[3] The company enjoyed its share of success. I'm always impressed with the cinematography of these pictures as compared to these types of films being produced elsewhere (i.e. During that time this great studio--with its highly talented crew of charismatic stars, flamboyant directors, and brilliant craftsmen (including set designers, writers, and composers)- … The influence is not just one, it couldn’t be, given that cinema had existed for nearly seventy years before these films came to be. They have codes and are usually ruthless gunfighters or vicious badmen. He is also the first Japanese director to win two Palme d'Or awards, for The Ballad of Narayama (1983) and The Eel (1987). The company enjoyed its share of success. “Ishihara Yujiro: Youth, Celebrity, and the Male Body in Late 1950’s Japan” from World and Image in Japanese Cinema, Washburn, Dennis & Cavanaugh, Carole ed(s). They have a final gunfight guided by their morals codes of conduct. p. 188. Frustrated, Isao invents all sorts of stratagies to disgust Ikuko´s ... (1972) Retaliation. + 1 booklet (39 page : illustrations ; 17 cm.) A platoon in Burma sings to … It was the heyday of entertainment and art in Japan. [citation needed] From the late 1950s to the start of the 1970s, they were renowned for their "borderless action" (mukokuseki akushun) movies,[6] designed for the youth market, whose directors included Suzuki, Toshio Masuda, and Takashi Nomura. AWARDS. Youth of the Beast (1963) Yakuza Apocalypse (2015) Gate of Flesh (1964) Pigs and Battleships (1961) A Colt Is My Passport (1967) Attack on Titan (2015) We Are Little Zombies (2019) Previous. Take anther example of Joe Shishido, the actor of Seijun’s film Branded to Kill (1967), Nomura’s A Colt is my Passport (1967) and Furukawa’s Cruel Gun Story (1964). Nikkatsu has since found another renaissance in Japanese film culture. Daimajin Strikes Again (1966) 11. Japan had once again risen to a respectful acceptance on an international scale with Kurosawa, Ozu and Mizoguchi’s films. 259 – 300. Nikkatsu sums up a conglomerate of Western influences in an attempt to drive the Japanese film market in to a new and more youthful terrain. The French new wave were self-aware genre studies of American film. As the movie starts one can see the influence of American film noir. Pinky Violence/ Nikkatsu/ Pink Films by ajcblake_77 | created - 25 Jan 2015 | updated - 25 Jan 2015 | Public Refine See titles to watch instantly, titles you haven't rated, etc. The explanation is best suited to be described as a hybrid. : sound, color with black and white sequences ; 4 3/4 in. The films delivered but also delivered on something more layered. The reformed Nikkatsu continued to prosper as an exhibition company but ceased all film production. Color, detail and celluloid texture are all spot-on. It makes a viewer aware that they are watching a film (Douchet, 17). By the end of Rusty Knife, I am Waiting, or Take Aim at the Police Van (1960) one witnesses what seems to be the formulaic ending for a picture dealing in gangster ideologies. After the 1923 earthquake, Nikkatsu concentrated its production activities in Kyoto. [clarification needed] It employed such notable film directors as Shozo Makino and his son Masahiro Makino. We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. Couldn’t have written it without the amazing theorists and authors listen at the bottom The Demon of Mount Oe (1960) 3. PRODUCTION. The films Nikkatsu produced during this time were elemental sums of all genres, mixed in…. Woo told trade paper Screen, “This remake is my salute to the great films and filmmakers produced by Nikkatsu's 100 years in cinema history. The Japanese soundtrack is presented in mono with English subtitles. : the complete collection Publication: [United States] : Arrow Films, 2016. Today Nikkatsu releases films from all sorts of genres. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio,[1] founded in 1912 during the silent film era. Myao, Daisuke. The films were based on the manga series by Takashi Ishii. Pink films dominated the Japanese film market through 1960s to the 1980s. The film is presented in its original 2.35:1 ratio, anamorphically enhanced, and looks gorgeous. Next. Even making their way to Japan’s shores by the early Sixties. Nikkatsu’s genre bending B- films of the Fifties and Sixties held influence from many international sources and yet retained a cultural significance with the youth culture under a new rising sun. Though the acting was tapping in to youth culture in Japan at the time, the style they were borrowing from was coming from the fatalistic film noirs made in America during and after the war. In French cinema of the sixties the need to simply represent reality was not seen as artful cinema. Español English Svenska Français Português. These are the characteristics one sees in the films of the Nikkatsu studio during the late Fifties and in to the Sixties. Experimental avant-garde cinema would hit one of its hey-days in the sixties with the emergence of modern art (something film and filmmaking would play an intricate part in). Film is influenced from all that came before, whether it be conscious or unconscious. Influence of Film Noir: TokyoScope: The Japanese Cult Film Companion. Nikkatsu sees the roman porno revival as an opportunity for emerging filmmakers and actors to make their mark. Diary of a Shinjuku Thief (Nagisa Oshima, 1968) The third film from Oshima on this list, “Diary of a Shinjuku Thief” contains fewer erotic elements but enough pinky elements to be considered a pink film. Hori resigned over the change in focus, and many stars and directors left the company. They had to concentrate on quickly producing Roman pornos or ‘pink films’ in order to financially stay afloat (Schwarcacher, B4). Anderson, Joseph, I. and Richie, Donald. The anti or sensitive heroes of 1950’s American films harbored an interesting influence in the iconic persona Inshihara Yujiro’s dandy hero (Raine, 207). film production company: Genre: pornographic film; Location: Japan: Owned by: Nippon Television; Headquarters location: Bunkyō-ku (35°42′N 139°46′E) Inception : 1912; official website: Authority control Q201487 ISNI: 0000 0001 0691 7790 VIAF ID: 137233656 Library of Congress authority ID: n82145528 National Diet Library ID: 00295365. In September 2012, Nikkatsu celebrated its 100th anniversary. Since these Nikkatsu films share just as much influence with experimental avant-garde films as with genre pictures like the Gangster picture and their aesthetic visuals of a film noir; the ending to many of these films harkens back to the same argument all of these categories share with Nikkatsu films… They are in a sense a hybrid or all of these influences. The films made in Japan by Nikkatsu studios were as much a study (albeit a more playful and less theoretical study) as the French nouvelle vogue. 1st Logo (Late 1920s) Bed Partner (1988) was the last release in the venerable 17-year Roman Porno series. Today Nikkatsu releases films from all sorts of genres. Influence of the French New Wave: During World War II, the government ordered the ten film companies that had formed by 1941 to consolidate into two. Nikkatsu's latest production strategy includes a special focus on international co-productions. Hope you find a few hidden gems in here you would have never have seen otherwise. 1st Logo (Late 1920's) July, 1945: Japan's army is on the run. [citation needed], Strangely during the height of the popularity of Japan's daikaiju (giant monster) genre, Nikkatsu only produced one Godzilla-type monster movie, Daikyoju Gappa (Giant Beast Gappa), released internationally as Gappa: The Triphibian Monster and Monster From a Prehistoric Planet,[7] a film generally regarded as a remake of the 1961 British film Gorgo (1961).[8]. Films produced by Nikkatsu. And neither of those could have been possible without the European and more specifically, German expressionistic influence that came in during the early thirties (Silver and Ursini, 10). Take for instance two examples of recent films produced by Nikkatsu: Sion Sono’s Tokyo Tribe and Lee Sand-il’s Unforgiven, a remake of the Clint Eastwood film. They were made by men who found awareness in the study of mainstream cinema as sophisticated and rooted with many intricate studies of art and humanity (Douchet, 16). Little has been written of these genre films having a direct influence on Japanese cinema, especially as specific as the Nikkatsu studio. was established by the merger of four film companies: Yoshizawa Shōten, Yokota Shōkai, Fukuhōdō and M. Pathe. Nowadays Roman Porno movies have won acceptance, as "art" not "porno", all over the world. Taschen: Los Angelas. Nikkatsu is an independent film production company.. ContentsFilms produced by Nikkatsu Edit Tokyo Drifter is the same even though it was shot in bright all encompassing Nikkatsuscope (Cinemascope Technicolor) and has a pastel canvas to which its characters wear without any feeling that they appear distasteful or tacky. Daimajin (1966) 8. The film noir was alive and well in the narrative discourse of almost all of Nikkatsu films at this time. The films were challenging the censorship boards on both shores. This is a list of the films in that series. Alastair Phillips and Julien Stringer .New York: Routledge, 2007, pp. The Postwar film market in Japan was a sullen landscape filled with a hunger for new and more exciting films. The waiter at the Blue Sky nightclub thinks Frank, played by Danish-Japanese actor Masumi Okada, … [1] The studio also employed such stars as Yujiro Ishihara, Akira Kobayashi, Joe Shishido, Tetsuya Watari, Ruriko Asaoka, Chieko Matsubara and, later, Meiko Kaji and Tatsuya Fuji. The Nikkatsu Corporation (日活株式会社, Nikkatsu Kabushiki-gaisha) is a Japanese entertainment company known for its film and television productions. This extraordinary film from the Nikkatsu studio ‘Roman porn’ series is a subversive mood piece with an unforgettably wistful atmosphere. [citation needed] Suzuki made dozens of films for Nikkatsu from 1956 onwards, developing an increasingly inventive visual style, but was controversially fired following the release of his 40th, Branded to Kill (1967),[5] which Hori deemed "incomprehensible". These were experimental aspects that wanted to push new grounds, even when many of the filmmakers denied making these decisions consciously. Yujiro’s influence was felt in entertainment magazines and he was a soaring star by 1958 (Raine, 213). Shareholders are Nippon Television Holdings (35%) and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (28.4%).[2]. Dark shadows, youthful sensibilities, deadly Gangsters, modern idealism and foreboding film noir atmosphere. Watched the Impulse Pictures Blu-ray (part of the Nikkatsu - Erotic Films Collection). The Nikkatsu Roman Porno films were a series of theatrical Japanese softcore pornographic "pink films" produced by the movie studio Nikkatsu from November, 1971, until May, 1988.This is a list of the films in that series. 1. This is a remake of a film first produced in 1971 by Shogoro Nishimura. “Long Shot”. With a country struck by atomic destruction the films showcased a hero that never really wins, with a love interest who never really lives happily ever after. From 1923 to 1930, Mizoguchi made about fifty films for Nikkatsu. The country produced an approximate four hundred features in 1932; of that number, a mere forty-five were talkies. Retrieved 13 September 2011. Without a style, cinema could never really soar (Ibid). The films were based on the manga series by Takashi Ishii. List of Nikkatsu Roman Porno films — The Nikkatsu Roman Porno films were a popular, critically respected, financially successful and award winning series of mainstream, theatrical Japanese softcore pornographic films produced by Nikkatsu studios from November, 1971, until May, 1988 … Other Title: Outlaw gangster V.I.P. A Colt is my Passport is the epitome of their reign outside of Seijun’s films of a more avant-garde venture (Rayns, 26). The Nikkatsu produced films showcased this fatalistic attitude through their male body-minded protagonists (Raine, 206). Excerpt: The Nikkatsu Roman Porno films were a popular, critically respected, financially successful and award-winning series of mainstream, theatrical Japanese softcore pornographic films produced by the movie studio Nikkatsu from November, 1971, until May, 1988. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio. The term Film Noir was coined by the French and made its way from film to film until its style of conveying fatalistic narratives, femme fatales, chiaroscuro lighting and deep focus photography was felt in many films from black and white to Technicolor (Silver and Ursini, 11). Nikkatsu gained fame in the 1960s when they produced big-budget films about yakuza, and they gained even more fame in Japan when they released adult films such as the Roman Porn series of films. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio.The name Nikkatsu amalgamates the words Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Motion Pictures".. Shareholders are Nippon Television Holdings (35%) and SKY Perfect JSAT Corporation (28.4%). A Hybrid of Influence: By the end of many of these Nikkatsu films the main character; whether he was an anti-hero, passive aggressive protagonist or reluctant knight would always face the ultimate bad guy, a man usually head of the organization that had been tormenting the protagonist and his love interest. There was also a heterosexual overtone that lent itself to a homological masculinity in many of the Nikkatsu films of the time; usually found in the finale of the stories (Raine, 225). Suzuki Seijun, Takashi Nomura and Takumi Furukawa were all able to turn out quota quickies to hone their skills in which they would be able to utilize later on in their careers. While it kept making historical films, the studio produced films focusing on contemporary issues ( … “Too much cinema destroys cinema” (Douchet, 16). Pp. Besides plethora sex scenes, "Housewife's Afternoon Delight" depicts the loneliness and sadness that lurk in daily life. American Influence after the War: distributor. They include Naomi Tani (1974–1979), Junko Mabuki (1980–1981), Izumi Shima (1982–1983), Nami Matsukawa (1983), Miki Takakura (1983–1985), and Ran Masaki (1985-1986). Nikkatsu films often scattered gratuitous foreigners in the background of shots, but Crazed Fruit turns the novel’s anti-Americanism into a cultural style. It also witnessed the emergence of such new directors as Tatsumi Kumashiro, Masaru Konuma and Chūsei Sone. The rain drenched atmosphere, the suicidal female role and the male hero driven to a fatalistic ending. In 1971, the major studio Nikkatsu entered the pink film genre. The Films are as much film noir influenced from European cinema in a pre-war world and used as the primary narrative front runner in many of the films as they are avant-garde structured movies (Miyao, 199). America’s influence after the war is hard to underestimate. With a country struck by atomic destruction the films showcased a hero that never really wins, with a love interest who never really lives happily ever after. By 1971 the increased popularity of television had taken a heavy toll on the film industry and in order to remain profitable Nikkatsu turned to the production of Roman Porno (from the French word 'roman' for 'novel' and the English word 'porno') and pinku eiga or pink films, which focus on sex, violence, S&M and romance. Now Nikkatsu is remaking those classical films. Suzuki made dozens of films for Nikkatsu from 1956 onwards, developing an increasingly inventive visual style, but was controversially fired following the release of his 40th, Branded to Kill (1967), which Hori deemed "incomprehensible". Experiencing a few scenes in Branded to Kill like the montage of sequences of torture by fire or any of the chase sequences and one has a feeling that the sequencing of shots and editing are not mainstream or linear in any regard (Miyao, 200). The first two films in the Godzilla series were produced in 1954 and 1955, and were followed by a seven-year hiatus during whic… San Francisco: Cadence Books. Like all pink films the major theme is sex, but there is plenty of violence involved as well. Excitement Class: Love Techniques. This list tried to include many classic pink films, which can be Nikkatsu Roman Porno, Toei Pinky Violence, or other Japanese erotic films. It wasn’t until the appearance of Yujiro Ishihara and his superstar rise to fame during the 1950’s and 1960’s (Raine, 207) that Nikkatsu saw a chance for change in their formula. Japanese films were starting to take a stand against the more sensitive in-touch actors that their American counter parts were sending to their shores.