Sing a Song of Sex (Nagisa Oshima, 1967)

I'm rather intruiged by the coincidence of this film being released within a year after Jean-Luc Godard's masculin feminin. I realize the mistake of comparing Oshima and Godard (as Criterion's packaging foolishly does) but there are some rather interesting similarities between the two films, similarities which reach toward similar messages. Of course, a lot of what Oshima aims at is very different from Godard - Oshima does not concern himself with the nature of "cinema as cinema" the way Godard does - but I think that, in this case, the comparison is apt.

What both films are criticizing is the way with which youths interact with the issues of the day. Masculin feminin focuses on the three youths and how they manage to balance an anti-American ideology with the capitalism that American ideals represent, something they have fully bought into (as they are "the children of Marx and Coca-cola"). Oshima touches on this balance, but he seems to believe that the tension between the two is a red herring. Instead, the American influence and the anti-American ideology are simply signs of an inauthentic, hypocritical society. Oshima is being extremely critical of the youth of Japan, particularly as they attempt to engage with the problems of the outside world. Maybe they are not engaging with the problems of Japan first? That is the impression I am getting from this film.

Take the relationship between the professor and his students. The professor teaches all the students to listen to the songs of "the people" - I think this is an attempt to teach them about what it is to be Japanese. By reaching back to these songs as a way to authentically express their legitimate sexual desires, the youth can better transition into adulthood, as Japanese citizens. However, his speech falls on deaf ears, as Oshima's numerous tracking shots through the restaurants show his students falling asleep. How could they listen, as he states that they cannot even understand the oppression upon them? This oppression seems to appear as Oshima's reaction against the deification of the emperor (as seen in the many shots playing with the image of the Japanese flag), the failure to stem the influence of the US (as seen in the protester's decontextualized use of hippie American protest songs), and the complete failure for the youth of Japan to actually engage with any of these issues, as illustrated by the four boys and their constant need for violent sexual release.

This violent sexual release is what the professor speaks out against, as the last speech in the bar scene before he dies focuses upon this point. If the youth of Japan are not honest sexually, then they cannot be honest in society, and this will in turn lead to violence, best seen by the numerous rape fantasies each male student harbors, and the re-enactment of the professor's death. These are youth who have let their repressed sexuality take control, to the detriment of Japanese society as a whole.

As an aside, I want to mention that almost all this violent sexuality is entirely on the shoulders of the men; like in his previous film Pleasures of the Flesh, women function as commodities to be used by the men. The role of Mayuko illustrates this perfectly, as her willingness to partake in the rape fantasy at the end of the film defines her as a sex object to be used by men. The fact that the film ends with her rape an ambiguity suggests that maybe there is no hope for Japan.

I would hope not; Japan is still around, fifty years later. I also think the presence of Sachiko, who sings the "women's folk song" suggests that there is the possibility of redemption, as only through the recognition of unrepressed gender and sexual equality can Japanese society reform.