SHOWCASING SHOHEI

Pimps, Pigs and Prostitutes: Shohei Imamura's Japan

The reason that Japanese New Wave filmmaker Shohei Imamura, who died last year at 79, never made a big splash in American is simple: Western audiences tend to enjoy their Far East entertainment with a strong dose of Orientalism. The director, whose massive body of work gets showcased in a comprehensive retrospective at the BAMcinematek starting this week March 2, handled sordid themes that could qualify him as Japan’s Martin Scorsese. Although such a comparison doesn’t take into account that Imamura emerged a generation earlier than his American equivalent and built a steady filmography that continued into the 21st century.

Read the rest of the review in the New York Press...