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Ishii Teruo: King of Cult

Porno period drama: Bohachi bushido

Ishii Teruo

Japan1973 82min 35mm Color

Synopsis

Porno Period Drama: Bohachi Bushido takes the form of a period drama as in the title, but towards the end, violence and bodily only exposure heighten in their intensity. As Bohachi in the title implies that teaches to forget eight proprieties to become a human who goes beyond the realm of a human being, Porno Period Drama: Bohachi Bushido cannot be cast aside as a feature made for commercial success. Rather, a more appropriate interpretation should be culmination of Ishii's free sense of challenge to question all types of limitations in a Samurai period drama.

Diretor

Ishii Teruo

More vital than most men half his age, eighty-year-old Teruo Ishii continues to make films that witness their creator's colourful personality. Still best known for his series of Edo-era torture films from the late 60s, Ishii has worked in a vast range of genres in the course of his six-decade long career. From his early Super Giants films for Shin Toho, through his gang and biker films for Toei and his recent independently made ero-gro spectacles, his work has remained as youthful in spirit as the man who made them. Midnight Eye met up with Ishii at the Étrange Festival in Paris, which paid tribute to the man who is referred to at home as the King of Cult.