Develops into something honestly frightening. I'm just not quite sure how much of the trip was worth it. Like most of Imamura's work, a re-watch feels required.

A film about a pedophile pornographer versus a fish for the moral fate of a Japanese family - which is an automatic winner in my book. It's no surprise that Imamura's cinematography is fascinating. But what truly excels is the script, wonderfully detailed with layers of thematic repetition and contradiction, where characters find the correct balance between very real - and very perverse.

An oddball domestic comedy in which Imamura delights in the lowlifes and scumbags who defy traditional Japanese repression. We're able to sympathize with the pimping, loan-sharking, mob-affiliated pornographer because he genuinely believes his work is social charity. The cinematography makes great use of architecture, reflecting the film's voyeuristic elements.

Visually and thematically I found this to be extremely interesting, to say the least, but the narrative was stale and had trouble holding my attention.

"Avant-garde, provocative, absurd comedy from Japan exploring the strange, warped lives of some pornographers using non-linear narrative, absurd behaviour and perversions, and slight surreal touches... In addition to the non-linear, fragmented approach, there are surreal inserts (dreams?) involving orgies, an accident, his wife going mad in a desert, etc. Although the protagonist argues against repression, the film seems to be ambigious about the issues."

Felt like a Japanese version of an Arthur Miller play. The fascinating (and at times, utterly despicable) characters really made the film. Great depiction of the philosophy and consequences of sexuality in Japan.

Logical perversion pervades the once-sane.

I had a hard time getting into it. It had a lot of clever and innovative stuff happening, but the story just wasn't that interesting. It didn't pull me in at all. I felt the same way about another Imamura film, The Eel, although I'd have to say this one was considerably better.