Directed by Shohei Imamura • 1962 • Japan
Starring Jitsuko Yoshimura, Yoko Minamida, Hiroyuki Nagato
A dazzling, unruly portrait of postwar Japan, PIGS AND BATTLESHIPS details, with escalating absurdity, the desperate power struggles between small-time gangsters in the port town of Yokosuka. Shot in gorgeously composed, bustling CinemaScope, the film follows a young couple as they try to navigate Yokosuka’s corrupt businessmen, chimpira, and their own unsure future together. With its breakneck pacing and constantly inventive cinematography, this film marked Shohei Imamura as a major voice in Japanese cinema.
Up Next in Noir
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Cruel Gun Story
Directed by Takumi Furukawa • 1964 • Japan
Fresh out of the slammer, Togawa (Branded to Kill's rough-and-ready Joe Shishido) has no chance to go straight because he is immediately coerced by a wealthy mob boss into organizing a heist on an armored car carrying racetrack receipts. After assemblin...
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Black River
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi • 1956 • Japan
Perhaps Masaki Kobayashi's most sordid film, BLACK RIVER examines the rampant corruption on and around U.S. military bases in Japan following World War II. Kobayashi spirals out from the story of a love triangle that develops between a good-natured stu...
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A Kiss Before Dying
Directed by Gerd Oswald • 1956 • United States
Starring Robert Wagner, Jeffrey Hunter, Virginia LeithHe had looks, charm, and killer instinct! This Sirkian noir stars Robert Wagner as Bud Corliss, a handsome college boy so obsessed with wealth that he’d do anything to get it. When his rich girl...
