmmaker who engages interest in terms of both
form and content. What follows is the text of an email I sent to friends
to alert them to the screenings.</DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2><A
href="http://www.bam.org/film/series.aspx?id=121">http://www.bam.org/film/series.aspx?id=121</A></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Starting on Friday and running through the month of
March, BAM is presenting a complete retrospective of the films of Shohei
Imamura, Japan's greatest director (and I say this as someone who adores
Mizoguchi, Naruse and Kurosawa). As a small expression of my admiration, I
will tell you that Imamura is the only director (among those with more
than 10 films to their credit) who has never made a
movie that I do not love. In my pantheon, he is equalled
only by Eastwood, Mankiewicz, and Fassbinder. He is bettered by no
one. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>This is a rare and special event. BAM will be
showing all of Imamura's films in prints from the Japan Foundation. Most
of Imamura's work is not available on either vhs or dvd.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The link at the top of this email will
take you to the BAM schedule where you can learn about dates, showtimes,
and plot lines. What follows are my annotations to his
filmography. Stars are given in relation to Imamura's other
films. If given on an absolute scale, his work would rarely
merit less than ****</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>** (okay to be missed if you must)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>*** (to be seen if at all possible)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>**** (must see)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>***** (only death should prevent your
attendance)</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2> </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Stolen Desire (1958) ** In Imamura's
first film, we find Imamura's themes in embryo.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Nishi Ginza Station (1958) ** Imamura's
second is the closest he ever came to making a routine studio
film. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Endless Desire (1958) ***
</FONT> <FONT face=Arial size=2>My favorite of Imamura's early films,
it is a delightful black comedy that mixes critique in its comedy.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>My Second Brother (1959) *** The
cynicism, the wit, the deep compassion -- watch Imamura becoming Imamura.
</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Pigs and Battleships (1961) **** The
film where you first feel Imamura completely in control of his material and the
aesthetics of cinema. As with all his films, the stink of life hovers over
the proceedings. In b&w and Scope (as most of his '60's films are),
the images demand to be seen on the big screen.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>The Insect Woman (1963) ****
Imamura was a great chronicler of women (as were Fassbinbder and
Mankiewicz). Through telling their stories, he illuminated the
stories of both postwar Japan and humanity
itself.</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Intentions of Murder (1964) ****
Imamura adds New Wave daring to his magisterial command of b&w Scope
filmmaking.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Pornographers (1966) *** Imamura's
exploration of the voyeuristic impulse, the camera angles have to be seen to be
believed.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>A Man Vanishes (1967) **** A film
that still amazes me with its mixture of fact and fiction.
</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Profound Desire of the Gods (1968)
***** The pinnacle (and the movie, if pressed, I most often name
as the best of all time), this film represents the culmination of Imamura's
work in the '60's. Working in color for the first time, Imamura shows how
the cultural and societal past is always present and
influencing contemporary events. If you can see only one film, this
is it.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2>History of Postwar Japan as Told by a
Bar Hostess (1970) ** One of the documentaries Imamura made
during his first sabbatical from feature filmmaking (after the failure of
Profound Desire), Immamura's capacious and intense compassion shines
through.</FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2></FONT></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2><SPAN id=_ctl11_lblTitle
style="FONT-WEIGHT: bold"></SPAN><FONT size=+0>Karayuki-San: The Making of a
Prostitute (1975) ** Another documentary focusing on the world
as experienced by women.</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Vengeance is Mine (1979) ****
Imamura returns to feature filmmaking with this tale of a serial killer.
Radically different than his films of the '60's, Imamura reinvents himself and
shifts to male protagonists. Brilliant beyond words.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Eijanaika (1981) **** In his first
period film, Imamura brings the talents he developed making documentaries
to the historical movie. As ecstatic an experience as you can have while
watching a movie (with your clothes on).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Ballad of Narayama (1983) **** In
Imamura's first Palme d'Or winner, the sense of what rural village
life was like is impressively evoked. As always, Imamura reminds his
audience that we are just one animal among many. Imamura's lead
actress sacrificed her two front teeth for the sake of
realism. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Zegen (1987) **** WWII as
satire from the Japanese perspective. The final film in the quartet of
films Imamura made with Ken Ogata as his star (starting with Vengeance is
Mine).</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Black Rain (1989) **** A
change of pace for the director, Black Rain tells the story of the aftermath of
the dropping of the bomb on Hiroshima. Austere and classical, the
film breaks your heart as you marvel at its formal rigor.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>The Eel (1997) **** After an eight-year
absence, Imamura returns with his final trilogy. These late films are
relaxed and elliptical. For the third time, Imamura reinvents both himself
and his cinema. Immaura won his second Palme d'Or with The
Eel (a feat matched only by Coppola, the Dardenne Brothers, and Emir
Kusturica). </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Dr. Akagi (1998) **** A wartime
comedy as only Imamura could make it, farce mixes with humanism as we cheer
Dr. Akagi on in his quixotic quests. </FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Warm Water Under a Red Bridge (2001)
**** Imamura's swan song is a paean to life fully lived where he
generously quotes from his earlier films. One of the great
last films in all cinema.</FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>