Saved events

Pigs and Battleships + Kokutai (15*)

Japanese Avant-garde & Experimental Film Festival

,Barbican Cinema 3
girl looking angry

The film that launched Shohei Imamura’s career, this is an agile, whip-smart mockery of a greed-driven, post-occupation Japan.

Much of Imamura’s breakout film concerns itself with the activities of a gang operating in Yokosuka. With piercing, CinemaScope shots, Pigs and Battleships explores the real-world consequences of American control, and its continued military presence in Japan.

Imamura’s gangsters are involved in every aspect of life in the impoverished town, allowing the director to wryly follow along; peering into doorways and down alleyways to give us a cinematic time capsule of 1960s Japan. Exploring high and low, Imamura’s film captures the very breath of the city.

Pigs and Battleships is paired with Ryushi Lindsay’s Kokutai, an exploration of fascist aesthetics in high school baseball.

Tagged with: Cinema JAEFF Multibuy Japanese Avant-garde and Experimental Film Festival 2019

Japan 1961 Dir Shohei Imamura 108 min 35mm presentation

Japan/UK 2019 Dir Ryushi Lindsay 11 min Digital presentation

In partnership with the Japan Foundation

 

* = recommended classification

Barbican Cinema 3

Location
Barbican Cinema 2 & 3 are located on Beech Street, a short walk from the Barbican’s Silk Street entrance. From Silk Street, you’ll see a zebra crossing that will take you across the road to the venue. 

Address
Beech Street
London
EC2Y 8DS

Public transport
The Barbican is widely accessible by bus, tube, train and by foot or bicycle. Plan your journey and find more route information in ‘Your Visit’ or book your car parking space in advance.