Highbrow Magazine - pinky violence https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/pinky-violence en Pinky Violence: Shock, Awe, and Liberation in Japanese Exploitation Films https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/12407-pinky-violence-shock-awe-and-liberation-japanese-exploitation-films <div class="field field-name-field-cat field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/photography-art" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Photography &amp; Art</a></div></div></div><span class="submitted-by">Submitted by tara on Wed, 07/21/2021 - 12:38</span><div class="field field-name-field-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="og:image rdfs:seeAlso" resource="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1japanposters.jpg?itok=J5Y_uWBe"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/styles/large/public/field/image/1japanposters.jpg?itok=J5Y_uWBe" width="480" height="480" alt="" /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"><p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The Toei-produced, female-driven, action/exploitation films known as “Pinky Violence”  reached their crescendo in the late 1970s – and are almost single-handedly responsible for the first wave of Japanese feminism.<strong> </strong><br /> <br /> Looking at the key-art on these posters can be deceiving, and that was the point. A handful of Japanese writers, directors, and stars dedicated almost a decade to producing films with badass ladies as the leads, frequently with overt messages of empowerment. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/2japanposters.jpg" style="height:600px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">By using nudity as a draw for male viewers, they were able to subvert the culture away from the chauvinism and misogyny that ruled the day and change the expectations that saddled all young women.  </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">These tastemakers had seen the political power of pinku eiga (“pink films”), which were a category of erotic films ranging from sensual to explicit that had ushered in an era of sexual liberation just a few years earlier. Those films played primarily in the Japanese equivalent of Red Light Districts with an occasional Art House run. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/3japanposters.jpg" style="height:600px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">But the <strong>Pinky Violence</strong> films combined the sensibilities of <strong>Shōhei Imamura</strong> and <strong>Russ Meyer</strong> to produce a commercially salacious product steeped in social responsibility that could play in most neighborhood theaters.  They often played as the 2nd feature in back of a Toei gangster film, which exposed them to a much wider (and more general) audience. Some of the same actors might appear in both films on those double-bills, which included <strong>Ken Takakura</strong>, <strong>Bunta Sagawara</strong>, and <strong>Sonny Chiba</strong>. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">To some Western viewers, it must shocking to see nudity on a movie poster, but there is no such taboo associated with nudity in many other cultures. Italian, French, and German movie posters, as well as those advertising films in post-Franco Spain, have promoted nudity on their key-art, but almost none as brazenly as the Japanese. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/4japanposters.jpg" style="height:600px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">And to be fair: These films are still considered exploitation films in the same sense that most 1980s  horror and comedy films from the U.S. can also be categorized as exploitation. They have nudity, violence, and sometimes even torture and bondage, but what separates the Toei films from their lesser  competitors are the victories achieved by the protagonists – often against incredible adversity, and invariably with a social message.<br />  </span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong><u>About this collection:</u></strong><br /> <strong>Gallery 30 South</strong> owner <strong>Matt Kennedy</strong> was the founder of <em>Panik House Entertainment</em>, which was the first company dedicated to the remastering and release of these films in the United States. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><img alt="" src="https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/sites/default/files/5japanposter.jpg" style="height:600px; width:600px" typeof="foaf:Image" /></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">Back in the early 2000s, most of the key art for these films was missing from the Toei vaults, and Kennedy had to contact private collectors all over Japan to source them. He amassed one of the largest and most thorough collections of posters and ephemera dedicated to this niche. </span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif">The first Panik House titles were released on July 2, 2005, providing an anniversary of sorts for this exhibition. The first <em>Art of Pinky Violence</em> exhibition was held in November 2009, and showcased 16 artworks. This exhibition features almost 50 items, most of which are linen-backed original release movie posters. Linen-backing is a museum-recommended archival preservation process that gives the absolute best presentation to the artwork and significantly increases the value.</span></span></p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"> <br /> <strong><em>For more information about this exhibit, visit <a href="https://gallery30south.com/pinky-violence/" style="color:blue; text-decoration:underline">Gallery 30 South</a></em></strong>.</span></span></p> <p> </p> <p><span style="font-size:18px"><span style="font-family:Times New Roman,Times,serif"><strong>Highbrow Magazine</strong></span></span></p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-tags field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Tags:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/pinky-violence" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">pinky violence</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/japanese-films" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">japanese films</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/japanese-exploitation-films" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">japanese exploitation films</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/exploitation" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">exploitation</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/gallery-30-south" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">Gallery 30 South</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/feminism" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">feminism</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/violent-films" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">violent films</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/japanese-cinema" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">japanese cinema</a></div><div class="field-item even" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/posters" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">posters</a></div><div class="field-item odd" rel="dc:subject"><a href="/collectible-posters" typeof="skos:Concept" property="rdfs:label skos:prefLabel" datatype="">collectible posters</a></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-author field-type-text field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Matt Kennedy</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-pop field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Popular:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">not popular</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-photographer field-type-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Photographer:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">All images courtesy of Gallery 30 South</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-bot field-type-list-boolean field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Bottom Slider:&nbsp;</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Out Slider</div></div></div> Wed, 21 Jul 2021 16:38:21 +0000 tara 10521 at https://www.highbrowmagazine.com https://www.highbrowmagazine.com/12407-pinky-violence-shock-awe-and-liberation-japanese-exploitation-films#comments