Pigs and Battleships (Buta to gunkan) (Hogs and Warships) (1961)

Featured Audience Ratings

• Stella D

  
  imamura's early and provocative yakuza film makes a strong statement about japanese postwar society and particularly how the u.s. military presence affects the seaport town of yokosuka. imamura was in full rebellion against his master ozu at this point and the film so shocked… More
  imamura's early and provocative yakuza film makes a strong statement about japanese postwar society and particularly how the u.s. military presence affects the seaport town of yokosuka. imamura was in full rebellion against his master ozu at this point and the film so shocked nikkatsu studio heads he wasn't allowed another project for two years. while treating serious themes, the film is at the same time wildly entertaining, following the adventures of hapless low level gangster kinta and his more sensible girlfriend haruko, who tries to convince him to leave the life of crime behind for factory work before it's too late. a bit broadly played, it's nonetheless great fun to watch, displaying many trademarks of the director who would become a leading voice of the japanese new wave

• Walter M

  
  "Pigs and Battleships" takes place in a Japanese port city that also serves as host for a major American naval base where several gangs are competing for a share of the profits that are made from such illicit activity as prostitution. Kinta(Hiroyuki Nagato) is a low-level… More
  "Pigs and Battleships" takes place in a Japanese port city that also serves as host for a major American naval base where several gangs are competing for a share of the profits that are made from such illicit activity as prostitution. Kinta(Hiroyuki Nagato) is a low-level member of one of those gangs and is in charge of feeding their pigs. He looks forward to the promised 150,000 Yen bonus but is urged by his girlfriend, Haruko(Jitsuko Yoshimura), to go straight. She on the other hand is being pressured by her family to take the lucrative position of becoming a rich American's mistress. "Pigs and Battleships" captures the chaos of the waterfront well, even at the cost of some of the movie's cohesion. Overall, the film serves as a critique of capitalism in general, but more specifically of the American dollar overseas and the true price people have to pay for that hegemony. (Originally reviewed in the blog section on March 12, 2007.)