JAPANESE CINEMA: PIGS AND BATTLESHIPS (1961)

Pigs and Battleships, directed by Sôhei Imamura, 1961, 108 minutes

'Pigs and Battleships' throws us into the rough, nocturnal world of Yokosuka City, Kanagawa Prefecture in the years following Japan's surrender to the Allied Forces at the end of the war. Yokosuka is now home to the largest U.S. naval base on Japanese soil and its streets are a maze of neon-decked strip clubs, seedy bars, and back alley brothels that cater to the occupying forces. This is a world – and a story: about the impact of the American military occupying men upon the city and its people, that director Imamura knew very well.