Tyler's Japanese Canon

Keep it going, sir, I like yo work

I anticipated some kinky tentacle hentai recs, but a good arthouse documentary is even better!

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San Franciscan lesbian dwarves and their tomato orgies.

Thanks wt! My watch-list is so big, I hardly have enough time to rewatch my favourite films.

@Mr Minio,

I do have a kinky film, Pastoral: To Die in the Country, that I plan to watch soon.

I have this movie ready to be seen for like half a year! Maybe we should watch it simultaneously.

Funeral Parade of Roses (Toshio Matsumoto, 1969)



Tokyo's sleazy underground nightclubs and bars - the places where people dance, sing, smoke and drink their time away are explored by Toshio Matsumoto. Funeral Parade of Roses is a perverse version of the Oedipus myth, following a transvestite named Eddie as s(he) roams the gay scene and falling in love with a man called Gonda. Rooted in classical tragedy, this film follows a non-conventional narrative structure, employing pop art visuals (during a key scene which probably inspired A Clockwork Orange) and even vulgarly breaking the forth wall by asking the cast what they think they are doing. There's also footage of the student riots during the late 60s, a clear indication of Matsumoto's political leanings. This is as close one can get to experiencing gritty post war Japan, where the rebellion against society and order begins with the ceaseless gratification of oneself. The personal is always the political. The film also pays homage to avant-garde cinema artist Jonas Mekas and anarchist poet Rimbaud.

My favourite quote - "The spirit of an individual reaches its own absolute through incessant negation."

An audacious and explosive piece of filmmaking.

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