The Pornographers
12/03/1966
2h 8m

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.
Cast


Shoichi Ozawa
Yoshimoto 'Subu' Ogata


Sumiko Sakamoto
Haru Masuda
Keiko Sagawa
Keiko Matsuda


Masaomi Kondo
Koichi Matsuda


Haruo Tanaka
Banteki


Ganjirō Nakamura II
Elderly Executive


Chōchō Miyako
Brothel Madame


Kō Nishimura
Detective Sanada


Ichirō Sugai
Shinun Ogata
Shinichi Nakano
Kabo


Kazuo Kitamura
Doctor


Asao Uchida
Furukawa


Taiji Tonoyama
Father


Jun Hamamura
Company Manager


Kin Sugai
Teacher Oda
Sayoko Kinoshita
Second-hand Bookstore Owner


Kayako Sono
Wife
Shōzō Fukuyama
Prayer
Shuntaro Tamamura
Nishioka


Hyōe Enoki
Middle-aged Man
Tokushichi Ogura
Old Man
Yasuko Nishioka
Housewife
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