Subu makes pornographic films. He sees nothing wrong with it. They are an aid to a repressed society, and he uses the money to support his landlady, Haru, and her family. From time to time, Haru shares her bed with Subu, though she believes her dead husband, reincarnated as a carp, disapproves. Director Shohei Imamura has always delighted in the kinky exploits of lowlifes, and in this 1966 classic, he finds subversive humor in the bizarre dynamics of Haru, her Oedipal son, and her daughter, the true object of her pornographer-boyfriend’s obsession. Imamura’s comic treatment of such taboos as voyeurism and incest sparked controversy when the film was released, but The Pornographers has outlasted its critics, and now seems frankly ahead of its time.
Writing | Akiyuki Nosaka | Novel |
Directing | Shōhei Imamura | Director |
Production | Kazuya Yamamoto | Producer |
Production | Jirô Tomoda | Producer |
Production | Shōhei Imamura | Producer |
Camera | Shinsaku Himeda | Director of Photography |
Sound | Toshirō Mayuzumi | Original Music Composer |
Directing | Noboru Tanaka | Assistant Director |
Directing | Yoshihiro Yûki | Assistant Director |
Lighting | Yasuo Iwaki | Lighting Director |
Art | Ichirô Takada | Art Direction |
Production | Kunio Takeshige | Production Assistant |
Lighting | Reijiro Sato | Lighting Technician |
Sound | Emasa Koyanagi | Sound Assistant |
Art | Masami Shiozawa | Art Department Assistant |
Sound | Minoru Nobuoka | Sound Assistant |
Writing | Shōhei Imamura | Screenplay |
Lighting | Tomiyasu Iida | Lighting Technician |
Writing | Koji Numata | Screenplay |
Directing | Tadahiko Isomi | Assistant Director |
Editing | Mutsuo Tanji | Editor |
Production | Shinji Soshizaki | Production Assistant |
Lighting | Michiaki Oba | Lighting Technician |
Production | Junji Wada | Production Assistant |
Production | Shogo Usami | Production Assistant |
Sound | Kenichi Benitani | Sound Recordist |
Production | Masanori Yamanoi | Production Manager |
Camera | Shôhei Andô | Camera Operator |
Camera | Katsuharu Hayakawa | Camera Operator |
Camera | Renji Yamamoto | Camera Operator |
Sound | Toshiro Kusunoki | Music |
Art | Hiromi Shiozawa | Art Direction |