Pinku eiga (film genre)
Related: erotica - erotic films - Nikkatsu Roman Porn - Japanese exploitation - Japanese erotica - Japanese erotic films - Japanese cinema - pink - softcore
Actresses: Naomi Tani
Of the vast numbers of corporate-made genre films that flooded Japan in the 1970s, Donald Richie once remarked that the "West knows nothing of these pictures, nor should it."1 For many years, Richie’s dictum remained almost unwritten law, and throughout the 1960s, ’70’s, and ’80s, there had been no more conspicuous lacuna in the West’s knowledge of Japanese genre filmmaking than the softcore pink film (pinku eiga), whose daunting superabundance, destitute budgets, anarchic politics, and penchant for rough sadomasochism had traditionally impeded any wide distribution abroad. But as the elitist auteurism of the 1960s gave way to the populist, mock-anthropological genre studies of the 1980s and ’90s, as fringe sexual demographics have tentatively emerged from their scarlet-lettered closets, and as Asian chic curries more currency than ever before, the pink film has finally made its entrance onto commercially distributed video and DVD. -- Andrew Grossman, [1]
Directors: Hisayasu Sato - Noboru Tanaka - Wakamatsu Koji - Yasuzo Masumura - Masaru Konuma - Teruo Ishii
Connoisseurs: Roland Domenig
Venus in Pink: An Illustrated Tribute to Japanese Pink Movies & Softcore Porn Starlets (2002) - Candice Black, Romain Slocombe [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
Definition
Pinku eiga (lit. "pink film") is a style of Japanese softcore pornographic films that originated in the early 1960s and are still being produced. The term pinku eiga was coined by journalist Minoru Murai. Pink films should be distinguished from adult videos and non-Japanese sexploitation films.
Subgenres produced by Nikkatsu studios include the early (starting in 1971) Roman Porno pink films with well known directors, and an ultra-violent rape-themed subgenre also from the 1970s called Violent Pink. Toei studios' genre of erotic sex-and-violence films is termed Toei's Pinky Violence. Many of these are not centered on violence and have some artistic merit. Examples of the latter include Shunya Ito's "Sasori" (lit. scorpion) series of women in prison films (Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (1972), Female Prisoner Scorpion: Jailhouse 41 (1972), Female Prisoner Scorpion: Beast Stable (1973)) based on Toru Shinohara's manga and starring Meiko Kaji, who ironically wanted to distance herself from pink films and has only one erotic scene in the series. After first Ito and then Kaji left the project, the series rapidly deteriorated in artistic quality and focused more on sex and violence.
While some directors have used pink films as a steppingstone for their careers, others work exclusively with the genre. --http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pinku_eiga [May 2005]
Can pornography be art?
[In contrast to Western pornographic films], the Japanese "pinkku"-movies ... tell real stories. And the open display of genitals and pubic hair is still strictly forbidden by the Japanese censorship authorities.
Pink movies follow certain rules. Professionally shot on 16 mm or 35 mm, a length of about 60 minutes and most important: the budget is limited to 35.000 US-dollars. The demand in Japan is immense: the porn industry spews out up to six movies per month. Not at the expense of the content which isn`t subject to any limitations. Directors like experimental filmmaker Hiroyuki Oki ("I like you, I like you vely much") use the pink-film system to realize their own real movie ideas. This has led to a blossoming of the Japanese film avantgarde in the porn field - apart form the major studios. - Jon Wilson, http://www.screenedge.com/archive/pinkjapan/ [Aug 2004]
Venus in Pink (2002) - Candice Black, Romain Slocombe
Venus in Pink: An Illustrated Tribute to Japanese Pink Movies & Softcore Porn Starlets (2002) - Candice Black, Romain Slocombe [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
About the Author
Candice Black is the series editor of the erotic fiction imprint, Velvet; she lives in London. Romain Slocombe is a writer and photographer, based in Paris. His third novel is being published by Gallimard. Of his two Creation titles, Tokyo Sex Underground was accompanied by a London exhibition, now touring Europe.
Product Description:
A visual tribute to the many girls who bared all in the erotic Japanese adult films known as 'pink movies.' Pink movies flourished in 1970's Japan, contradicting the seemingly conservative culture, and pushing the artistic boundaries of porn. The beautiful, enigmatic actresses who dominated the films are featured in 100+ rare and exotic black and white portraits and film stills.
Leading Tokyo documentarist Romain Slocombe introduces 'pink movies' from a historical perspective: • how and why they flourished during the 70's • their place within Japanese culture • the increasingly popular Japanese sex scene. --via Amazon.com
See also: Japanese pink films - Romain Slocombe - softcore - pornography
Venus in Pink (2002) - Candice Black, Romain Slocombe
Venus in Pink: An Illustrated Tribute to Japanese Pink Movies & Softcore Porn Starlets (2002) - Candice Black, Romain Slocombe [Amazon.com] [FR] [DE] [UK]
About the Author
Candice Black is the series editor of the erotic fiction imprint, Velvet; she lives in London. Romain Slocombe is a writer and photographer, based in Paris. His third novel is being published by Gallimard. Of his two Creation titles, Tokyo Sex Underground was accompanied by a London exhibition, now touring Europe.
Product Description:
A visual tribute to the many girls who bared all in the erotic Japanese adult films known as 'pink movies.' Pink movies flourished in 1970's Japan, contradicting the seemingly conservative culture, and pushing the artistic boundaries of porn. The beautiful, enigmatic actresses who dominated the films are featured in 100+ rare and exotic black and white portraits and film stills.
Leading Tokyo documentarist Romain Slocombe introduces 'pink movies' from a historical perspective: • how and why they flourished during the 70's • their place within Japanese culture • the increasingly popular Japanese sex scene. --via Amazon.com
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