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Daydream (1964 film)
Encyclopedia
is a 1964
Japa
nese Pink film. The first of these softcore
pornographic films to have a big budget and a mainstream release in Japan, it was shown at the Venice Film Festival
and given two releases in the United States
. Director Tetsuji Takechi
remade the film in hardcore
versions in 1981
and 1987
. Both of these remakes starred actress Kyōko Aizome
.
, eroticism had been gradually making its way into Japanese cinema. The first kiss to be seen in Japanese film—discreetly half-hidden by an umbrella—caused a national sensation in 1946
. In the mid-1950s, the controversial taiyozoku films on the teen-age "Sun Tribe", such as Ko Nakahira's Crazed Fruit
(1956
), introduced unprecedented sexual frankness into Japanese films. At the same time, films such as Shintoho
's female pearl-diver films starring buxom Michiko Maeda
, began showing more flesh than would have previously been imaginable in the Japanese cinema. Nevertheless, until the early 1960s, graphic depictions of nudity and sex in Japanese film could only be seen in single-reel "stag films," made illegally by underground film producers such as those depicted in Imamura
's film The Pornographers
(1966).
Nudity and sex would officially enter the Japanese cinema with the independent, low-budget pink film genre. Known as eroductions at the time, the Pink films genre would come to dominate domestically produced films in the 1960s and 1970s. The first true pink film, and the first Japanese movie with nude scenes, was Satoru Kobayashi
's controversial and popular independent production Flesh Market (Nikutai no Ichiba, 1962
). Director Seijun Suzuki
's Gate of Flesh
(1964
) was the first Japanese mainstream film to contain nudity.
was a theatrical director, especially known for his innovative contributions to kabuki
. Always attracted to controversy, when his interests turned to the cinema in 1963
, he focused on the Pink film. His first film was Women... Oh, Women!
(Nihon No Yoru: Onna Onna Onna Monogatari - A Night In Japan: Woman, Woman, Woman Story, (1963), a sex-documentary which was later given a U.S. release. Daydream, Takechi's second film, was the first big-budget, mainstream pink film, Artistically shot by Akira Takeda, who was Nagisa Oshima
's cinematographer between 1965 and 1968, the film was produced independently but released by Shochiku
studios who gave it a major publicity campaign.
in September 1926. The film opens as an artist and a young woman are in a dentist's waiting room. Though he is attracted to the woman, he says nothing to her. They are later in the same examining room. When the artist is given an anaesthetic, he begins to imagine a series of scenes in which the woman undergoes various forms of sexual abuse at the hand of the dentist, including rape and torture. When the artist recovers from the anaesthetic, he finds bite marks on the woman's breast, indicating that he may not have been hallucinating.
," which would become one of the trademarks of Japanese pornography for decades.
The Japanese government was also displeased with the film because it was released during the Tokyo Olympics, at a time when the world's attention was focused on the country. The authorities were not happy with the impression a widely released sex film might give. The Japan Dental Association protested against the film because of its unsavory depiction of their profession in the character of the dentist. Also, author Jun'ichirō Tanizaki was reportedly unhappy with the film. Tanizaki had worked with the cinema during the 1920s, and regarded Takechi's film as a sign of the decline of the Japanese cinema. Nevertheless, Daydream was a major success in Japan, greatly contributing to the acceptance of nudity in Japanese mainstream cinema.
Daydream was presented to the Venice Film Festival
in September 1964, but not accepted as an entry. Variety
commented that it would have been acceptable as a special entry, adding, "It would probably have raised howls both for and against it." Variety gave the film a positive review, saying that despite the female nudity and erotic and perverse scenes, it was not done in bad taste. The review comments approvingly on the performances of Kanako Michi, Akira Ishihama and Chojuro Hanakawa. Director Tetsuji Takechi was also complemented for his "proper balance of over-statement and mock seriousness." About the film as a whole, the review says, "It is neatly lensed and edited with a gory color scene imbedded in this primarily black and white pic... This film could be accused of bad taste or pornography, and the many scenes of simulated love climaxes may add to this theory. But it also parodies and pokes fun at prudishness, sex overemphasis and the more lascivious love and adventure pix."
Though Variety warned of possible censorship problems, it recommended distribution of Daydream in the United States for the foreign film, art film and exploitation markets. The film received two releases in the U.S., first opening in Los Angeles
on December 4, 1964. Joseph Green, director of the cult film The Brain that Wouldn't Die
(1962) re-released Daydream in the U.S. in 1966
, adding his own footage to the film. This release of the film opened in San Francisco.
in 1965 as An Empty Dream (춘몽 - Chunmong). Because of rumors of a brief nude scene, Yu was arrested, even though the controversial scene had been removed before its public release. Since the charges were that actress, Park Su-jeong, had been humiliated by appearing nude on the set, this was irrelevant. What may have been relevant, was that she was not actually nude, but wearing a body stocking during the scene. In his Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema, Jasper Sharp reports that the arrest was due more to political reasons than obscenity. Yu was released, but fined, and the film was removed from circulation until its return at the 2004 Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival
. Comparing Yu's film to Takechi's, Sharp writes that the Korean remake is, "a far superior work, reminiscent of early French surrealism or German expressionism..."
After the success of Daydream, Takechi would continue to be a leading figure in the Pink film genre for two decades. He released his third film, The Dream of the Red Chamber (Koromu, 1964
) the same year as Daydreams release. The government subjected The Dream of the Red Chamber to extensive censorship before allowing it to be shown publicly. Eirin
, the Japanese film-monitoring board, cut about 20% of the film's original content, and this footage is now considered lost. Takechi followed this first conflict with the government with the even more controversial, politically provocative "Black Snow" in 1965
. This film would result in Takechi's arrest, and the first motion picture obscenity trial in Japan.
He was a television show host in the 1970s. At the age of 68, with his 1981
re-make of Daydream, he became the director of the first theatrically released hardcore pornographic film in Japan.
1964 in film
The year 1964 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released....
Japa
Japa
Japa is a spiritual discipline involving the meditative repetition of a mantra or name of a divine power. The mantra or name may be spoken softly, enough for the practitioner to hear it, or it may be spoken purely within the recitor's mind...
nese Pink film. The first of these softcore
Softcore
Softcore pornography is a form of filmic or photographic pornography or erotica that is less sexually explicit than hardcore pornography. It is intended to tickle and arouse men and women. Softcore pornography depicts nude and semi-nude performers engaging in casual social nudity or non-graphic...
pornographic films to have a big budget and a mainstream release in Japan, it was shown at the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
and given two releases in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. Director Tetsuji Takechi
Tetsuji Takechi
was a Japanese theatrical and film director, critic and author. First coming to prominence for his theatrical criticism, in the 1940s and 1950s he produced influential and popular experimental kabuki plays. Beginning in the mid-1950s, he continued his innovative theatrical work in noh, kyōgen and...
remade the film in hardcore
Hardcore pornography
Hardcore pornography is a form of pornography that features explicit sexual acts. The term was coined in the second half of the 20th century to distinguish it from softcore pornography. It usually takes the form of photographs, often displayed in magazines or on the Internet, or films. It can also...
versions in 1981
1981 in film
-Events:*January 19 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquires beleaguered concurrent United Artists. UA was humiliated by the astronomical losses on the $40,000,000 movie Heaven's Gate, a major factor in the decision of owner Transamerica to sell it....
and 1987
1987 in film
-Events:*January 31 - The Cure for Insomnia premieres at The School of the Art Institute in Chicago, Illinois, to officially become the world's longest film according to Guinness World Records....
. Both of these remakes starred actress Kyōko Aizome
Kyoko Aizome
is a Japanese erotic actress, singer, AV director, and writer who has been called, "the first hard-core porn actress in Japan."-Early life:Kyōko Aizome was born on February 9, 1958 in Noda Chiba Prefecture. Aizome grew up in a troubled household. Her father was a police officer who beat his wife,...
.
Origins of the Pink film
In the years since the end of World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, eroticism had been gradually making its way into Japanese cinema. The first kiss to be seen in Japanese film—discreetly half-hidden by an umbrella—caused a national sensation in 1946
1946 in film
The year 1946 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*November 21 - William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.*December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a...
. In the mid-1950s, the controversial taiyozoku films on the teen-age "Sun Tribe", such as Ko Nakahira's Crazed Fruit
Crazed Fruit
, also known as Juvenile Jungle, is a 1956 Japanese Sun Tribe film directed by Kō Nakahira. It is an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Shintaro Ishihara, the older brother of Yujiro Ishihara.- Cast :* Masahiko Tsugawa - Haruji...
(1956
1956 in film
The year 1956 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 5 - The Ten Commandments opens in cinemas and becomes one of the most successful and popular movies of all time, currently ranking 5th on the list of all time moneymakers * February 5 - First showing of documentary films by...
), introduced unprecedented sexual frankness into Japanese films. At the same time, films such as Shintoho
Shintoho
was a Japanese movie studio. It was one of the big-6 film studios during the Golden Age of Japanese cinema. It was founded by defectors from the original Tōhō Company...
's female pearl-diver films starring buxom Michiko Maeda
Michiko Maeda
is a Japanese film and television actress. After becoming known as the first Japanese actress to appear in a nude scene in a mainstream film, Maeda was banned from the Japanese cinema after an incident in which she refused to obey a director, and did not return to the Japanese screen until 42 years...
, began showing more flesh than would have previously been imaginable in the Japanese cinema. Nevertheless, until the early 1960s, graphic depictions of nudity and sex in Japanese film could only be seen in single-reel "stag films," made illegally by underground film producers such as those depicted in Imamura
Shohei Imamura
was a Japanese film director. Imamura was the first Japanese director to win two Palme d'Or awards.His eldest son Daisuke Tengan is also a script writer and film director, and worked on the screenplays to Imamura's filmsThe Eel , Dr...
's film The Pornographers
The Pornographers
The Pornographers is a 1966 Japanese film directed by Shohei Imamura and based on a novel of the same name by Akiyuki Nosaka. Its original Japanese title is Erogotoshitachi yori Jinruigaku nyumon , which means 'An introduction to anthropology through the pornographers'. It tells the story of porn...
(1966).
Nudity and sex would officially enter the Japanese cinema with the independent, low-budget pink film genre. Known as eroductions at the time, the Pink films genre would come to dominate domestically produced films in the 1960s and 1970s. The first true pink film, and the first Japanese movie with nude scenes, was Satoru Kobayashi
Satoru Kobayashi (director)
was a Japanese film director most famous for directing the first pink film, the type of softcore pornographic films that became the most prolific film genre in Japan during the 1960s and 1970s...
's controversial and popular independent production Flesh Market (Nikutai no Ichiba, 1962
1962 in film
The year 1962 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May - The Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards are officially founded by the Taiwanese government....
). Director Seijun Suzuki
Seijun Suzuki
, born Seitaro Suzuki on May 24, 1923, is a Japanese filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter. His films are renowned by film enthusiasts worldwide for their jarring visual style, irreverent humour, nihilistic cool and entertainment-over-logic sensibility...
's Gate of Flesh
Gate of Flesh
is a 1964 Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki.-Synopsis:In an impoverished and burnt out Tokyo ghetto of post-World War II Japan, a band of prostitutes defend their territory, squatting in a bombed-out building. Somehow they eke out a living together...
(1964
1964 in film
The year 1964 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released....
) was the first Japanese mainstream film to contain nudity.
Tetsuji Takechi
Before entering film, Tetsuji TakechiTetsuji Takechi
was a Japanese theatrical and film director, critic and author. First coming to prominence for his theatrical criticism, in the 1940s and 1950s he produced influential and popular experimental kabuki plays. Beginning in the mid-1950s, he continued his innovative theatrical work in noh, kyōgen and...
was a theatrical director, especially known for his innovative contributions to kabuki
Kabuki
is classical Japanese dance-drama. Kabuki theatre is known for the stylization of its drama and for the elaborate make-up worn by some of its performers.The individual kanji characters, from left to right, mean sing , dance , and skill...
. Always attracted to controversy, when his interests turned to the cinema in 1963
1963 in film
The year 1963 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* June 12 - Cleopatra starring Elizabeth Taylor, Rex Harrison and Richard Burton premieres at the Rivoli Theatre in New York City....
, he focused on the Pink film. His first film was Women... Oh, Women!
Women... Oh, Women!
is a 1963 Japanese documentary Pink film. The first of these softcore pornographic film directed by Tetsuji Takechi, it was released in the United States in 1964.-Origins of the Pink film:...
(Nihon No Yoru: Onna Onna Onna Monogatari - A Night In Japan: Woman, Woman, Woman Story, (1963), a sex-documentary which was later given a U.S. release. Daydream, Takechi's second film, was the first big-budget, mainstream pink film, Artistically shot by Akira Takeda, who was Nagisa Oshima
Nagisa Oshima
is a Japanese film director and screenwriter. After graduating from Kyoto University he was hired by Shochiku Ltd. and quickly progressed to directing his own movies, making his debut feature A Town of Love and Hope in 1959....
's cinematographer between 1965 and 1968, the film was produced independently but released by Shochiku
Shochiku
is a Japanese movie studio and production company for kabuki. It also produces and distributes anime films. Its best remembered directors include Yasujirō Ozu, Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Keisuke Kinoshita and Yōji Yamada...
studios who gave it a major publicity campaign.
Synopsis
The story is loosely based on a 1926 short story by Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, published in ChūōkōronChuokoron
is a monthly Japanese literary magazine is a monthly Japanese literary magazine is a monthly Japanese literary magazine is a monthly Japanese literary magazine is a monthly Japanese literary magazine is a monthly Japanese literary magazine is a monthly Japanese literary magazine is a monthly...
in September 1926. The film opens as an artist and a young woman are in a dentist's waiting room. Though he is attracted to the woman, he says nothing to her. They are later in the same examining room. When the artist is given an anaesthetic, he begins to imagine a series of scenes in which the woman undergoes various forms of sexual abuse at the hand of the dentist, including rape and torture. When the artist recovers from the anaesthetic, he finds bite marks on the woman's breast, indicating that he may not have been hallucinating.
Cast
- Kanako Michi (Cheiko)
- Akira Ishihama (Kurahashi)
- Chojuro Hanakawa (Dentist)
- Yasuko Matsui (Nurse)
Reception
Though modest compared to pink films which would come soon after, Daydream did contain female nudity, including a brief shot of pubic hair. To the outsider, Japanese censors can seem surprisingly lenient in what is allowed on film, however the depiction of pubic hair and genitalia was strictly forbidden. Takechi fought the government's censorship of this shot, but lost. When the censors obscured the offending hair with a fuzzy white dot, Daydream became the first film in Japanese cinema to undergo "foggingFogging (censorship)
Fogging is a type of visual censorship. An area for a picture or movie is blurred to obscure it from sight. This form of censorship is used for sexually related images/scenes, hiding genitals, pubic hair, or sexual penetration of any sort. Pixelization is a form of fogging...
," which would become one of the trademarks of Japanese pornography for decades.
The Japanese government was also displeased with the film because it was released during the Tokyo Olympics, at a time when the world's attention was focused on the country. The authorities were not happy with the impression a widely released sex film might give. The Japan Dental Association protested against the film because of its unsavory depiction of their profession in the character of the dentist. Also, author Jun'ichirō Tanizaki was reportedly unhappy with the film. Tanizaki had worked with the cinema during the 1920s, and regarded Takechi's film as a sign of the decline of the Japanese cinema. Nevertheless, Daydream was a major success in Japan, greatly contributing to the acceptance of nudity in Japanese mainstream cinema.
Daydream was presented to the Venice Film Festival
Venice Film Festival
The Venice International Film Festival is the oldest international film festival in the world. Founded by Count Giuseppe Volpi in 1932 as the "Esposizione Internazionale d'Arte Cinematografica", the festival has since taken place every year in late August or early September on the island of the...
in September 1964, but not accepted as an entry. Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
commented that it would have been acceptable as a special entry, adding, "It would probably have raised howls both for and against it." Variety gave the film a positive review, saying that despite the female nudity and erotic and perverse scenes, it was not done in bad taste. The review comments approvingly on the performances of Kanako Michi, Akira Ishihama and Chojuro Hanakawa. Director Tetsuji Takechi was also complemented for his "proper balance of over-statement and mock seriousness." About the film as a whole, the review says, "It is neatly lensed and edited with a gory color scene imbedded in this primarily black and white pic... This film could be accused of bad taste or pornography, and the many scenes of simulated love climaxes may add to this theory. But it also parodies and pokes fun at prudishness, sex overemphasis and the more lascivious love and adventure pix."
Though Variety warned of possible censorship problems, it recommended distribution of Daydream in the United States for the foreign film, art film and exploitation markets. The film received two releases in the U.S., first opening in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
on December 4, 1964. Joseph Green, director of the cult film The Brain that Wouldn't Die
The Brain That Wouldn't Die
The Brain That Wouldn't Die, also known as The Head That Wouldn't Die, is a 1962 science-fiction/horror film directed by Joseph Green and written by Green and Rex Carlton. The film was completed in 1959 under the title The Black Door, but was not released until May 3, 1962, when it was renamed...
(1962) re-released Daydream in the U.S. in 1966
1966 in film
The year 1966 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Animation legend Walter Disney, well known for his creation of Mickey Mouse, died in 15 December 1966 of acute circulatory collapse following a diagnosis of, and surgery for, lung cancer...
, adding his own footage to the film. This release of the film opened in San Francisco.
Korean remake
Takechi's film was remade by the prominent South Korean director Yu Hyun-mokYu Hyun-mok
Yu Hyun-mok was a South Korean film director. Born in Sariwon, North Hwanghae, Korea , he made his film debut in 1956 with Gyocharo...
in 1965 as An Empty Dream (춘몽 - Chunmong). Because of rumors of a brief nude scene, Yu was arrested, even though the controversial scene had been removed before its public release. Since the charges were that actress, Park Su-jeong, had been humiliated by appearing nude on the set, this was irrelevant. What may have been relevant, was that she was not actually nude, but wearing a body stocking during the scene. In his Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema, Jasper Sharp reports that the arrest was due more to political reasons than obscenity. Yu was released, but fined, and the film was removed from circulation until its return at the 2004 Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival
Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival
The Puchon International Fantastic Film Festival , or PiFan, is an international film festival held annually in July in Bucheon, South Korea...
. Comparing Yu's film to Takechi's, Sharp writes that the Korean remake is, "a far superior work, reminiscent of early French surrealism or German expressionism..."
Legacy
Today Daydream retains a high reputation among Pink films. The Scarecrow Video Movie Guide calls Daydream an "extraodinary little film" which, by stimulating the Pink film genre, "changed Japanese films forever."After the success of Daydream, Takechi would continue to be a leading figure in the Pink film genre for two decades. He released his third film, The Dream of the Red Chamber (Koromu, 1964
1964 in film
The year 1964 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 29 - The film Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb is released....
) the same year as Daydreams release. The government subjected The Dream of the Red Chamber to extensive censorship before allowing it to be shown publicly. Eirin
Eirin
is the abbreviated name for , Japan's movie regulator. Eirin was established on the model of the American Motion Picture Producers and Distributors of America's Production Code Administration in June, 1949, on the instructions of the US occupation force...
, the Japanese film-monitoring board, cut about 20% of the film's original content, and this footage is now considered lost. Takechi followed this first conflict with the government with the even more controversial, politically provocative "Black Snow" in 1965
1965 in film
The year 1965 in film involved some significant events, with The Sound of Music topping the U.S. box office.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue- Awards :Academy Awards:...
. This film would result in Takechi's arrest, and the first motion picture obscenity trial in Japan.
He was a television show host in the 1970s. At the age of 68, with his 1981
1981 in film
-Events:*January 19 - Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer acquires beleaguered concurrent United Artists. UA was humiliated by the astronomical losses on the $40,000,000 movie Heaven's Gate, a major factor in the decision of owner Transamerica to sell it....
re-make of Daydream, he became the director of the first theatrically released hardcore pornographic film in Japan.