‘Zegen’ or — Strong Currents?

It’s 1901 and Iheiji Muraoka jumps ship in Hong Kong harbour. Staggering ashore penniless, he is determined to start a new life away from Japan, something he will achieve by simply going with the flow. He’s given a job as an apprentice barber although Iheiji’s ability to speak both Japanese and Mandarin means he is soon picked by the Japanese Consulate to spy on Russian military activity in Manchuria.

Whilst there Iheiji is shocked at the treatment of the Japanese women working as prostitutes; it seems wherever the Japanese army goes brothels will follow. Iheiji’s superior informs him that these women are serving the Emperor and are soldiers for Japan. Prostitution is patriotism. These prostitutes are also potentially useful as spies, being in the perfect position to extract information from Russia clients.

Yet when Iheiji witnesses the horrific retribution visited on these women when caught spying (something they did at his suggestion), he decides to rescue these unfortunate beings and look after them himself. And so, before he knows it, this misguided patriot finds himself one of the biggest zegens (pimps) of “comfort women” outside of Japan.

Based on a true (if exaggerated) story, Imamura’s ‘Zegen’ (1987) follows Iheiji’s life and how the fortunes of his brothels are inextricably linked to Japanese military expansion and political hypocrisy. After all, “the flag follows the flesh”.

I’d read that some people viewed Shôhei Imamura’s ‘Zegen’ as one of his lesser films and somewhat atypical of his work, yet not only is ‘Zegen’ a very good Imamura feature it’s also very much rooted in the director’s style and fascinations. And anyone surprised at the bawdy, ribald comedy here obviously doesn’t know Imamura in the slightest.

But prudes be warned as ‘Zegen’ is an outrageously and explicitly sexual film. It’s not graphic as such but we’re under no illusions as to what we’re seeing, even if we’re not actually seeing it. Imamura’s non-judgmental view of human sexuality (we all do it) is also mined for satirical humour: the prostitutes are, at one point, told “don’t forget to lubricate your engines” before the film hard cuts to the Russian navy steaming over the horizon with their metal engines at full lubrication, emphasising the link between war and sex.

So ‘Zegen’ is coarse and crude but it’s also very Imamura. This same spirit — sex, critique of nationalism, sympathy for the underclass — is evident in his riotous ‘Pigs and Battleships’ (1961) and ‘The Insect Woman’ (1963) whilst his script writing for ‘Bakumatsu Taiyoden’ (1957), a comedy set in a brothel, covers very similar ground to ‘Zegen’ with its humour revolving around the business of prostitution. Yet I think what put initial audiences off ‘Zegen’ was Imamura’s irreverence and his admirable ability to never take things, especially conventions or tradition (either social or cinematic), or his own movies seriously.

This is best illustrated when Iheiji decides to commit hara-kiri in front of his staff. “How the hell is Imamura going to handle this?”, I thought to myself as the director has never had a hara-kiri scene in one of his movie before. I couldn’t imagine him filming it as a dignified or courtly act as nearly every other director would do. It would either be gruesome, funny or more than likely both. So when Iheiji sticks the sword into his stomach and immediately withdraws it screaming “How do they do it when it hurts so much?!” I wasn’t surprised in the slightest. Yet it’s not just a cheap (but VERY funny) gag as it’s also the only appropriate response any typical person would give whilst attempting to disembowel themselves. Again, Imamura shows comedy is baked into the human condition and I also can’t think of many other directors who would deliberately undermine any “seriousness” their movie might inadvertently have acquired. I can imagine some cineastes finding Imamura guilty of self-vandalism although, personally, it’s one of the reasons I love the guy; he never allows pomposity a foothold in his films.

‘Zegen’ is a very funny, incredibly well told and narratively polished experience. It has Imamura’s usual slippery use of time but here it is linear, flowing along like the current Iheiji so wished to be carried by. Imamura also keeps the scope and scale big but primarily through implication. There are large, historical events at play here but they mostly occur off-screen, the focus still remaining focused on the people caught up in it all.

Some knowledge of Japanese history might help some of the jokes land harder and the context easier to grasp, especially Japan’s expansionist phase in China, but the issues played with here are still generally universal and recognisable enough to resonate (if you want a primer for ‘Zegen’ then check out Kobayashi’s ‘The Human Condition’ from 1959 for historical background even if that film is set a few years later… and 11 hours long). The acting is strong with Ken Ogata providing a remarkably sympathetic performance as the morally inert zegen Iheiji although it’s Mitsuko Baisho as Iheiji’s ruthlessly pragmatic wife who steals the show.

‘Zegen’ is an excellent, intelligent, very funny movie that must have shocked a lot of people in Japan at the time, not just for the incendiary handling of the subject matter (Japan does not come off well at all here) but also because of the typically full-on, highly irreverent way Imamura presents it all. Like his other work, this is a film pulsating with life, life unrestrained by judgment, double standards or deadening propriety.

‘Zegen’ would not be my recommended entry point for anyone new to Imamura but it’s still an eye-opening experience. Just don’t forget to lubricate your engines before diving in.