I'll never forget the day that an unexpected screener copy of Shohei Imamura's 1966 film arrived in my mailbox. I had to retrieve it from the apartment manager, who was curious about the package contents since she had recently purchased a DVD player and was experiencing the joys of home movie watching. Ripping open the mailer I revealed the Criterion Collection release of The Pornographers (Jinruigaku nyumon), instantly bringing a shocked look to the manager and requiring me to think quickly so she wouldn't think me a dirty old man. Had I been familiar with the film before viewing it, I could have explained that the film has virtually no nudity at all, dealing with some seedy characters in modern day Japan.

Abandoning the comfortably Japanese style of Yasujiro Ozu and differing vastly from Akira Kurosawa's “western” influences, Imamura takes The Pornographers into territory more commonly explored by Buñuel and Fellini. Shot in French New Wave style with tightly constricted framing, his 1966 black and white feature resembles Buñuel's surrealistic films about sexual obsession and Satyricon, and suggests that Victorian style sexual repression leads to degenerate behavior.

The narrative unfolds non-sequentially, alternating in time and reality since Imamura skips around and intertwines the story of Mr. Ogata (Shoichi Ozawa) with his 8mm pornographic projects. Maintaining his cover as a medical supplier, Ogata films an average of two pornographic films daily while simultaneously striving to avoid both the mob and the government. The film opens with Ogata, his film crew of two, and two porn actors (a prostitute and a homeless guy with a "big one") climbing mountainous terrain away from prying eyes.

Soon we're introduced to Ogata's family life through scenes that make Wes Anderson's Royal Tennenbaums seem almost normal. Obsessed with his widowed landlady Haru (Sumiko Sakamoto) and blurring the lines between pornographic films and real life, Ogata continually seeks to bed her as frequently as possible—a difficult situation, given her mentally retarded teen daughter Keiko (Keiko Sagawa in her lone screen credit), Oedipally challenged teen son Koichi (Masaomi Kondo), and the continually staring eyes of a pet carp that hosts the reincarnated soul of her dead husband. Increasing the sexual tension and inevitable degradation are the mother's own incestuous lust for her son and Ogata's infatuation with Keiko. So this household is overwhelmed with wackiness.

To offset its serious themes Imamura often incorporates dark humor, like the idea of passing off a prostitute with child as a "virgin" to satisfy the sexual needs of a businessman who's obsessed with being the first with "someone." Whenever the subject matter veers into edgy territory (like incest), Imamura balances this with light touches to keep the audience from being repulsed, so his on screen images deserve an R-rating only for adult themes. Lascivious minded people will need to look elsewhere if you expect raw sex. Otherwise, they'll wonder what the hell is going on like one of Ogata's partners does when he encounters an unexpected picture of a carp that interrupts a sexual liaison.

With a combination of freeze frames, inventive camera angles, continual awareness of framing people within windows and fish tanks, Imamura gives his film a true arthouse appearance. The subject matter proves to be truly compelling, as he explores the underside of Japanese society and deals with taboo sexual matters while painting complex characters that seem all too real. Not nearly as well known as the giants of Japanese filmmaking, Imamura deserves more attention for his courageous tackling of controversial subject matter and for daring to populate his films with unconventional, but realistic characters. Although the director has won a number of Japanese films in his early work, it wasn't until the 1980's when he began to be recognized at Cannes. The Criterion DVD surprisingly is relatively bare bones with only a trailer included as a special feature, but the fact that they are releasing this in the midst of a heavy Ozu year should give more recognition for the director.