Criterion Smut Part 2

               
                  As I was looking through the catalog I noticed that I had missed a few titles that have since been re-released by Criterion, like Vengeance is Mine, In the Realm of The Senses, Jigoku and an honorable mention of a naziploitation classic The Night Porter. At the time all of these films were available on laser disc (most likely owned by Janus Films). Out of the 5 titles in my mind Nagisa Oshima’s In the Realm of The Senses is the most explicit in terms of nudity and graphic violence. It depicts the true story of the murderous lovers (hacking and slashing at each others genitals) and is based on a case that happened in the 30’s. It has more in common with Nekromantik then Yasujiro Ozu’s work. This film was banned in oppressed nations that weren’t ready to handle its heavy subject matter. The castration scene didn’t help much either (full review coming soon). The basic premise is about two people involved in sexual obsession, they challenge the boundaries of morality and oppression and go to extreme levels of depravity. the director was also making a radical statement against his own work enduring this treatment. The film should come off tedious and dull like most other “erotic thrillers, however it is often captivating and brilliantly constructed and the generic subtext never over shadows its power and the pornographic level of art house style shields the brunt. No other director would be able to pull this off and many have tried and their work only achieves awkward giggles. In the Realm Of The Senses came out in 1976 and was very ahead of its time.

This is going right up your butt

               Vengeance Is Mine in the catalog is compared to Henry: Portrait Of A Serial Killer by Balun, I plan on rewatching the film, but I’m pretty sure they are not comparable. Made in 1979 by Shohei Imamura, a colleague of Oshima. Imamura also directed "Profound Desire Of The Gods" that film had amazing colors and takes place on an island. Vengeance is based on the true story of serial killer Akira Nishiguchi (played by Iwao Enokizu), who finds solace with a bordello madam and succeeds in exploiting her but in a mutual fashion. 

           The ideology of many of Imamura's  characters remind us of our own uncivilized primative nature beneath. A film like “Vengeance” is a  forefather to serial killer classics like Miike’s  Ichi The Killer and Cold Fish. This unflinching objective narrative paved the way for others to be more outrageous and in some ways are more graphic then the those that came later.
           As I had briefly mentioned in part one of Criterion Smut, when Sam Fuller directed White Dog in 1982 he had no idea what kind of shit storm was about to unleash its vengeance. The NAACP just getting a whiff of the subject matter decided to boycott Paramount and the controversy created a rift and forced everyone to distance themselves from the project. This was Fuller’s last american film, the idea was rejected by the confused public, who fanatically attacked an idea without ever seeing a frame of the movie.  This film shares the same denial of the American censorship board and proponents of The British Film board run by Mary Whitehouse (who was lampooned by Pink Floyd (on Animals) and Peter Walker in his film House Of WhipChord). These puritanical tyrants are afraid of films just because of their lurid content and hideous covers (without seeing anything on film). According to IMDB many of the executives were on board (like Michael Eisner former CEO of Disney), but deserted Fuller once the controversy emerged. 
           Another important element of the Criterion label is the fact that many of these films have gone for outlandish prices on Ebay, but once they were available in the best format possible, it destroyed all the crooked bootleggers and inferior copies of the film. The ban on White Dog madly enough was lifted in 2008 and this also was based on a true story that originally ran in LIFE magazine.

            I have yet to re-watch Nobuo Nakagawa’s Sinners Of Hell (Or Jigoku), but like my review of his other film Ghost of Yotsuya, I fell asleep many times trying to watch it. I know that’s a shitty endorsement, but often the challenging films are very rewarding. Michael J. Weldon of Psychotronic called it one of the precursors to the godfather of gore; H.G. Lewis and in my mind it’s a must see (again). 

        You are getting very sleepy (drink more coffee)!

               I added The Night Porter as a bonus film (or honorable mention). I mean it is a naziploitation that missed everyone’s list. I loved the Ilsa She Wolf of The SS series, but this one just bothered me. I could not buy the premise of torture and sadism between Charlotte Rampling and her former Nazi commander. Charlotte Rampling (Zardoz) has had a bizzare overlooked career as well in Nagisa Oshima's Max Mon Amor, she attempts to romance a handsome ape! There is another bestial romance flick in the Deep Red catalog, Tanya's Island with Vanity, I mean why not include the Rampling film, which seems more classy than trashy!  

           In Liliana Cavani's The Night Porter I couldn't accept the the S&M roleplay of Nazi and Concentration camp survivor exchanging places, it creeped me out too much and the extermination of a few dozen races used in as a sexual device didn’t appeal to me (then why did I like In A Glass Cage or Star Of David: Hunting for Beautiful Girls)??? I think the main reason was because those other films are not presented in a Nine in a Half Weeks/ titillating cheese cakey way, like this one is. It takes it’s subject matter grimly serious and that gets under my skin. It left me nauseated and pissed off and I wasn’t satisfied with that feeling. I don't lose sleep over it either and many high brow "head stuck up their own ass" critics praise it for its audacity much like Birth Of A Nation is regarded a classic by some.
           Two omissions that deserve to be included in the Deep Red catalog are by the same Director Kaneto Shindo they are Onibaba (1964) and Kureneko (1968) two Japanese cinema classics that were designed to turn your blood from red to grey. The menacing look of the masks influenced William Friedkin for the look of Pazuzu in The Exorcist. A more involved review for both films to come later on down the line. There are many films in the catalog that have no gore, it's all about paying respect to the classics. And if it wasn't for Chas I never would've bothered to watch a western with Candice Bergen called The Hunting Party and now I tell everyone how fucked up it was! Criterion recently put out Eating Raoul and its a good start, but in my mind they need to get back to churning out the sleaze! 
Half of these are available on Hulu check them out!