Photo of Shôhei Imamura
Photo of Shôhei Imamura

Shôhei Imamura

“I show true things using fictional techniques but maintaining truthfulness — that's where my approach differs from Ozu. He wanted to make film more aesthetic. I want to make it more real. He aspired toward a cinematic nirvana. When I was his assistant, I was very opposed to him, but now, whilst still not liking his films, I'm much more tolerant. As for me, I'd like to destroy this premise that cinema is fiction.”

Available to Watch

    THE BALLAD OF NARAYAMA

    SHÔHEI IMAMURA Japan, 1983

    The director’s first Palme d’Or-winner, this film epitomizes the transgressive qualities that make Shōhei Imamura one of Japan’s greatest directors. Sex, death, squalor and horror perpetually intertwine in this year-spanning portrait of instinct, survival and private dignity in brutal circumstances.

    BLACK RAIN

    SHÔHEI IMAMURA Japan, 1989

    Black Rain’s Hiroshima bombing scenes are perhaps the most nightmarish, visceral recreation of their kind. But the deeply moving tragedy of the film comes more from how attempts at normalcy for survivors are thwarted; be it from delayed illness via the nuclear fallout or societal stigmas.

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Executive Producer

Self