A master died: Shohei Imamura

[Szlia]

After a long illness, one of the master of the cinema world died at 80. It is always sad to lose a brilliant director, but even more so with Imamura because he was showing no sign of decline in his work.

Imamura was at first an assistant for Yasujiro Ozu, but as a member of the japanese New Wave his career followed a pretty different path than the one of his elder. Imamura spent his life depicting the japanese society and the human condition with the left eye of a satyrist and the right eye of an entomologist. Despite the violence, the frenesy, the vulgarity, the sexual obsessions, despite focusing on the lowest of the lows, Imamura never departed from his genuine kindess toward mankind.

My personal favorite is probably Dr Akagi, unfairly put aside the main competition in the Cannes Film Festival so Imamura would not be the only director to win 3 Palme d'Or ( and that would have been 2 in a row). This comical group portrait is built around a family doctor during the 2nd world war. Iconoclast yet poignant and at time poetic, you end up walking two feet above the ground when leaving the theatre.

In a darker vein I would also recommand Vengence is Mine, a portrait of a killer with a stunning performance by Ken Ogata.

Be sure to also check The Eel, the anarchist craziness that is The Pornographers and the surprising documentary that is History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess. Critics' favorites that I enjoyed less are The Balad of Narayama, Black Rain (it refers to the same thing than in Ridley Scott movie, but the comparison ends there - a touching movie that sadly is a bit unbalanced by its breath taking first quarter) and what will remain his last movie Warm Water Under a Red Bridge.

[DisgruntledOrangatang]

Thx tips, I'll check it.