Jasper Sharp and the BFI lead us through the films of "Wild Japan"

by Chris MaGee

For any of you lucky enough to have got your hands on Jasper Sharp's latest book "Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema" knows that he's not fooling around when he says "complete". This is a truly exhaustive survey of not only pinku eiga but of how sexuality and erotica has weaved its way through the history of Japanese cinema from its beginnings in the early 1900s. Throughout the book's 21 chapters Sharp references not only films like Kan Mukai’s "Blue Film Woman" and Masao Adachi’s "Gushing Prayer" (both featured in the "Behind the Pink Curtian" programme at this year's Fantastic Fest), but certified classics like Kaneto Shindo's "Onibaba" and Hiroshi Teshigahara's "Woman in the Dunes".

Now all of these films will be presented together with special input and introduction from both Jasper Sharp and Matt Palmer in a programme screening at the BFI Southbank in London this December titled "Wild Japan". The goal of the programme is to highlight the films produced "between 1964 and 1976, the most sustained output of high quality erotic cinema from any country in any era."

Check out the full line up of films at the official BFI website here.