Pigs and Battleships: Feeding Frenzy
by May 20, 2009The title alone screams incongruity. Shohei Imamura’s 1961 black-and-white caper movie Pigs and Battleships bursts with the confusion and exuberance of...
Synopsis
A dazzling, unruly portrait of postwar Japan, Pigs and Battleships details, with escalating absurdity, the desperate power struggles between small-time gangsters in the port town of Yokosuka. Shot in gorgeously composed, bustling CinemaScope, the film follows a young couple as they try to navigate Yokosuka’s corrupt businessmen, chimpira, and their own unsure future together. With its breakneck pacing and constantly inventive cinematography, this film marked Shohei Imamura as a major voice in Japanese cinema.
Cast
| Kinta | Hiroyuki Nagato |
| Haruko | Jitsuko Yoshimura |
| Himori | Masao Mishima |
| (Slasher) Tetsuji | Tetsuro Tamba |
| Hoshino | Shiro Osaka |
| Daihachi | Takeshi Kato |
| Gunji | Shoichi Ozawa |
| Katsuyo | Yoko Minamida |
| Kikuo | Hideo Sato |
| Kan‘ichi | Eijiro Tono |
| Sakiyama | Akira Yamauchi |
| Hiromi | Sanae Nakahara |
Credits
| Director | Shohei Imamura |
| Screenplay | Hisashi Yamauchi |
| Cinematography | Shinsaku Himeda |
| Art direction | Kimihiko Nakamura |
| Music | Toshiro Mayuzumi |
Disc Features
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- “Imamura: the Freethinker,” a 1995 episode of the French television series Cinéma de notre temps
- Interview with critic and historian Tony Rayns
- New and improved English subtitle translations
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by film critic Audie Bock
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