Final Rating: 3.5/5
In the 1970s, amidst the resignification of the Japanese cinema, sexploitation became one of the popular film productions. The oldest Japanese studio, Nikkatsu, launched their Roman Porno series. They are erotic films with a quota of nude and sex scenes to appeal to commercial necessities. One of the principal directors within the Roman saga, Noboru Tanaka, would become the king of Nikkatsu Roman Porno.
In 1974, Tanaka directed The Oldest Profession, also known as Confidential Report: Sex Market and Secret Chronicle: She Beast Market. Recently, the film was restored from its original 35 mm negative and remastered in 4k.
Tanaka follows the daily drama of a young prostitute, Tome (Meika Seri), a nineteen-year-old woman living on the outskirts of Osaka. She lives with her mother, Yome (Genshū Hanayagi), an older prostitute who had Tome and a disabled boy, Jitsuo (Shiro Yumemura), at a young age. Mother and daughter dispute clients and the attention of Yome’s pimp – a violent man who is not attracted to her anymore and decides to pleasure himself with the daughter. They argue and fight heavily, while society also judges and mistreats them in the streets of a growing city. Tome deals with the harsh reality of Osaka’s lanes and the abuses in her work.
In a sense, the Nikkatsu Roman Porno series shock for their rawness in showcasing the sexual desire of the human being. Tanaka studies through a young prostitute how the community stigmatizes labor. He does so using the magnetic imagery power of a rough portrayal of the sexual necessity of the individual. Tome is a mere tool of pleasure for most of those men who pay her a few Yens to satisfy their carnal needs.
However, the profession exposes her to a confrontation with her mother, an experienced prostitute who is not willing to lose her clients for her daughter. The tension does not lean on the monetary aspect but on the psychological meaning of losing her attractiveness to the men on Osaka’s streets. Yome accepting the loss of her clients to her daughter means her utter inutility to the commercial element of prostitution. She is not a viable means of production anymore.
Also, the director distances himself from any moral value in the film. The sexual relationship between the lead and her brother exceeds the incest discussions. Tanaka flexes the thin moral line to remark that Jitsuo also has physiological needs. The film confronts the audience’s ethical values and the established societal beliefs on sex.
Indeed, when the director goes in this direction, it features the most intriguing dilemmas in the film. It works better than the main confrontation, which is a new pregnancy by Yome and the necessity of borrowing money from Tome. In a grander scope, it feels more dramatic and exaggerated than the rest of the film, an over-the-top performance by Genshū Hanayagi, which differs from the rest.
Additionally, the second half does not evolve or present more of its lead’s journey. Yet, the beautiful black-and-white cinematography of Shōhei Andō represents a modern Japan, specifically Osaka, where it is similar to the imperial times in how it treats its women. Andō’s work paints the picture of a misogynistic and violent relationship with the prostitutes through the raw granulations of the 35mm film.
Tome imagines a free universe – the camera work is more expansive and flat. It rejects the granulations and reel’s materiality. But during the sex scenes, it has a crude aspect to it. The director of cinematography adds Tome’s different mental states and emotions to the screen, which adds to the visual aesthetic of Tanaka.
The newer restoration of The Oldest Profession, presents the Nikkatsu Roman Porno Series to a new generation. Noboru Tanaka defies moral compasses and delivers a complex drama about a young prostitute in Osaka. The crudeness of the sex scenes and the dilemmas engage in a film that does not develop its narrative line to the most but still is an elaborate sexploitation film.
Thank you to Foundry Communications and Film Movement Classics for the screener.
