Theater Troupes and a Heist Gone Wrong: Early Shohei Imamura

Jason Sacks and Eric Hoffman dig into Shohei Imamura's first and third films, both from 1958: Stolen Desire and Endless Desire. Made as Nikkatsu studio assignments with titles that have nothing to do with the movies, they're still unmistakably Imamura: energetic, earthy, darkly funny portraits of Japan's underclass. We compare Stolen Desire's chaotic traveling theater troupe to Floating Weeds by Imamura's old boss Yasujirō Ozu, debate whether studio interference softened its ending, and celebrate Endless Desire as a pulpy heist-gone-wrong caper in the spirit of The Ladykillers and The Killing. Plus: how the Japanese New Wave pushed Imamura toward Pigs and Battleships. #ShoheiImamura #JapaneseCinema #JapaneseNewWave #StolenDesire #EndlessDesire #Nikkatsu #Ozu #ClassicFilm #FilmPodcast #MoviePodcast #CriterionCollection #HeistMovies