Giants and Toys: An Incisive Satire of Corporate Society
One of Yasuzo Masumura's major works, Giants and Toys (1958), sharply portrays postwar Japanese corporate society through the sales rivalry among three caramel manufacturers. Through Hiroshi Kawaguchi's portrayal of an ambitious office worker, it satirizes commercialism and human frenzy as Japan enters rapid economic growth.
Particularly notable is its bold visual expression: innovative angles and visual metaphors depict people as toys buffeted by corporate giants. A pioneer of socially engaged cinema, still unusual at the time, it retains its appeal through its universal theme of alienation beneath economic development. Its critique of corporate advertising strategies and consumer society remains incisive from a contemporary perspective. Giants and Toys is highly regarded not merely as corporate criticism, but as a meticulous analysis of postwar Japanese society.
Irezumi and Naomi: Stories of Women's Desire and Liberation
Irezumi (1966) and Naomi (1967), made by Masumura with Ayako Wakao, are known for boldly depicting women's sexuality and desire. Irezumi explores art, obsession, and a woman's awakening through the relationship between an Edo-period tattoo artist and the woman he loves. With lustrous colors and bold compositions, it combines eroticism and artistry at a high level.
Naomi, adapting Junichiro Tanizaki's novel, candidly portrays female liberation and male subordination through the transformation of Naomi, played by Wakao. Although both films challenged contemporary social norms, Masumura's sophisticated direction earned them acclaim as artistic works. They contain pioneering elements even from a contemporary feminist perspective. The Woman Who Touched the Leg (1960) is another ambitious work about female sexuality and can be considered a culmination of his portrayal of women.
Red Angel and Blind Beast: Provocative Portrayals of War and Sexuality
Among Masumura's most provocative and acclaimed films, Red Angel (1966) is a controversial work set in a wartime field hospital, portraying relationships between a nurse and wounded soldiers. Ayako Wakao gives an intense leading performance as a nurse who heals damaged soldiers through sexuality, contrasting the cruelty of war with fundamental human desires. Its innovation lies in focusing, within a war film, on minds and bodies distorted by conflict rather than conventional patriotic or heroic aspects. Its monochrome images evoke the redness of blood, giving symbolic meaning to the title Red Angel.
Blind Beast (1969), meanwhile, is an erotic horror film based on Edogawa Rampo's work. Through the disturbing story of a blind sculptor who abducts a beautiful woman and confines her in a strange museum of touch, it depicts art, madness, and primal human desires. Both films provoked debate on release because of their extreme scenes, but remain internationally acclaimed as masterpieces addressing universal themes of war and sexuality, art and madness.
Black Test Car and the Black Series: Pioneers of Socially Engaged Entertainment
Masumura's Black Series, beginning with Black Test Car (1962), is highly regarded as socially engaged entertainment depicting the underside of Japan's postwar rapid economic growth. Black Test Car tells a story of corporate espionage in the automotive industry; Black Report (1963) explores the media industry's inner workings; and Black Super Express (1964) depicts a conspiracy surrounding the opening of the Shinkansen. Together, they sharply criticize the darkness beneath Japan's modernization. These works transcend simple suspense, incisively portraying social distortions and contradictions during rapid economic growth.
The performance of 高成田亨 in Black Test Car particularly symbolizes the Japanese businessman who has sold his soul for success. Masumura used the format of entertainment cinema to expose problems in Japanese society from within. The Black Series pioneered today's socially engaged entertainment films, and its influence remains strong in contemporary Japanese cinema. Through these works, Masumura successfully combined entertainment and social criticism at a high level.
