The English title of this film by Shōhei Imamura is somewhat misleading. Its full Japanese title An introduction to anthropology through pornographers is far better at describing what it is about, a view of the human condition through the eyes of its main character. We’ve already seen Imamura’s fascination with the dark side of human nature in Vengeance is Mine. This one is similar though of course the focus this time around is around sexuality and its perversions. Without ever being truly graphic, this film nevertheless challenges and breaks just about every moral boundary to an extent that is shocking even today. I like this one a little less as I’m not confident that I understood everything but the statement that the director seems to be making through it is really something else.

Subuyan Ogata earns money by illegally producing pornographic films, including customs ones ordered by specific customers. He rents a room in a house owned by Haru, a widow older than him who also operates a hair salon downstairs, and has over time developed an intimate relationship with her. Haru already has two children who Ogata somewhat treats like his own stepchildren. The boy Kōichi dislikes him and wants money so that he can move out. The daughter Keiko at times seems to want Ogata for herself and other times resents him. Haru keeps a carp in an aquarium at home that she believes is the reincarnation of her deceased husband. The carp reacts angrily whenever Haru and Ogara have sex and though Ogata keeps throwing it away in the canal behind the house, it somehow always comes back. Meanwhile Ogata isn’t earning much from his porn as he is harassed by gangsters and raided by the police. Even as he hopes to gain access to the property Haru’s husband left to her, Haru hopes that he will take care of her children after she dies.

Though there is some nudity, there is nothing truly graphic and it isn’t meant to be erotic so this film itself cannot be considered exploitative. We don’t have to explicitly see it for ourselves to know about the awful things going on however which include everything from orgies to incest. Perhaps more surprisingly Imamura doesn’t just blame men for being perverted and selfish. Ogata is certainly a contemptible person for lusting after Keiko as are his customers, one of them being an elderly man who regrets never having had sex with a virgin and wants Ogata to procure one for him. But the director, through Ogata, also blames women for all kinds of evils: being greedy in exchanging sex for material goods, for being deceitful and unfaithful. Keiko for example gives her body freely to many boys at least partly to get back at Ogata. Just about everyone is trying to make use of and take advantage of everyone else, including Ogata and Haru. The one exception seems to be Ogata’s assistant who seems to be either homosexual or asexual. He is happy to help Ogata both in producing his porn and also work in the hair salon while Haru is sick. Yet he too seems to have an inappropriately intimate, yet asexual relationship with his own sister.

Interspersed in between the real world scenes are dream or metaphorical sequences. These add a surreal quality to the gritty street scenes and emphasize how far back the sins go. They suggest that Ogata may have had incestuous relations with his own mother and he is tormented by guilt over it. But there is a flip side to this assertion that perversion is universal. If everyone is abnormal then surely this is the real normal. Sure enough, the ending has all of the characters, including Keiko, turn out to be mostly alright as if her awful teenage experiences were a just a phase she had to grow out of. That’s not a conclusion that I can agree with but it is certainly a unique worldview in keeping with Imamura’s dark views of the human condition.

I didn’t like this as much as Vengeance is Mine, which came later and feels more polished. Though this is considered to be the director’s best known film outside of Japan, I don’t think that I can even recommend it. I suspect that it’s so famous mostly because of the salacious aspect of selling sex. I do agree that this is a fascinating film that rewards careful watching and thoughtful consideration even if I don’t much like where it goes.