Kan Mukai

Kan Mukai (向井寛, Mukai Kan) a.k.a. Hiroshi Mukai and Patrick Kan (カン・パトリック, Kan Patorikku, October 16, 1937 — June 9, 2008)[3] was a Japanese film director, cinematographer, producer and screenwriter, known for his pioneering work in the pink film genre. In the realm of pink cinema, Japanese critics have estimated that Mukai is "the only serious rival of Kōji Wakamatsu."[4] As a producer, Mukai helped the early careers of many prominent directors, including Hisayasu Satō and Academy-Award winner Yōjirō Takita. In his career, he directed nearly 200 films and produced approximately 500.[5]

Kan Mukai
Japanese film director, Kan Mukai
Born
Hiroki Mukae[1]

October 16, 1937
DiedJune 9, 2008(2008-06-09) (aged 70)
Occupation(s)Film director, cinematographer, producer and screenwriter
Years active19622004
SpouseTakako Uchida[2]
Websitehttps://web.archive.org/web/20091111115700/http://www.kuruma.org/mukai/

Life and career

Early career and 1960s

Kan Mukai was born in Dairen, Manchukuo (modern Dalian, China) on October 16, 1937.[6] He studied economics at Kyushu University, but dropped out to pursue a career in film.[5] In 1959 he began his apprenticeship, serving as assistant director to Kiyoshi Saeki, Tadashi Imai and Isao Yoshida.[5][7] He also worked as a cinematographer on projects for various studios, mostly for educational, children's and industrial films.[8] During this early period in his career he honed his craft and became known as a top cinematographer.[8]

Mukai made his debut as a director in 1962 with Two Boys (二人の少年), an educational film.[9][10] Wanting to direct, but lacking the educational requirements necessary to be hired as a director at a major studio,[8] in 1965, Mukai moved into the lucrative new pink film genre. That year he founded Mukai Productions and, with financial backing from Nihon Cinema, directed his first pink feature, Flesh (, Niku), which was distributed by Kokuei.[9][10][11] Though the film was a plotless series of scenes in the life of a prostitute, Mukai's technical skill impressed early pink audiences and critics, and he quickly became a major name in the genre.[8] Comparing him to the major pink director of the 1960s, a critic for Kinema Junpo wrote, "Hiroshi Mukai is the only genre director who could rival Kōji Wakamatsu."[12] Flesh received international distribution, and was released in Germany on May 14, 1965 as Nacktes Fleisch.[13] The Bite (1966) was another early Mukai film shown overseas, playing in the U.S. soon after its Japanese release, and in Britain, under the title Bait, in 1967.[14][15][16] It was released on DVD in the U.S. in 2008.[17]

According to some sources, Mukai's Sexy Partners (1967) was the first S&M film. It was the first to use the subject as its primary theme.[18] He worked with his wife,[2] actress Takako Uchida, in several of his early films such as Nightly Pleasure (Yoru No Yorokobi, 1967), Stories of Adultery (Aru Mittsu, 1967), and Spring of Ecstasy (Kokotsu No Izumi, 1968). Stories of Adultery was a three-part omnibus film, with other two segments directed by Kōji Wakamatsu and Shin'ya Yamamoto (director).[19] Mukai's section was titled Beauty and Ugliness (Bi To Shu). Takako Uchida later starred in Nikkatsu's big-budget pre-Roman Porno venture into the pink arena, Story Of Heresy In Meiji Era (1968).[20] Mukai gave future first Nikkatsu Roman Porno star, Kazuko Shirakawa, her film debut with the 1967 film Girls' Dormitory.[21] Until that studio's reorganization in 1967, Mukai's films were released principally through Kanto Films.[22][23] In 1968, Mukai founded his own studio, and Shameful Technique (恥かしい技巧, Hazukashii Giko, 1967), was the first film released by Mukai Studios.[23][24]

Mukai often employed gimmick-like elements in his films or their publicity to create audiences for his films. His Blue Film: Estimation (1968) benefitted from a publicity campaign emphasizing that mainstream actress Mitsugu Fujii was starring in this pink film. The whisper-campaign behind Flesh 2 (1969)—sequel to Mukai's debut film—focused on a sex scene between a Korean girl and a black U.S. G.I., and Japan Virgin Rape (1970) had the first lady of Indonesia in its cast.[4][7] Blue Film Woman was an early all-color pink film, and Jasper Sharp writes that Mukai's use of color in this film appears to be "making up for lost time", and that the film is a "highly stylised piece."[25] In 1969, Mukai's film Forbidden Techniques (禁じられたテクニック) (1966) was released in Italy under the title Naomi. The film was banned due to obscenity, but scored a triumph in a showing at Waseda University's Okuma Auditorium.[9]

1970s and later

Throughout his career Mukai was known for working in both action and sex genres, and in the 1970s, Mukai made several films in both genres, and with the two genres mixed for the Toei Company.[26] Deep Throat in Tokyo, directed for Toei in 1975, is his best-known film.[27] Comparing Mukai's film to the original Deep Throat (U.S., 1972), Jasper Sharp writes that Mukai's film, a softcore, "airbrushed fantasy" with a higher budget and, in Kumi Taguchi, a more attractive leading lady, is "a world apart from the more crude and direct approach taken by its revolutionary American model." Nevertheless, Sharp judges that Mukai's softcore film is more offensive than the hardcore original because of its more reactionary approach to sex.[28]

In 1979, after the closing of his original Mukai Productions, Mukai started Shishi Productions (獅子プロダクション). The name "Shishi", meaning "Lion", was a pun on "4x4", indicating Mukai's ambition to foster the careers of 16 young directors.[29] As producer, Mukai had an influence on the careers of the "Four Heavenly Kings of Pink" or "Four Devils" (ピンク四天王, Pinku shitennō) group of directors who came to prominence in the 1980s. Hisayasu Satō began working in the film industry through Shishi Productions in 1981, and had his directing debut there with Mad Love! Lolita Poaching (激愛!ロリータ密猟, Gekiai! Lolita Mitsuro) (1985). He continued working with Mukai throughout the decade.[30] Takahisa Zeze also gained his first film experience at Shishi, working as a screenwriter, and assistant directing for Satō.[31] Through Shishi Productions Mukai gave Academy-Award-winning director Yōjirō Takita his first work in the film industry.[32]

In June 1982 Mukai re-formed Mukai Productions.[33] As a production company, Mukai's films were distributed by other studios, including Nikkatsu, which used these films to supplement their Roman porno series triple-bills. During the 1980s, when rape-themed films were popular, Mukai produced some of Nikkatsu's most extreme examples of the genre, including the Subway Serial Rape series (1985–1988).[34] Mukai produced celebrated Roman porno director Tatsumi Kumashiro's final film, Immoral: Indecent Relations (インモラル・淫らな関係, Immoral: Midarana Kankei) (1995).[7]

In his later works as director Mukai moved into non-pink mainstream subjects. His Going West (1997) was what the director called, "Japan's first granny road movie".[7][35] He directed a sequel to Going West entitled Hometown in 1999.[36] Other films of this final, mainstream period in Mukai's career include Last Dance (2001) and School Reunion (2004).[35] After battling liver cancer for two years, Mukai died on June 11, 2008.[1][36]

Partial filmography

Title[37]Release dateStarringStudioNotes

1960s

Two Boys
二人の少年
Futari no shōnen
1962
Mukai's directorial debut
Non-pink educational film
Flesh

Niku
1965-05 Kemi Ichiboshi
Toshio Tanaka
Nihon Cinema / Tokyo Geijutsu Productions / Kokuei 81 min.
B&W
Continuation: Chronicle of an Affair
aka Misused
続・情事の履歴書
Zoku: jōji no rirekisho
1966-04 Tamaki Katori
Anzu Kitamika
Tokyo Geijutsu Productions / Kokuei 73 min.
B&W
The Bite
aka Bait

Esa
1966-08 Michiko Shiroyama
Machiko Matsumoto
Senjō Ichiriki
Tokyo Geijutsu Productions 63 min.
B&W
Fancy Footwork
aka Forbidden Technique
aka Naomi (1969 re-release title)
禁じられたテクニック
Kinjirareta Tekunikku
1966-11 Shusaku Muto
Kazuko Kano
Yuichi Minato
Nihon Cinema 75 min.
B&W
Nightly Pleasure
夜の悦び
Yoru no yorokobi
1967-03-07 Takako Uchida
Jōji Ohara
Nihon Cinema / Kantō 79 min.
B&W
Afternoon Rendezvous
昼下がりの逢びき
Hirusagari no aibiki
1967-03-28 Shusaku Buto
Kimiko Asuka
Nihon Cinema 75 min.
B&W
Some Stories of Adultery
或る密通
Aru mittsū
1967-04-15 Mitsugu Gujii
Takako Uchida
Nihon Cinema Beauty and Ugliness segment
73 min.
B&W
Seeking for Women
女あさり
Onna asari
1967-04-15 Nihon Cinema / Mitsukuni Eiga 70 min.
B&W
Girls' Dormitory
女子寮
Joshiryō
1967-05-16 Kazuko Shirakawa
Midori Hinoki
Michiko Sakyō
Kemi Ichiboshi
Yoko Shimura
Nihon Cinema / Kantō 73 min.
B&W
Attachment of a Virgin
処女未練
Shojo miren
1967-05 Megumi Hoshikawa
Kumiko Arata
Shusaku Buto
Kyoji Kokonoe
Nihon Cinema
Sexy Partners
aka Lustful Companions
いろの道づれ
Iro No Michizure
1967-07-02 Michiko Sakyō
Jōji Ohara
Midori Enoki
Kemi Ichiboshi
Mutsukuni Eiga / 六邦映画 70 min.
B&W
Report on an Abnormal Situation: Female Plastic Surgery
aka Documentary: Evils Of Plastic Surgery
異常体験白書 女体整形
Ijō taiken hakusho: nyotai seikei
1967-09-04 Eri Nakakoji
Kemi Ichiboshi
Kokuei 75 min.
Part color
Shameful Technique
恥かしい技巧
Hazukashii gikō
1967-09-19 Rika Mizuki
Koji Satomi
Mukai Productions / Nihon Cinema / Kantō First release from Mukai Productions
67 min.
B&W
Certificate of Virginity
処女証明書
Shojo shōmeisho
1967-11-14 Miyuki Matsushima
Mayumi Taki
Nihon Cinema / Kantō 69 min.
Part color
Rape Me! Big Battle
犯して!犯して!大合戦
Okashite! Daigassen
1967 Nihon Cinema
Technique in Private
個室のテクニック
Koshitsu No Technique
1967 Tsuneo Kawai
Hiromi Aoi
Nihon Cinema / Tokyo Koei 69 min.
Obscene Family Insignia
淫紋 処女妻姦通
Inmon: shojo-zuma kantsū
1967 Takako Uchida
Shinji Kubo
Kemi Ichiboshi
Nihon Cinema 73 min.
Blue Film: Estimation
蒼いフィルム 品さだめ
Aoi firumu shinasadame
1968-03 Mitsugu Fujii
Norihiro Ohtani
Mari Nagisa
Risa Minakami
Mukai Productions / Wakamatsu Productions 69 min.
Part color
Torturing a Sensitive Spot
急所攻め
Kyūsho-zeme
1968-04 Mari Nagisa
Kozue Katori
Uematsu Productions 70 min.
Part color
The Lewd Ones
陰乱
Inran
1968-05 Uematsu Productions 68 min.
Part color
Raped Virgin's Diary: Female Beast
暴行少女日記 ♀(メス)
Bōkō shōjo nikki: mesu
1968-07 Kemi Ichiboshi
Norihiro Ohtani
Shinji Kubo
Mukai Productions / Nihon Cinema / Kantō 81 min.
Part color
History of Japanese Sexual Behavior: Forced Double Suicide
日本性風俗史 無理心中
Nihon sei fūzokushi murishinjū
1968-09 Kemi Ichiboshi
Toshio Tanaka
Mari Nagisa
Kiyoko Takeda
Asakura Productions / Kokuei 80 min.
Part color
Cruel Story of a Sex Film Actress
セックス女優残酷史
Sex joyū zankokushi
1968-09 Saeko Tsugawa
Yuri Yamashina
Million Film / Nihon Cinema 80 min.
Part color
Modern Female Ninja: Flesh Hell
現代くノ一肉地獄
Gendai kunoichi niku jigoku
1968-10 Kozue Katori
Joji Ohara
Mari Nagisa
Mukai Productions / Kantō 68 min.
Part color
Unfaithful Wife
不貞妻
Futeizuma
1968-11 Shintaro Taki
Kozue Katori
Hiroshi Jo
Kaori Aihara
Akiko Kozuki
Asakura Productions 71 min.
Part color
Indecent Wife
みだら妻 外道情炎
Midarazuma: gedō jōen
1968-12 Shinji Kubo
Mari Nagisa
Misa Takarai
Mukai Productions 76 min.
Part color
Flesh 2
続・肉
Zoku niku
1968-12 Yuko Maya
Fred Silver
Asakura / Mukai Productions / Kokuei 73 min.
Part color
Blue Film Woman
ブルーフィルムの女
Burū firumu no onna
1969-01 Mitsugu Fujii
Ichirō Furuoka
Miki Hashimoto
Asakura Productions 80 min.
Color

1970s and later

Sleeping Nude
aka Flesh Futon
and Spring, Summer, Autumn Winter: Flesh Futon
肉布団
Niku futon
1971-01 Shinji Kubo
Kenji Miyase
Kumi Sugimura
Yuki Takami
Hiroko Fuji
Nashiko Shimae
Kokuei 71 min.
Part color
Wet Play
濡れた遊戯
Nureta yūgi
1971-03 Million Film 70 min.
B&W
Hymn of Roses
あるモデルの生と死 薔薇の讃歌
Aru moderu no sei to shi: bara no sanka
1970-04 Kokuei 71 min.
Part color
Deep Throat in Tokyo
aka Tokyo Madame Deep Throat
東京ディープスロート夫人
Tōkyō diipu surōto fujin
1975-12-06 Kumi Taguchi
Hideo Murota
Tatsuya Nanjo
Tetsuya Chiba
Toei 77 min.
Color
Snake and Lady Slave
蛇と女奴隷
Hebi to onnadorei
1976-10-16 Eiko Yanami
Junichirō Yamashita
Hideo Sunazuka
Mukai Productions / Universe Productions 65 min.
Color
Forbidden Lady Bondage
aka Forbidden Bound Wife
発禁縛り夫人
Hakkin shibari fujin
1978-01 Jirō Kokubu
Mako Kitano
Mami Sakura
Shintōhō Eiga 63 min.
Color
Nun: Secret
修道女 -秘め事-
Shūdōjo: himegoto
1978-10 Mayuko Hino
Mako Kitano
Mariko Kitazawa
Universe Productions 62 min.
Color
Savaged and Ravaged
aka Secret Rape
and Rape Injustice in Japan
日本密姦拷問史
Nippon mikkan gōmon-shi
1979-02 Yuriko Azuma
Tōru Ibuki
Akihiko Kanbara
Shintōhō Eiga 61 min.
Color
Lady on 6th Street: Taste of Honey
おんな6丁目 蜜の味
Onna 6-chōme: Mitsu no aji
1982-10-02 Junko Tamura
Yumika Nogawa
Natsuko Ishida
Shishi Productions 94 min.
Color
Drama (non-pink)
Wet Kimono
四畳半色の濡衣
Yojōhan iro no nureginu
1983-03-12 Jun Miho
Osamu Murashima
Yuriko Hishimi
Toei Central Films Mainstream drama
83 min.
Color
Going West: To the West
GOING WEST 西へ・・・
Going West: Nishi-e...
1997-10-18 Chikage Awashima
Mikio Ōzawa
Miki Fujitani
Mukai Productions Mainstream film
99 min.
Color

Bibliography

English

  • Hiroshi Mukai at AllMovie
  • "HIROSHI MUKAI". Complete Index to World Film. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  • Hiroshi Mukai (I) at IMDb
  • "Pinku eiga: Beyond Pink; Blue Film Woman / Kan Mukai (with filmography & biography)". International Thessaloniki Film Festival. Archived from the original on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2010-02-25.
  • Sharp, Jasper (2008). Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema. Guildford: FAB Press. ISBN 978-1-903254-54-7.
  • Weisser, Thomas; Yuko Mihara Weisser (1998). "SPOTLIGHT: Heroes of the First Pink Wave; Hiroshi Mukai (Sometimes translated as Kan Mukai)". Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films. Miami: Vital Books : Asian Cult Cinema Publications. p. 105. ISBN 1-889288-52-7.

Japanese

Notes

  1. 映画監督の向井寛さん死去…肝不全、70歳. Sankei Sports (in Japanese). 2008-06-13. Archived from the original on 2008-06-15. Retrieved 2009-08-08. Alt URL
  2. 内田高子 うちだ・たかこ (in Japanese). allcinema.net. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  3. 向井寛 むかい・ひろし (in Japanese). allcinema.net. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  4. Weisser, Thomas; Yuko Mihara Weisser (1998). Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films. Miami: Vital Books : Asian Cult Cinema Publications. p. 70. ISBN 1-889288-52-7.
  5. 向井寛 (in Japanese). Director's Guild of Japan. Archived from the original on 2011-07-22. Retrieved 2009-08-01. 監督200本。プロデューサー500本。 is
  6. 向井寛( 監督/脚本/企画/構成/製作 ) (in Japanese). Kinema Junpo. Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  7. "向井 寛 プロフィール (Mukai Kan Profile)" (in Japanese). Mukai Productions. Archived from the original on 2013-06-03. Retrieved 2009-08-02.
  8. Weisser, p. 152.
  9. "Pink Films History" (in Japanese). P.G. Web Site. Archived from the original on 2012-08-05. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
  10. Sharp, Jasper (2008). Behind the Pink Curtain: The Complete History of Japanese Sex Cinema. Guildford: FAB Press. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-903254-54-7.
  11. Weisser, p. 113, 152.
  12. Weisser, p. 105.
  13. Sharp, p. 178.
  14. Sharp, 180.
  15. Krafsur, Richard P. (1976). "THE BITE (Japan) F6.0425". American Film Institute Catalog of Motion Pictures, The; Feature Films 1961-70. New York & London: R.R. Bowker Company. p. 94. ISBN 0-8352-0440-5.
  16. "ESA". British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 2009-09-11. Retrieved 2009-03-08.
  17. "The Bite". 10kbullets.com. Archived from the original on 2009-03-05. Retrieved 2009-03-08.
  18. Weisser, p. 257-258. "Some Japanese source books list this film as the first S&M sex movie, while other references insist either Birth Control Revolution, Trap Of Lust or Memoirs Of A Modern Female Doctor (all 1967) has that dubious distinction. Regardless, whether it was actually the first isn't important, but it's fair to say Lustful Companions was certainly the earliest pinku eiga to deal with sadism/masochism as the predominant theme."
  19. "ARU MITTSU". Complete Index to World Film. Retrieved 2009-08-04.
  20. Weisser, p. 398.
  21. Sharp, p. 131.
  22. Weisser, p. 210.
  23. Weisser, p. 440.
  24. Weisser, p. 387.
  25. Sharp, p. 62.
  26. Weisser, p. 40, 210.
  27. Weisser, p. 197.
  28. Sharp, pp. 184-185.
  29. Sharp, p. 52.
  30. Sharp, pp. 250, 265.
  31. Weisser, p. 487.
  32. "滝田監督が壇上で喜び爆発/アカデミー賞". Nikkan Sports. 2009-02-24. Retrieved 2009-08-01. 昨年亡くなった向井寛監督に師事し、ピンク映画から始まった監督人生は (...a student of director Kan Mukai, who passed away last year, his [Takita's] life as a director began with pink film...)
  33. 株式会社 向井プロダクション (in Japanese). Mukai Productions. Archived from the original on 2002-08-05. Retrieved 2009-08-02. 設 立 1982年6月
  34. Sharp, p. 235.
  35. Sharp, p. 340.
  36. "Director Kan Mukai passes away". Sankei Sports. 2008-06-13. Archived from the original on 2008-06-15. Retrieved 2009-08-08. Alt URL (English translation)
  37. "HIROSHI MUKAI". Complete Index to World Film. Archived from the original on September 8, 2012. Retrieved 2009-08-01.
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