Killers, Clients and Kindred Spirits

A thorough exploration of the work of one of Japan’s most controversial directors

The only Japanese director to have won the Palme d’Or from Cannes more than once, and second only to Ozu Yasujiro in the number of times he has won the prestigious Kinema Jumpo Best One award, the late Imamura Shohei was one of Japan’s leading and most controversial film directors. This book is one of the first to study all of Imamura’s major films alongside his television and theatrical documentaries, focusing on his major themes and concerns. By giving shape to Imamura’s career, the book positions him as a stylistic innovator as well as an ethnographic investigator into Japanese culture and tradition; the preeminent examiner of the hidden, barely repressed underpinnings of Japanese society.

Key features

• The first book to look at the entire career of Imamura Shohei
• Incorporates the work of top Japanese Cinema scholars from the US, UK, Australia, Canada and Japan
• Organised by thematic concerns that cut across Imamura’s career

About the Contributors:

• John Berra, Renmin University of China
• Adam Bingham, SOAS, University of London
• Bianca Briciu, Carleton University and St. Paul University, Ottawa
• Jennifer Coates, University of East Anglia
• Lindsay Coleman, independent scholar
• David Deamer, Manchester Metropolitan University
• Rayna Denison, University of East Anglia
• David Desser, University of Illinois
• Timothy Iles, University of Victoria, Canada
• Mats Karlsson, University of Sydney
• Hiroshi Kitamura, College of William and Mary
• Lauri Kitsnik, Kyoto University
• Diane Wei Lewis, Washington University in St. Louis
• Dolores P. Martinez, SOAS, University of London and University of Oxford
• Joan Mellen, Emerita, Temple University
• Bill Mihalopoulos, University of Central Lancaster
• Michael Raine, Western University, Canada