Eros Plus Massacre: An Introduction to the Japanese New Wave Cinema

by David Desser

The decade of the 1960s encompassed a "New Wave" of films whose makers were rebels, challenging cinematic traditions and the culture at large. The films of the New Wave in Japan have, until now, been largely overlooked. Eros plus Massacre (taking its title from a 1969 Yoshida Yoshishige film) is the first major study devoted to the examination and explanation of Japanese New Wave film.

Desser organizes his volume around the defining motifs of the New Wave. Chapters examine in depth such themes as youth, identity, sexuality, and women, as they are revealed in the Japanese film of the sixties. Desser's research in Japanese film archives, his interviews with major figures of the movement, and his keen insight into Japanese culture combine to offer a solid and balanced analysis of films by Oshima, Shinoda, Imamura, Yoshida, Suzuki, and others.

Genres: Film, Japan, Nonfiction, History, Collections, Japanese Literature

240 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 1988

Reviews

[Tosh · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really nice introduction to the new wave in Japanese cinema via the 50's, 60's and 70's. Nagisa Oshima, Shohei Imamura, and Masahiro Shinoda are the main directors of this period but there is also a lot more - Japanese Cinema is one of my favorite types of film. A lot of it has to deal with my love for that culture and country - but the essence of Japan's cinema is always fascinating. Even when it doesn't work out for the best. Probably hard to locate right now, but if you do see it - buy it! It's a great guide book (as well as a critical study) on an important art forum in Japan.

[Kai Perrignon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gotta watch more Japanese New Wave movies with this newfound delicious context

[Patrick McCoy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eros Plus Massacre:An Introduction To The Japanese New Wave Cinema (1988) is the only book length look at the Japanese New Wave film movement. The first chapter, "Night And Fog in Japan," takes its name from a 1960 Nagisa Oshima film that focuses on political memory and the interpersonal dynamics of social movements. In this film in particular, this is done by looking at the 1950 and 1960 anti-Ampo Treaty protests and Zengakuren (communist league of students) opposition. Other films are discussed in the context of ideology and narrative. Chapter two, "Cruel Stories of Youth," is also taken from the title of an Oshima film made in 1960 and often draws comparisons the French New Wave film movement due to the use of adolescent criminals as protagonists. However, in chapter three, "Ruined Maps: Identity, Sexuality, and Revolution," draws its title from Hiroshi Teshigahara's 1968 film (based on a Kobe Abe novel) The Ruined Map.These themes pop up in other Teshigahara films such as Ptifall (1962), Woman in the Dunes (1963), and The Face of Another (1966)--which are available as a set from The Criterion Collection. Other films discussed in this chapter include Shohei Imamaura's 1966 film The Pornographers, and two other Oshima films: Pleasures Of The Flesh (1965) and Violence At Noon (1966). Women are the subject of Chapter four, "Insect Women," which draws its title from Imamaura's seminal 1963 film Insect Woman. However, the chapter starts out with a lengthy and merited discussion of Kenji Mizoguchi and the Japanese concept of the "feministo," before discussing Imamura more fully. This includes the aforementioned film, as well as Pigs and Battleships (1961) and Intentions of Murder (1964). Chapter five, "Forest Of Pressure," is a discussion of the Japanese equivalent of the "social problem" film. It begins by discussing films that look at race by Imamura History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess (1970) and Oshima's documentaries about Koreans. Shinsuke Ogawa is also singled out for his documentation of the Sanrizuka incident, where the government displaced farmers in Chiba in order to build a new airport. Another documentary film maker, Noriaki Tsuchimoto, was also singled out for his documentation of the infamous Chisso chemical factory waste dumping that led to human birth defects near the dumping site called Minamata. Chapter six has yet another Oshima film for the inspiration for its title, "Shinjuku Thieves," which is a word play on Oshima's film Diary Of A Shinjuku Thief (1969). This chapter mostly focuses on formal theatrics used in films like Oshima's. Masahiro Shinoda's film Double Suicide (1969) is given much consideration due to the use of traditional bunraku techniques in the film. The final chapter (seven), is "Three Men Who Left Their Will On Film," which is yet another nod to Oshima--The Man Who Left His Will On Film (1969). The other two men are Hani Susumu, The Inferno Of First Love (1968) and Yoshishige Yoshida, Eros Plus Massacre (1969). These films encapsulate almost all of the themes of the New Wave movement according to Desser. This volume is an essential document into understanding recent Japanese film history.

[tout · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the only book I know dealing specifically with the Japanese New Wave of film 1960s. It's not the best analysis or writing (the version I read was a proof copy), but the content makes up for this. The author considered understanding the political context of these filmmakers to be essential for understanding them since the new wave, similar to the film movement in France, was a mixture of radical politics and youth culture injected into the film industry / against the industry. The history that grounded these films more interesting than the discussion of the films though... There were the long term occupations and organization of the student dormitories that produced the Zengakuren, who were militant student radicals that were sort of equivalent to the new left of Europe and the US in their break with the orthodox left and communist party. There were the long term struggles in the countryside against the construction of the Narita airport, where peasants literally dug tunnels and homes into the ground to defend the land against the police and airport security forces, and battles were so fierce that there would literally be walls of fire surrounding the barricades, various fortresses built out of trees and barbed wire, defended with spiked poles and molotovs. For me, the brief section describing the radical documentary tradition, was very exciting. The discussions on sexuality and social transgression were interesting for what they indicate about post-WWII Japan. Disappointingly, this book focused perhaps way too much on Oshima, who is clearly very interesting and definitely the most prominent of the New Wave, but it was a bit unnecessary to continually reference back to him.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

David Desser provides the first full-length examination of the Japanese New Wave (although, I am sure there have been many other books written since this has been published), providing some historical contexts and copious analyses of films. Desser obviously has seen almost all Japanese New Wave films and clearly loves them. However, that is one of the weaknesses of the book.

To me, it felt like each chapter had some socio-historical context provided at the beginning, then the rest of it was devoted to filmic exegesis, one after the other. I realize that this might be a product of how film scholarship was being conducted in the late 80s, but I couldn't help but feel like I wanted more. I actually enjoyed the concluding chapter the most, where Desser brought all of the historical, social, and cultural conditions surrounding the Japanese New Wave together in a post-mortem for the movement, gracefully tying it together with its forebears of Osugi and Ito (if you agree with Desser's comparison).

While reading the book and the overabundance of textual analysis can be a slog at times, there are moments of discussion that spark genuine interest in the reader, such as the analyses of Eros Plus Massacre and The Ceremony.

[JM · Rating 2 out of 5]

I remember reading about a certain type of art criticism from the 1800s that was mostly the critic trying their best to describe the painting to the reader, inspired by the poem by Keats of an imagined urn in his famous 'Ode to a Grecian Urn'. The explanation for this style of criticism was that, back in those days things like travel were a lot less common, more expensive and limited to certain peoples. Being able to describe the work then would allow those to 'see' the work in a world were even image reproduction was a developing art.

I mention this because here in Desser's book which comes to us from another time (a late 80s) makes me think that maybe this sort of scholarship/history comes from the same school of though. Now with the internet it is *relatively* easy to view most if not all of the films and filmmakers mentioned in this book (and then some). But back in the 80s, being able to see any of these now classic Japanese films would have been near impossible. I recall even 10-15 years ago it was difficult to find a lot of these films, with only a few of the more (in)famous being available in Criterion's collection...maybe if you were lucky enough to have received an invite to Karagarga's torrent site. The book seeks more the explain what happens in a lot of the films rather then go into too much detail as to the contexts, meanings and techniques that formed them. It's a rather dull experience for someone who as already seen many of the films in discussion. However if you are new to the subject of the New Wave Japanese cinema, then this is not a bad place to get an overview of names, titles and themes that were present during those years.

[Jessica Robinson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has a really abrupt ending. Overall, I thought it was dry even for an academic text and focused too much on plot summary when it came to discussing the major films that defined the Japanese New Wave. But it did add a lot of movies to my watchlist. So that's pretty good.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

just boring

[DynamiteDiego · Rating 3 out of 5]

Buddys obsessed with joan mellen

[Amlux · Rating 3 out of 5]

Desser reads the new wave in a highly political framework which can seem a bit reductionist at first, but it seems silly to complain about because what he wishes to show here is clearly the political landscape these films were birthed in and converse with as opposed to a more formal analysis. And he does a magnificent job of it. His analysis of Ôshima's The Man Who Left His Will on Film is particularly striking.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

The only full-length study on the Japanese New Wave and a very good one. Good mix of description and analysis which covers most of the movement's major directors and their films.

[David Wilentz]

It's all about the Japanese new wave (cinema) of the 60's. Academic but not too dry.