Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on September 2012
Survey the rise and fall of the country’s oldest film studio in an exhibition at the National Film Center. Founded in 1912, Nikkatsu flowered in the 1950s and ’60s, when it became known for big-budget gangster and action films. Influential director Shohei Imamura made his home there, creating movies such as his legendary 1963 flick The Insect Woman. With the rise of TV in the ’70s, the studio was forced to pioneer the more profitable roman porno genre, and by 2010 its Sushi Typhoon division was aiming B movies like Seiji Chiba’s recent Alien vs. Ninja at an international audience.
