ANTI ROMAN PORNO An exploration of the role of madness and nature in the construction of female sexuality. Name: Keeley McManus Master’s Programme: Media Studies: Film Studies Supervisor: Tarja Laine Second Reader: Catherine Lord Place of Completion: University of Amsterdam Date: 13/7/2018 Word Count: 17,011 Abstract In 2016 Nikkatsu the oldest and largest production company in Japan announced to the world that they were rebooting their most famous cinema genre, the Roman Porno. In this thesis the representation of female sexuality is explored within three of the five films, they are titled Wet Woman in the Wind (Akihiko Shita, 2016), Antiporno (Sion Sono, 2016), White Lily (Hideo Nakata, 2016). I will analyse each film according to two themes, madness and the symbolism of nature. The main theories in which I will use in this paper are from Michel Foucault, sexuality as discourse and Sherry Ortner’s argument, that women are universally seen as “inferior” to men. I argue that the representation of female sexuality continues to undermine women within cinema and by analysing the Roman Porno reboot, I hope to debunk all notions that the films are feminist. Contents Page Introduction…………………………………………………………..1-4 Chapter One- Madness……………………………………………...5-15 Chapter Two- Nature………………………………………………16-25 Chapter Three- Madness and Nature Intertwine….….….…..……..26-33 Conclusion…………………………….…………….....……..…...34-36 Bibliography…………………….……….……………………..….37-41 Filmography…………………….….………..…………………….42-43 Introduction The female body not only harbours the power of life, but because of this fact, her body is a possession within cultures grasp. Women and madness has been an interesting and thought-provoking topic with the academic circle for many years now, and I wish to contribute to this. My chosen topic of discussion for this thesis is, sex cinema. Namely, Japanese sex cinema which started with a movement called pinku eiga. The movement was made up of a series of sexploitation films, defined as the commercial exploitation of sex and anything related to it (Alexandre, 2015, p. 2), the films were targeted towards the male adult audience. In addition, pinku eiga films were independently produced, low budget productions which used many semi-professional casts and crew (Sharp, 2008, p. 9). The cinematic movement started in response to the restrictive censorship laws in place for filmmakers in reference to nudity. Many pinku eiga filmmakers wished to challenge the laws, the main issue they wanted to address was the government-operated censorship regulations forbidding the ‘appearance of pubic hair and/ or genitalia in films, whether domestic or foreign’ (Hunter, 1998, p. 14). An infamous legal battle arose from this experimental movement, with the film In the Realms of the Senses (Nagisa Oshima, 1976), which depicted both ‘full frontal nudity and…lucid close-ups of both actors’ genitalia’ (Allsop, 2004, p. 104). It was later dismissed in court in favour of the film, but the censorship regulations, though unchanged to this day, are comparatively more relaxed within the making of such movies. Running alongside the underground, pinku eiga movement, the oldest production company in Japan, was under a crushing financial crisis. So, in 1971, Nikkatsu, with one last attempt to salvage their legacy and business, from bankruptcy, launched the Roman Porno (roman poruno). The name originates from the French word roman pornographique (Sharp, 2008, p. 123). The difference between the pinku eiga films and the Roman Pornos, as explained by Olaf Moller, in his essay Shameless, are: ‘The typical pinku eiga is roughly an hour long … with a budget of $35,000… about five days shooting and five days editing, then straight into the movie theatres. Roman Porno [‘s] ... are more story driven, feature length and had more luxurious budgets and production schedules’ (Moller, 2002, p. 45). Although they are both based within the same umbrella term of “sex cinema” it is important to add that Roman Porno films were also targeted towards the mainstream audience. This meant that the content limited itself to films that weren’t considered extraordinarily controversial, whereas pinku eiga filmmakers, prided themselves of this fact. Nikkatsu introduced to the Japanese audience on the 20th November 1971, a double bill screening of the films, Castle Orgies (Isao Hayashi, 1971) and Apartment Wife: Afternoon Affair (Shogoro Nishimura, 1971) (Sharp, 2008, p. 123). With the financial success of the screening, Nikkatsu continued to create films of this nature until they cancelled all productions of Roman Porno’s in 1988. 1 | P a g e This was due to the unavoidable damage the adult video market had inflicted upon the company’s financial income. The adult video market, meant that instead of going to a theatre, as the audience would have to for a Roman Porno, they were now able to just buy a VHS and watch it in the comfort of their own home. With Nikkatsu unable to compete with this demand, it restricted its film output and attempted to salvage itself, but unfortunately after a tremendous lose at the box office, it finally had to file for bankruptcy in 1993. It was later bought out by the gaming company Namco and has been producing films ever since (Sharp, 2008, p. 130). Once Nikkatsu was thriving again, some sex films were released over the years but, never to the extent of what it once was. With the success of Nikkatsu’s contribution to the mainstream market of cinema in Japan, in 2016 the company revealed that it will produce five unique films. The films were to be made in celebration of the 45th anniversary of the Roman Porno and were to be made in conjuncture with the rules the company followed when making the Roman Porno films back in the 1970s-1980s (Severns, 2016). The films they released are as follows: Aroused by the Gymnopedies (Isao Yukisada, 2016), Wet Woman in the Wind (Akihiko Shita, 2016), Antiporno (Sion Sono, 2016), White Lily (Hideo Nakata, 2016) and Dawn of the Felines (Kazuya Shiraishi, 2017). The reputation that the Roman Porno films uphold is one of conflicting opinions. Academics like Jack Hunter and Jasper Sharp have dedicated many books about Japanese sex cinema and gave a positive analysis of the films and industry. In contrast to this, Donald Richie and Collette Balmain, negatively critique the films and highlight the abhorrent misogyny that exists within them. While all scholars have argued admirably for each side, I have found after just watching a handful of Roman Porno films, how disproportionate the gender relations are. Nikkatsu realised this and at a press release in 2016 they revealed they will reboot the Roman Porno, in the form of five films. This was to tap into the millennial audience, but particularly female spectators (Severns, 2016). As the reviews were released before the films debuts, many were positive, in relation to Sion Sono’s Antiporno, and one review was even titled “Japanese Director Sion Sono Returns with a Feminist Take on Sexuality” (Acevedo, 2017). Many more were appearing, and some even praised Wet Woman in the Wind for its feminist outlook (see, (Bowen, 2017), (Sedgwick, 2017) and (Marsh, 2017)). For my thesis I will aim to investigate the films particularly in their construction of female sexuality. I will be analysing three, out of the five films and discuss how each movie represents this topic. The films I have chosen to analyse are Antiporno, Wet Woman in the Wind and White Lily. The reason for excluding both, Aroused by the Gymnopedies and Dawn of the Felines, was the limitations I have faced with finding them with English subtitles, so regrettably I have had to leave them out of my analysis. An exploration of the films yielded three questions that warranted further investigation, they are as follows: within each film what role does the theme of madness play in relation to the female protagonist’s sexuality? Why is nature always mentioned in conjuncture with the female body and metaphorically, what does 2 | P a g e this say about female sexuality. And lastly, what impact does this connection between both madness and the symbolism of nature have in representing female sexuality? Over the course of three chapters, I will attempt to answer these questions. Thematically, the chapters will contain the following: In chapter one, I will look at the use of madness within the films. I will start with Michel Foucault’s History of Sexuality: Volume one. He introduces a theory he calls the “repressive hypothesis”. He argues that the main element in which the repressive hypothesis needs in order to thrive, is societies insistence on repressing sex. He argues that society wants this sexual repression to keep the social order. Through this Foucault continues to argue that sexuality has not been eliminated, but sexuality as discourse has increased dramatically over the years, which includes the conservative use of taboos and prohibitions (Foucault, 1978, p. 6-7). I will use this analysis to help argue that the films, through the representation of madness, restrict women in Japanese society from being sexually liberated. Lastly, I will be incorporating Linda Williams Hardcore: Power, Pleasure and “Frenzy of the Visible”. Working from Foucault’s sexuality as discourse theory, Williams argues that within pornography, the camera seeks to reveal the “hidden truths” in order for the audience to visually understand sex, in a way that is constructed by film language. To enforce my argument, being that, “cinematic language” contribute to the idea that madness plays a key role in the entrapment of female sexuality. I will focus upon the “hidden truths” and the constructions in place that represent this and create a close textual analysis in ways in which this occurs in the three films. The second chapter will focus upon the symbolic references towards nature, in relation to female sexuality.