In director Shohei Imamura's THE PORNOGRAPHERS, Yoshimoto Ogata (Shoichi Ozawa), a man who believes it is his patriotic duty to provide smut to his fellow men, uses the profits from his 8mm films to support his lover and her two children. Although there are never any explicit sex scenes, the film contains plenty of shocking material--intimations of incest, the exploitation of a mentally retarded girl, and the creation of the perfect sex doll are just some of the disturbing plot points. Based on a scandalous novel JINRUIGAKU NYUMON (Introduction to Anthropology) by Akiyuki Nozaka, the film is even lensed in a voyeuristic style, with shots through windows and cracks in open doors. Predating BOOGIE NIGHTS by several decades, THE PORNOGRAPHERS boldly investigates the relationship between sexual desire and one bizarre family, which includes a father believed to be reincarnated as a carp. The film is the first Imamura made after establishing his independent production company, Imamura Productions, in 1966.
