Eijanaika
Director: Shohei Imamura
Year Released: 1981
Rating: 2.0
A man returns to Japan after a stint in America and tries to convince his wife to go back with him - he reappears in the town during a time of social unrest as the nation switches towards more Western ideals. As with Imamura's other film from the early 80's, The Ballad of Narayama, I was distracted by the vast array of characters and uneven switching between scenes of drama with scenes of goofy comedy, often right after the other, not to mention the 'distanced' approach taken towards the events. Imamura's camera is always stationary and always several steps away from the performers - but since most of the characters are thieves, sex-obsessed aggressors and murderers, maybe getting too close to them wouldn't be the best choice.
