"Even after losing (the war), the bastards who did this to Japan are still talking big. I'll never again believe a word they say. I'm gonna live for sex and food."
Watching this made me think of parallels to American movies made about Vietnam in the late 70's and early 80's, and what that said about the country trying to process what had happened there, even if that case was different in fundamental ways. Here nearly a couple of decades after the fact, Seijun Suzuki presents a tale of the squalor of Japan following WWII and the American occupation. The overriding theme is the loss of morality in the face of impoverished, dog-eat-dog conditions in the city, with a helping of Anti-Americanism on the side. The story is simple: a group of women have turned to prostitution and welcome a new girl into their ranks (Yumiko Nogawa), while a returning soldier (Joe Shishido) commits crimes before being forced to hide out with them.
The film is very explicit for the period, not so much because of the nudity (though there is some), but just how frank it is in its depictions of sex. The springs of a truck go up and down because of the vigor of what's happening inside it, a woman strips and lays down in the grass to seduce an American priest into taking her, and there are various moments of sweaty, grimy sex out of desperation. Suzuki also seems to enjoy titillating the viewer with S&M, as more than once a woman is whipped by the others for having the nerve to have sex without charging the man. One of those times is to Nogawa's character, her body nude and hoisted aloft by a pulley. These scenes may have delivered the intended shock, but they were clearly more exploitative than authentic, and the sentiment expressed from one woman to another ("Selling your body is a business - do it for free and you're just a slut!") was kind of sickening.
Unfortunately, there are several other unpleasant images, including the brutal killing and butchering of a cow, which was just awful. Let's just say, a pun of that last sentence with 'offal' would be appropriate. There are others, including a condom in the American stew being ladled out to the hungry, and men beating up women to rob them. Perhaps those things wouldn't have been as bad had the story been more complex. I didn't like how it essentially devolved into these women all becoming enamored with this guy, even if it was Joe Shishido.
It's really quite a shame, because I think there are symbols here and an expression of a national sadness over the humiliating conditions following the war. Shishido's character representing returning soldiers, haunted and forced to live lives of corruption, and the women, those who were forced to lose their honor to eat could have been powerful stuff (and perhaps it was for Japanese people in 1964). There are brief moments where we see Shishido has PTSD, and imagined sequences presented as transparent overlays showing loved ones at war, and childhood. It's really too bad these things weren't more fully developed. That final shot of the women going back to work in the streets, followed by a pan back and the American flag waving proudly in the background, is devastating though.
Watching this made me think of parallels to American movies made about Vietnam in the late 70's and early 80's, and what that said about the country trying to process what had happened there, even if that case was different in fundamental ways. Here nearly a couple of decades after the fact, Seijun Suzuki presents a tale of the squalor of Japan following WWII and the American occupation. The overriding theme is the loss of morality in the face of impoverished, dog-eat-dog conditions in the city, with a helping of Anti-Americanism on the side. The story is simple: a group of women have turned to prostitution and welcome a new girl into their ranks (Yumiko Nogawa), while a returning soldier (Joe Shishido) commits crimes before being forced to hide out with them.
The film is very explicit for the period, not so much because of the nudity (though there is some), but just how frank it is in its depictions of sex. The springs of a truck go up and down because of the vigor of what's happening inside it, a woman strips and lays down in the grass to seduce an American priest into taking her, and there are various moments of sweaty, grimy sex out of desperation. Suzuki also seems to enjoy titillating the viewer with S&M, as more than once a woman is whipped by the others for having the nerve to have sex without charging the man. One of those times is to Nogawa's character, her body nude and hoisted aloft by a pulley. These scenes may have delivered the intended shock, but they were clearly more exploitative than authentic, and the sentiment expressed from one woman to another ("Selling your body is a business - do it for free and you're just a slut!") was kind of sickening.
Unfortunately, there are several other unpleasant images, including the brutal killing and butchering of a cow, which was just awful. Let's just say, a pun of that last sentence with 'offal' would be appropriate. There are others, including a condom in the American stew being ladled out to the hungry, and men beating up women to rob them. Perhaps those things wouldn't have been as bad had the story been more complex. I didn't like how it essentially devolved into these women all becoming enamored with this guy, even if it was Joe Shishido.
It's really quite a shame, because I think there are symbols here and an expression of a national sadness over the humiliating conditions following the war. Shishido's character representing returning soldiers, haunted and forced to live lives of corruption, and the women, those who were forced to lose their honor to eat could have been powerful stuff (and perhaps it was for Japanese people in 1964). There are brief moments where we see Shishido has PTSD, and imagined sequences presented as transparent overlays showing loved ones at war, and childhood. It's really too bad these things weren't more fully developed. That final shot of the women going back to work in the streets, followed by a pan back and the American flag waving proudly in the background, is devastating though.