Shōhei Imamura

Shōhei Imamura (1926–2006) was a Japanese film director and screenwriter whose films examined sexuality, social marginality, and everyday life. He won the Palme d’Or for The Ballad of Narayama and The Eel.

The Ballad of Narayama: A 1983 Japanese film by Shōhei Imamura about a rural community’s custom of carrying elderly people to a mountain to die. Its Palme d’Or-winning blend of stark ritual and exuberant natural imagery became Imamura’s best-known work.
Shochiku: A Japanese film studio and distributor founded in 1895, known for producing films by major Japanese directors. Imamura began his film career at Shochiku before moving to Nikkatsu.
Japanese New Wave: A movement in Japanese cinema, especially prominent in the 1950s and 1960s, marked by formal experimentation and social critique. Imamura is often grouped with this movement, though his style and career did not fit a single school.
Shōhei Imamura Productions: A Japanese film production company associated with Shōhei Imamura’s independent filmmaking. The company supported Imamura’s work beyond the major studio system.
Palme d'Or: The highest prize awarded to a film at the Cannes Film Festival. Imamura won it twice, for The Ballad of Narayama and The Eel.
The Eel: A 1997 Japanese drama by Shōhei Imamura about a man rebuilding his life after prison with help from a pet eel. It shared the Palme d’Or and showed Imamura returning to feature filmmaking after a long hiatus.
Yasujirō Ozu: A Japanese film director known for restrained domestic dramas and distinctive low camera positions. Imamura worked as Ozu’s assistant but developed a markedly different interest in bodily, unruly life.
Ethnographic film: Film that documents and interprets the practices and social worlds of particular communities. Imamura’s attention to rituals and marginalized groups often gives his fiction an ethnographic quality.
Ken Ogata: A Japanese actor known for intense performances in film, television, and theatre. Ogata played the serial killer in Vengeance Is Mine and the central role in Imamura’s Why Not?.
Cannes Film Festival: An annual international film festival held in Cannes, France. Cannes gave international recognition to two of Imamura’s later films.

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