Imamura Shohei Film Selection
 One of Japan's most acclaimed film directors
Imamura Shohei is known for his portrayal of the gritty world inhabited by Japan's
lower classes and those on the margins society.
This season of films showing at the Cinematographic and Audio Visual Library is almost done ,
but there are still four to be shown over the next couple of weeks.
Please note that these screenings are without English
subtitles, but at only ¥500, film buffs might be up for the challenge.
Ee ja nai ka/Why Not?
151 minutes 1981
Imamura's interpretation of the outbreak of popular processions that took place in the Autumn of 1867 on the eve of the overthrow
of the Tokugawa shogunate. In a time of uncertainty dancing and carousing crowds throughout Western Japan sang songs that repeated the phrase
"Ee ja nai ka, ee ja nai ka", translated variously as "Why not?", "Ain't it great?" and "No more bullshit?". The whole phenomenon is fascinating - especially in the light of
last year's club crackdown, but information
is hard to find. The Wikipedia entries in English and Japanese provide starting point.
I've been wanting to see this difficult to get hold of film for some time. The consensus seems to be that it's pretty hard to work out
what's going even with subtitles, so this may actually be the best of the four for viewers with language issues who can sit back and
enjoy the scenes of carnivalesque debauchery.
Click here
for a synopsis.
Trailer (dubbed in Spanish!)
- Friday, January 18
14：00
- 18：00
The Ballad of Narayama (Narayama
Bushiko)
130 minutes 1983
A remake of the 1958 film of the same name, this portrayal of the harsh life lived by the inhabitants of a northern village in the late nineteenth century on the Palme D'Or at
the Cannes Film Festival. It is a heart wrenching film, but also often humorous. The scenes of village life are provide a striking
contrast to the rural idyll portrayed in Hollywood's Last Samurai!
- Saturday, January 19
- 10：30
- 14：00
- 18：00
Black Rain (Kuroi ame)
123 minutes 1989
Imamura's adaptation of the novel of the same name by Ibuse Masuji set in the aftermath of the Hiroshima bombing is of obvious
interest to GH readers.
- Sunday, January 20
- 10：30
- 14：00
A Town of Cupolas (Cupola no aru Machi)
99 minutes 1967
This is actually the directorial debut of Urayama Kiriro with Imamura working with him on the screenplay. Again the focus is on
ordinary Japanese people, but this time in a post war setting of the industrial slums of Kawaguchi City in Saitama Prefecture.
- Thursday, January 31
- 10：30
- 14：00
- 18：30
All films are ¥500 for adults (¥250 or free for kids)
Paul Walsh
January 2008 | 
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