The Pornographers

The Pornographers
VHS video cover of The Pornographers (1966)
Directed by	Shohei Imamura
Produced by	Jiro Romado[1]
Written by	Shohei Imamura Kōji Numata
Based on	Novel by Akiyuki Nosaka[1]
Starring	Shōichi Ozawa Sumiko Sakamoto Masaomi Kondō Keiko Sagowa
Music by	Toshirō Kusunoki[1]
Cinematography	Shinsaku Himeda[1]
Edited by	Matsuo Tanji[1]
Production company	Imamura Productions[1]
Distributed by	Nikkatsu
Release dates	March 1966
Running time	128 minutes[1]
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

The Pornographers is a 1966 Japanese film directed by Shohei Imamura and based on a novel (Erogotoshitachi) by Akiyuki Nosaka. Its original Japanese title is "Erogotoshitachi" yori Jinruigaku nyūmon (「エロ事師たち」より 人類学入門), which means 'An introduction to anthropology through the pornographers'. It tells the story of porn film-maker Mr. Subuyan Ogata, whose business is under threat from thieves, the government, and his own family.

The film is a dark comic satire, depicting the underbelly of the Japanese post-war economic miracle, in this case pornographers and small-time gangsters in Osaka. It has been called Imamura's best-known film outside Japan.^[2]

Cast

• Shōichi Ozawa as Subuyan Ogata
• Sumiko Sakamoto as Haru Matsuda
• Keiko Sagawa as Keiko Matsuda, Haru's Daughter
• Haruo Tanaka as Banteki
• Ganjirō Nakamura as Elderly Executive From Hakucho Company
• Masaomi Kondō as Kōichi Matsuda, Haru's Son
• Akira Nishimura as Detective Sanada
• Ichirō Sugai as Shinun Ogata, Subuyan's Father
• Shinichi Nakano as Kabō
• Chōchō Miyako as The Virgin House Madame
• Kazuo Kitamura as The Doctor

Release

The Pornographers was released in Japan on March 1966 where it was distributed by Nikkatsu.^[1] It was released in the United States by Toho International with English-subtitles in August 1966.^[1]

Footnotes

1. Galbraith IV 1996, p. 103.
2. Sklar, Robert (2002). Film: An International History of the Medium, Second edition. New York: Harry N. Abrams. ISBN 0-13-034049-9., p.365.

References

• Galbraith IV, Stuart (1996). The Japanese Filmography: 1900 through 1994. McFarland. ISBN 0-7864-0032-3.

External links

• The Pornographers at the Internet Movie Database
• The Pornographers at AllMovie
• Hoberman, J. The Pornographers Criterion Collection essay, 4 August 2003
• "エロ事師たちより　人類学入門 (Erogotoshitachi yori Jinruigaku nyumon)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 2007-07-17.