{"id":62250,"date":"2018-02-28T16:09:46","date_gmt":"2018-02-28T15:09:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/?p=62250"},"modified":"2018-02-28T16:09:46","modified_gmt":"2018-02-28T15:09:46","slug":"sleek-guide-shuji-terayama-films","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sleek-mag.com\/de\/article\/sleek-guide-shuji-terayama-films\/","title":{"rendered":"Sleek's Guide to the Groundbreaking Films of Shuji Terayama, Ren Hang's Greatest Source of Inspiration"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week marked the first anniversary of the transgressive Chinese photographer and poet Ren Hang\u2019s death. Hang, who rose to international fame for his controversial, choreographed images of sexually liberated bodies, gained notoriety in his conservative home country for his explicit and stirring photographs. In a 2014 interview with the British Journal of Photography,<\/a> he spoke about his visceral admiration for the avant-garde Japanese filmmaker and poet Shuji Terayama: \u201cTerayama\u2019s photos and movies bring me orgasms … Like the pleasure of cumming but without masturbation.\u201d In honour of Ren Hang, we take a look at this highly influential visionary, who still remains little known outside of Japan, in order to find out what made his work so exciting for the late provocateur.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\" \u201cButterfly Dress Pledge\u201d (1974)<\/p>\n

Shuji Terayama\u00a0was born in 1935 in Hirosaki City, Aomori. Throughout his lifetime he established himself as a polymath, working across a variety of mediums, including film, theatre, literature, a stint as a sports announcer and poetry \u2014 the medium in which he first made his name writing surrealist versions of traditional Japanese <\/span>tanka<\/span><\/i>. In 1967 he formed the experimental theatre troupe Tenjo Sajiki, which became known for its provocative, erotic and political productions, remaining active until Terayama’s death in 1983. He also simultaneously established a progressive cinema and gallery space, going on to make his first major film, a subversive short entitled \u201cThe Emperor Tomato Ketchup\u201d in 1971. \u201cThe Emperor\u201d shocked audiences for its audacious storyline involving a group of children planning to overthrow dictating adults in a largely improvised production. That same year, he made his first feature-length film \u201cThrow Away Your Books, Let\u2019s Go into the Streets\u201d, a metaphorical meditation on Japan\u2019s growing materialism. Such films lend obvious comparisons to the work of Ren Hang<\/a>, as both artists sought to challenge authority and overthrow convention in radical and boundary-pushing ways.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\" \u201cPastoral: To Die in the Country\u201d (1974). Image: Art Theatre Guild\/Unifilms<\/p>\n

Terayama\u2019s diverse creative projects were often interconnected: his writing and films fed into another, and he referenced his main inspirations \u2013 including Jean Cocteau, Luis Bu\u00f1uel and \u201cCasablanca\u201d\u2013 across his work. He frequently made autobiographical inferences within his films too; most notably in \u201cPastoral: To Die in the Country\u201d (1974), a fragmented coming-of-age tale, filled with dreams of erotic fantasy and escape. His last major work was \u201cVideo Letter\u201d, in which he exchanged visual ephemera compiled in video with fellow poet Tanikawa Shuntaro.”Video Letter\u201d is a cryptic and hybrid work that tackles questions of identity and biography in a vague, dreamlike and poetic form, \u00a0expressing many of the key attributes of his work. <\/span>
\nIn an another interview,<\/a> Ren Hang stated that Shuji Terayama was the artist most deserving of our respect. Terayama\u2019s surreal and fragmented films \u2013 potent with desire and radical in their experimentation and deviation from the norm \u2013 served as a springboard for Hang’s images of juxtaposing bodies and sexual fantasy. <\/span>These 10 provocative Shuji Terayama films are a must-watch for any Ren Hang fan \u2014 and any fan of groundbreaking cinema.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThe Emperor Tomato Ketchup\u201d (1971)<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"\" “Emperor Tomato Ketchup”. Image: Daguerreo Press<\/p>\n

In his first major film, Terayama questions the hypocrisy of mainstream society, where sexuality is perceived as immoral and perverse, but war and genocide are acceptable. In ludicrous pink-tinged frames, the film cuts between pornographic images, shots of leaders and thinkers, and young soldiers determined to overthrow the existing order. \u201cThe Emperor Tomato Ketchup\u201d is a graphic and anarchic political satire that shakes convention right to its core.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThrow Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets\u201d (1971)<\/b><\/h2>\n

\"\" \u201cThrow Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets\u201d. Image: Art Theatre Guild<\/p>\n

Terayama\u2019s first feature length film foregrounds one of his key themes: escape. A down-on-his-luck teen becomes weary of his family\u2019s reluctance to escape their poor social and economic standing. Told through magnificent, psychically-charged vignettes, \u201cThrow Away Your Books\u201d is a spellbinding exploration of independence, ambition and disillusionment.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cButterfly Dress Pledge\u201d (1974)<\/b><\/h2>\n