Watcher in the Attic
Encyclopedia
aka Stroller in the Attic, Edogawa Rampo Theater: Walker in the Attic and Walker in the Attic is a 1976
Japan
ese film in Nikkatsu
's Roman porno series, directed by Noboru Tanaka
and starring Junko Miyashita
.
which kills both of them during their intercourse.
(1975) and Beauty's Exotic Dance - Torture! (1977). All three films star Junko Miyashita
. The story was based on a novel by the Japanese horror-mystery writer, Edogawa Rampo
. It had been filmed as a pink film in 1970 by director Akitaka Kimata, and Akio Jissoji
remade Watcher in the Attic in 1995 in one of the earliest un-fogged
pink films. The uncensored version of Jissoji's film was released internationally, though the Japanese theatrical release of this film was fogged.
Lead actress Junko Miyashita had joined Nikkatsu with the third entry in the Apartment Wife series, Apartment Wife: Unforgettable Night (1972). She starred in several of Nikkatsu's greatest Roman Porno successes, and became known as the second "Queen" of Roman Porno after the retirement of Kazuko Shirakawa
. A skillful and versatile actress, her career also benefitted by appearing in films by Nikkatsu's best directors. Besides Tanaka, she was closely associated with the films of Tatsumi Kumashiro
.
Lead actor Renji Ishibashi had background in the live theater, and made a name for himself in Roman porno for psychologically unbalanced characters. Besides Watcher in the Attic, another of his major roles is in Tatsumi Kumashiro
's Woman with Red Hair
(1979), also starring Junko Miyashita. He later regularly appeared in old yakuza roles in the films of Takashi Miike
and others.
, in which the film is set, as "a pandemonium of styles and colours". Tanaka emphasizes the mixture of the erotic and the grotesque in Rampo's work, and in popular culture of the period, which led to its description as "ero guro". According to Sharp, Tanaka's vision of Rampo's world set the tone for later filmed versions of the author's works as well as biographical films. Tanaka's influence can reportedly be seen in Jissoji's 1994 remake of Walker in the Attic, Kazuyoshi Okuyama's The Mystery of Rampo (1994), Jissoji's The D-Slope Murder Case (1998), and in Rampo Noir (2005).
Voyeurism
-- already present in Rampo's story—is a major theme in the film. Tanaka makes the audience aware that Lady Minako is conscious of Gōda's-- and, by extension the audience's-- spying on her illicit sexual activities. Sharp writes that the camera views Minako through Gōda's ceiling peephole, "acknowledging the viewer's powerless and passive spectatorial role as she returns our gaze." Sharp also notes that voyeurism is a common theme in the pink film, and that it would be deeply explored in the later films of director Hisayasu Satō
. Not only a psychological theme, voyeurism also provided a practical way for the director to obscure sexual organs, which were censored by law. Sharp writes, "Framing the sex scenes from an awkward nozoki point-of-view perspective, through keyholes, gaps in open doors, holes in walls, etc, proved one particularly expedient method of blocking the action."
English-language critical opinion of the film has been high in the decades since its first release. Magill's Survey of Cinema: Foreign Language Films (1985) calls Watcher in the Attic "a frenzied fantasy treat".
In their Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films (1998), the Weissers give the film three and a half out of four points. Jasper Sharp comments that the film shows Tanaka's versatility as a director.
On October 28, 2008, Mondo Macabro released Watcher in the Attic in the U.S. on region 0 DVD.
1976 in film
The year 1976 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*March 22 - Filming begins on George Lucas' Star Wars science fiction film...
Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese film in Nikkatsu
Nikkatsu
is a Japanese entertainment company well known for its film and television productions. It is Japan's oldest major movie studio. The name Nikkatsu is an abbreviation of Nippon Katsudō Shashin, literally "Japan Cinematograph Company".-History:...
's Roman porno series, directed by Noboru Tanaka
Noboru Tanaka
was a Japanese film director best known known for his Roman Porno films, including three critically respected films known as the Showa trilogy: A Woman Called Sada Abe , Watcher in the Attic , and Beauty's Exotic Dance: Torture! , all three starring Nikkatsu Roman porno queen Junko Miyashita...
and starring Junko Miyashita
Junko Miyashita
is a Japanese actress who had a long and varied career working both in pink film and mainstream cinema.- Career :Junko Miyashita was born in Tokyo on January 29, 1949. She was working as a waitress at a coffee shop when she was recruited to work in Pink films....
.
Synopsis
In 1923 Tokyo Lady Minako is the owner of a shabby boarding house with a collection of bizarre characters for tenants. Gōda, one of her tenants, spends most of his time in the attic spying on the other tenants through holes he has drilled into the ceiling. During one of his peeping sessions, Gōda witnesses the murder of one of the tenants at the hand of Lady Minako. Gōda becomes obsessed with Lady Minako, and determines to commit a grotesque murder in order to prove to her that he is her soul mate. He kills another tenant - a priest - by dripping poison into his mouth through the ceiling. A series of grotesque murders follow. The film ends apocalyptically with the Great Kanto Earthquake1923 Great Kanto earthquake
The struck the Kantō plain on the Japanese main island of Honshū at 11:58:44 am JST on September 1, 1923. Varied accounts hold that the duration of the earthquake was between 4 and 10 minutes...
which kills both of them during their intercourse.
Cast
- Junko MiyashitaJunko Miyashitais a Japanese actress who had a long and varied career working both in pink film and mainstream cinema.- Career :Junko Miyashita was born in Tokyo on January 29, 1949. She was working as a waitress at a coffee shop when she was recruited to work in Pink films....
: Minako Kiyomiya - Hiroshi Osa: Kōichirō Kiyomiya
- Renji Ishibashi: Gōda Saburō
- Tokuko Watanabe: Miyuki Tomita
- Kōji Yashiro: Endō
- Haruka Tajima: Ginko
- Toshihiko Oda: Hiruta
- Shirō Yumemura: Pierrot
- Reiko Akitsu: Model
- Aoi Nakajima: Prostitute
- Kyōichi Mizuki: Druggist
Background
Watcher in the Attic was the middle entry in director Tanaka's "Showa Era Trilogy", which includes A Woman Called Sada AbeA Woman Called Sada Abe
aka Sada Abe: A Docu-Drama is a Roman porno version of the Sada Abe story directed by Noboru Tanaka.It is based on the true story of a woman who strangled her lover during a love-making session, then severed his penis, which she carried with her until her arrest...
(1975) and Beauty's Exotic Dance - Torture! (1977). All three films star Junko Miyashita
Junko Miyashita
is a Japanese actress who had a long and varied career working both in pink film and mainstream cinema.- Career :Junko Miyashita was born in Tokyo on January 29, 1949. She was working as a waitress at a coffee shop when she was recruited to work in Pink films....
. The story was based on a novel by the Japanese horror-mystery writer, Edogawa Rampo
Edogawa Rampo
, better known by the pseudonym , was a Japanese author and critic who played a major role in the development of Japanese mystery fiction. Many of his novels involve the detective hero Kogorō Akechi, who in later books was the leader of a group of boy detectives known as the .Rampo was an admirer...
. It had been filmed as a pink film in 1970 by director Akitaka Kimata, and Akio Jissoji
Akio Jissoji
was a Japanese television and film director best known outside of Japan for the 1960s TV series Ultraman and Ultra Seven, as well as for his auteur erotic ATG-produced Buddhist trilogy , , and ....
remade Watcher in the Attic in 1995 in one of the earliest un-fogged
Fogging (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...
pink films. The uncensored version of Jissoji's film was released internationally, though the Japanese theatrical release of this film was fogged.
Lead actress Junko Miyashita had joined Nikkatsu with the third entry in the Apartment Wife series, Apartment Wife: Unforgettable Night (1972). She starred in several of Nikkatsu's greatest Roman Porno successes, and became known as the second "Queen" of Roman Porno after the retirement of Kazuko Shirakawa
Kazuko Shirakawa
is a Japanese actress who is best known for her appearances in Nikkatsu's Roman Porno films during the 1970s. She appeared in Nikkatsu's first film in the Roman Porno series, Apartment Wife , and is considered the first of the three "Nikkatsu Queens" of the 1970s...
. A skillful and versatile actress, her career also benefitted by appearing in films by Nikkatsu's best directors. Besides Tanaka, she was closely associated with the films of Tatsumi Kumashiro
Tatsumi Kumashiro
was a Japanese film director best known for his critically acclaimed, award-winning Roman Porno films, such as Ichijo's Wet Lust and The Woman with Red Hair...
.
Lead actor Renji Ishibashi had background in the live theater, and made a name for himself in Roman porno for psychologically unbalanced characters. Besides Watcher in the Attic, another of his major roles is in Tatsumi Kumashiro
Tatsumi Kumashiro
was a Japanese film director best known for his critically acclaimed, award-winning Roman Porno films, such as Ichijo's Wet Lust and The Woman with Red Hair...
's Woman with Red Hair
Woman with Red Hair
is an award-winning Japanese pink film in Nikkatsu's Roman Porno series.-Wins:* Best Actress, Junko Miyashita - Hochi Film Awards* Best Actress, Junko Miyashita - Kinema Jumpo* Best Supporting Actress, Ako - Yokohama Film Festival...
(1979), also starring Junko Miyashita. He later regularly appeared in old yakuza roles in the films of Takashi Miike
Takashi Miike
is a highly prolific and controversial Japanese filmmaker. He has directed over seventy theatrical, video, and television productions since his debut in 1991. In the years 2001 and 2002 alone, Miike is credited with directing fifteen productions...
and others.
Themes and legacy
Jasper Sharp notes that director Tanaka portrays the Taishō periodTaisho period
The , or Taishō era, is a period in the history of Japan dating from July 30, 1912 to December 25, 1926, coinciding with the reign of the Taishō Emperor. The health of the new emperor was weak, which prompted the shift in political power from the old oligarchic group of elder statesmen to the Diet...
, in which the film is set, as "a pandemonium of styles and colours". Tanaka emphasizes the mixture of the erotic and the grotesque in Rampo's work, and in popular culture of the period, which led to its description as "ero guro". According to Sharp, Tanaka's vision of Rampo's world set the tone for later filmed versions of the author's works as well as biographical films. Tanaka's influence can reportedly be seen in Jissoji's 1994 remake of Walker in the Attic, Kazuyoshi Okuyama's The Mystery of Rampo (1994), Jissoji's The D-Slope Murder Case (1998), and in Rampo Noir (2005).
Voyeurism
Voyeurism
In clinical psychology, voyeurism is the sexual interest in or practice of spying on people engaged in intimate behaviors, such as undressing, sexual activity, or other activity usually considered to be of a private nature....
-- already present in Rampo's story—is a major theme in the film. Tanaka makes the audience aware that Lady Minako is conscious of Gōda's-- and, by extension the audience's-- spying on her illicit sexual activities. Sharp writes that the camera views Minako through Gōda's ceiling peephole, "acknowledging the viewer's powerless and passive spectatorial role as she returns our gaze." Sharp also notes that voyeurism is a common theme in the pink film, and that it would be deeply explored in the later films of director Hisayasu Satō
Hisayasu Sato
is a Japanese exploitation film director. He has worked prolifically in the pinku eiga genre. His best known works are the pink film The Bedroom , and the V-Cinema splatter film Splatter: Naked Blood . He is known for his "sledgehammer" filmmaking style, and using his exploitation career to tackle...
. Not only a psychological theme, voyeurism also provided a practical way for the director to obscure sexual organs, which were censored by law. Sharp writes, "Framing the sex scenes from an awkward nozoki point-of-view perspective, through keyholes, gaps in open doors, holes in walls, etc, proved one particularly expedient method of blocking the action."
Critical appraisal
Some critics had recognized Tanaka's talents in the early Roman Porno, Secret Chronicles: She Beast Market (1974), but it was Watcher in the Attic which brought him mainstream success. Peer Cinema Club Annual, a conservative, mainstream publication, wrote that the film was "a perfect marriage of decadence and art." At first treated as a standard entry of Nikkatsu's "Psycho Killer Showcase" series, after the film began receiving mainstream critical approval, Nikkatsu promoted Walker in the Attic beyond the softcore Roman Porno market.English-language critical opinion of the film has been high in the decades since its first release. Magill's Survey of Cinema: Foreign Language Films (1985) calls Watcher in the Attic "a frenzied fantasy treat".
In their Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films (1998), the Weissers give the film three and a half out of four points. Jasper Sharp comments that the film shows Tanaka's versatility as a director.
Availability
Watcher in the Attic was released theatrically in Japan on June 12, 1976. It was released to home video in VHS format in Japan on September 9, 1994. As part of Geneon's second wave of Nikkatsu Roman porno series, it was released on DVD on December 22, 2005.On October 28, 2008, Mondo Macabro released Watcher in the Attic in the U.S. on region 0 DVD.