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Erogotoshi-tachi yori: Jinruigaku nyûmon

The Pornographers
Berlinale Classics 2026
© 1966 Nikkatsu
Subu makes porn films – cheap, grubby 8mm movies, often based on his customers’ special wishes. He also functions as a pimp. Subu lives with a widowed hairdresser and her two children. Son Koichi is a cash-hungry student, his sister Keiko is 15. When their mother ends up in hospital, Subu begins an incestuous relationship with his stepdaughter. With that, the precarious meshwork of the family is destroyed. Koichi steals his mother’s money, while Keiko turns to young yakuza and sets them on Subu. In the end, the mother is transferred to a psychiatric ward. But at least she keeps her carp, which she believes is the reincarnation of her husband.
Subu’s insight that “everything depends on money” pervades every relationship in this grim grotesquerie of a family farce, an “introduction to anthropology via pornography” (the translated film title). In comical and dramatic scenes, Shōhei Imamura depicts greed and base instincts as human constants. This world premiere of the 4K restoration based on the original negative marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of the master director.

Trailer/Film Excerpt

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by Shōhei Imamura (Director, Screenplay), Kōji Numata (Screenplay)
with Shōichi Ozawa, Sumiko Sakamoto, Ganjirō Nakamura, Chocho Miyako, Keiko Sagawa, Haruo Tanaka, Masaomi Kondō, Akira Nishimura, Ichirō Sugai, Akiji Kobayashi Japan 1966 Japanese 128' Black/White World premiere of the digitally restored version Rating R 16

With

  • Shōichi Ozawa
  • Sumiko Sakamoto
  • Ganjirō Nakamura
  • Chocho Miyako
  • Keiko Sagawa
  • Haruo Tanaka
  • Masaomi Kondō
  • Akira Nishimura
  • Ichirō Sugai
  • Akiji Kobayashi

Crew

Director Shōhei Imamura
Screenplay Shōhei Imamura, Kōji Numata based on the novel “Erogotoshi-tachi” by Akiyuki Nosaka
Cinematography Shinsaku Himeda
Editing Mutsuo Tanji
Music Toshiro Mayuzumi
Sound Design Kenichi Benitani
Production Design Ichiro Takada
Producer Shōhei Imamura
Executive Producer Jiro Tomoda

Additional information

DCP: Nikkatsu Corporation, Tokyo

Photos