Shohei Imamura double feature, The Pornographers and Dr Akagi.

I have recently gotten into Imamura's stuff and I'm really falling in love with this guys movies. Describing accurately would be tough, but I'm starting to think of him as a less wacky(but still pretty crazy) and more introspective Jean Pierre Jeunet. I watched two of his films recently that are both great. The Pornographers(1966) is new wave era Imamura while Dr Akagi(1998) shows a much more restrained, but still deliciously offbeat Imamura.

I'll start with the Pornographers since it came first. It tells the story of Mr Ogata, and he is as you would guess a Pornographer. He takes special orders from rich clients and shoots films specifically to their requirements, he sells aphrodisiacs and he even does a little pimping on the side. But beyond all this he is a surprisingly nice guy and what does he use his money for? To support the family of a plump widow he has rented a room from(and fallen in love with). Obviously pornography and family life aren't going to work well together and thats what this film is all about.

This is not for those who can't handle heavy sexuality in films. While the scenes are not explicitly captured by todays standards the content would still shock audiences no problem, one scene in particular with a blank faced school girl and an old man will not fail to make you cringe I promise.

This film moves at a slow deliberate pace as we follow Mr Ogata in his family and business life. The film banks of the fact that you will care about Ogata. I'll venture to say that most people will. He is a man who thinks he serves a useful if even benevolent purpose in society. Whether on that point he is right or not doesn't really matter because this guy is obviously not out to hurt anyone though he may be confused. He is the kind of pimp and pornographer who inquires to how one of his girls baby is doing. He isn't some street criminal he's a pretty swell dude. Deftly Imamura uses Ogata's story to raise questions of sexual morality, and gender relations. At one point Ogata says the relationship is "Complex yet Vague". Yeah its that kind of movie.

Another good thing about the film is the pure style it is shot with. It has that playful new wave Japaneses style where the angle of the camera is not from some textbook. Shots are framed down from the ceiling as we watch our characters in beds and barber chairs. One shot is framed fully horizontally as we watch Ogata peep on a young girl changing clothes. Its interesting to see Imamura shoot like this because he became so minimalistic in his later films(e.g. Eel).

There is much to like about this but it has one major problem. The narrative plays with time quite often and it becomes very confusing. We jump to flashbacks several times and they are not always clear to be flashbacks. There were a few scenes were I was left scratching my head wondering exactly which characters I was watching.

Overall its a film that is stylish and hip. Its content is so far ahead of its time that I believe its still relevant and quite shocking today. Its style is hard to not enjoy and it looks to have made an impression on Kubrick when he made Eyes Wide Shut.

4/5 "A little Confusing But still great!"

With Dr Akagi I'd say its not as good of a film as the Pornographers but it is a more enjoyable one. It tells the story of Akagi Fuu(Akira Emoto) a local doctor in a small town in WW2 Japan. He is known as Dr Liver to all the residents as he almost constantly diagnosis's his patients with hepatitis. Everyone in the town seems to like him, but all describe him as a Quack because of his obsession with hepatitis. The plot thickens when Akagi takes a young prostitute Sonoko into his service(Kumiko Aso) in effort to stop her from selling herself. A Drunk local Buddhist priest, a old surgeon friend of Akagi who happens to be addicted to morphine, and the kind proprietor of a local brothel round out the cast.

In typical Imamura style this film is a character study of Dr Akagi and his obsession with finding a cure for hepatitis. This film has such an odd sense of humor it really is quite interesting. There is a memorable part where each other characters actually go temporarily insane. Sometimes the scenes are funny other times its tragic. The main question in this film is whether or not Dr Akagi is a nut or not, and that makes the film quite interesting. He seems like the quack everyone calls him as he sprints all around town in his white suit, but bits start showing up here and their that leads us to the truth.

The best thing to talk about in this film is the fantastic performance of Akira Emoto who plays Dr Akagi. The guy is just so dorky and lovable sprinting around in his bright white suit with a goofy expression on his face. But when it gets serious Akagi always gets to business and does everything he can for his patients. Its an endearing character and a great portrayal of obsession.

I would have given this film 5 stars I enjoyed it so much but its got a few lame problems. The opening scene features some atrocious and forced sounding English language dialogue which gave me a very bad first impression. Also the film features some horrendously crappy special effects, very rarely do they actually work. Thank god they make up only a small portion of the film.

Dr Akagi is a film filled with odd and endearing characters and some quite bizarre humor. Save for some bad effects its a joy to watch. For lovers of black comedy it shouldnt be missed.

4/5 "Imamura is hip what can i say"