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THIS ITEM IS AVAILABLE TO PRE-ORDER. PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR PAYMENT WILL BE TAKEN IMMEDIATELY, AND THAT THE ITEM WILL BE DISPATCHED JUST BEFORE THE LISTED RELEASE DATE. SHOULD YOU ORDER ANY OF THE ALREADY RELEASED ITEMS FROM OUR CATALOGUE AT THE SAME TIME AS THIS PRE-ORDER ITEM, PLEASE NOTE THAT YOUR PURCHASES WILL ALL BE SHIPPED TOGETHER WHEN THIS PRE-ORDER ITEM BECOMES AVAILABLE. PLEASE PLACE A SEPARATE ORDER FOR PRE-ORDERS IF YOU WISH TO HAVE IN-STOCK ITEMS SHIPPED SOONER. The Pornographers A former buddhist monk turned erotic filmmaker, Subuyan lives with hairdresser Haru and her two teenage children. Shooting two skin flicks per day, he somehow manages to stay out of the clutches of the yakuza, but real trouble starts when Haru discovers him lusting after her daughter. Shohei Imamura’s landmark satire of postwar affluence was adapted from the internationally renowned novel by Akiyuki Nosaka (Grave of the Fireflies) and brings to vivid life the seedy side of 1960s Japan. 4K UHD & BLU-RAY LIMITED EDITION SPECIAL FEATURES New 4K restoration from the original camera negative 4K UHD and Blu-ray presentation of the feature; world premiere on 4K UHD Uncompressed mono PCM audio Interview with actor Masaomi Kondo (2026, 21 mins) Interview with Steve Corbeil on Akiyuki Nosaka (2026, 25 mins) Interview with critic Tony Rayns (2026, 47 mins) Trailer Newly improved English subtitle translation Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Time Tomorrow Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by Jasper Sharp Limited edition of 5000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings Add three or more of our June releases (The Pornographers, Warm Water Under a Red Bridge, La tête contre les murs, Solo) to cart to receive 10% off. Discount automatically applied at cart. Ends April 8th. Year: 1966 Country: Japan Cert: 18 Format: UHD + Blu-ray Region: B RAD179UHDLE EAN: 5060974683550 Release date: 22/06/26 Awards and Press: Official Selection - Berlin Film Festival 2026 Best Actor - Shoichi Ozawa - Kinema Junpo Awards "The visual brilliance of Shohei Imamura’s kinky and satirical black-and-white ‘Scope feature (1966), about a man who makes eight-millimeter porno loops, often suggests the inventiveness of the French New Wave, but not so much the New Wave features of auteurs like Godard and Truffaut as the more illustrative offshoots of that movement, like Sundays and Cybele and Zazie, that applied its dazzling visceral techniques like fresh coats of paint to the material at hand. Often framing his action through windows and fish tanks, punctuating his action with abrupt freeze-frames and fantasy interludes, Imamura attacks the whole question of contemporary eroticism with mordant intelligence, though his style here seems not so much organic as a witty and independent form of commentary." - Jonathan Rosenbaum, Chicago Reader "A stunningly prescient work... Imamura's sensibility is perfectly suited to such a complex film, which treats its subject matter with both irreverence and depth." - Ed Howard, Only the Cinema
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The Pornographers (1966)
128 min
Subu makes pornographic films. He sees nothing wrong with it. They are an aid to a repressed society, and he uses the money to support his landlady, Haru, and her family. From time to time, Haru shares her bed with Subu, though she believes her dead husband, reincarnated as a carp, disapproves. Director Shohei Imamura has always delighted in the kinky exploits of lowlifes, and in this 1966 classic, he finds subversive humor in the bizarre dynamics of Haru, her Oedipal son, and her daughter, the true object of her pornographer-boyfriend’s obsession. Imamura’s comic treatment of such taboos as voyeurism and incest sparked controversy when the film was released, but The Pornographers has outlasted its critics, and now seems frankly ahead of its time.

The Pornographers (1966)
128 min
Subu makes pornographic films. He sees nothing wrong with it. They are an aid to a repressed society, and he uses the money to support his landlady, Haru, and her family. From time to time, Haru shares her bed with Subu, though she believes her dead husband, reincarnated as a carp, disapproves. Director Shohei Imamura has always delighted in the kinky exploits of lowlifes, and in this 1966 classic, he finds subversive humor in the bizarre dynamics of Haru, her Oedipal son, and her daughter, the true object of her pornographer-boyfriend’s obsession. Imamura’s comic treatment of such taboos as voyeurism and incest sparked controversy when the film was released, but The Pornographers has outlasted its critics, and now seems frankly ahead of its time.