Bedtime Eyes ベッドタイムアイズ (1987) / directed by Tatsumi Kumashiro

A few covers and screengrabs from the 80's adaption of Amy Yamada's controversial first novel, Bedtime Eyes, which I'm reading at the moment. It features a trio of mismatched relationships between black men (mostly G.I.'s) and Japanese women. The men tend to be simplified and infantile, but the women love them still the same. It's very racy content, so it makes sense that Kumashiro would be asked to direct. Also, I had the chance to view his Twisted Path of Love today, and love the way he employs a handheld camera in his features. Here's some media:

Dendera (2011) / directed by Daisuke Tengan

Trailer for Daisuke Tengan's new film, Dendera. It picks up where his father's (Shohei Imamura's) film, The Ballad of Narayama (1983), left off and depicts a group of elderly women, who, as according to village ritual, have been left to die atop a mountain, yet defy convention and create a settlement called Dendera where they resolve to continue their existence. The film is adapted from a novel by Yuya Sato.

Oniroku Dan, 79, RIP (Video NSFW)

Oniroku Dan, the celebrated author, well-known for his bondage-themed novels, many of which were adapted by directors such as Masaru Konuma, Koyu Ohara, and Katsuhiko Fujii, has died. His stories, and the films made from them will especially be remembered for bringing actress Naomi Tani into the spotlight. She was the most famous actress of adult-themed, "pink films" in the 70's.

More recently, after a brief retirement and business ventures, he has returned to the writer's chair, with more books in Japanese and the first English translation of his stories. Director Ryuichi Hiroki, who started out in pink cinema, made an indirect biopic of him, I Am an S&M Writer, detailing the problems his work must have caused with his wife. The author and the era, will surely be missed.

R.I.P.

(below is the film, Rope and Skin, uploaded onto Video Google by a user––it has adult content, NSFW)

Update: Clips from Akio Jissoji's Mujo

Now, I finally have the equipment needed to play import DVD's, and seeing these clips confirms my choice for which discs will be my first purchases. There is a large boxset of Jissoji's early films available in Japan. I believe it is an 8-disc set, and includes all his films with the Art Theatre Guild. I will attempt to write a thorough review on these films once I see them, but my most recent obligations are to write "homemade retrospective" essays on Toshio Matsumoto and Shuji Terayama.

Some of these clips might be quite dark, and sorry, no English subtitles.

Follow-Up to the Akio Jissoji Post: Trailer for Mandara (1971)

iskander80 is now my favorite YouTube user. He has uploaded the trailer for Akio Jissoji's Mandara, and I have e-mailed him to request more trailers from Jissoji's early art films. And now, thanks to Paul Berry at the University of Washington, I have found an article on Mandara, along with other articles on Nuberu Bagu films, all concerning sexuality in 70s Japanese cinema.

Warning: This trailer contains nudity.