Last month, in honor of the Director’s Company x2 event to showcase 1980s independent productions in pinku and jishu eiga roots, the Japan Society screened Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s “Bumpkin Soup” (also known as The Excitement of the Do-Re-Mi-Fa Girl). Japanese cinema fans are most likely familiar with the name Kiyoshi Kurosawa, who has gained international acclaim with horror film classics such as Cure (1999). Before he became known for his horror films, Kurosawa began his directorial career in the 1980s during a time where Nikkatsu Studios had switched from yakuza films to pinku eiga soft porn films in effort to save the company from going under.
Bumpkin Soup follows country girl Akiko who visits a Tokyo college in hopes of tracking down her boyfriend and ends up wandering into an almost dream-like world of sexually frustrated psychology students and their professor who comes up with a “shame” theory that involves bizarre and sexual experiments. From the start, the film blends elements from musical numbers to Godardian editing creating an avant-garde study on Japanese youth in the 80s. The erotic scenes are a bit comedic to say the least, and become more and more extreme as the film progresses. Kurosawa’s pinku eiga attempt becomes satirical and absurdist, which eventually causes him to get fired by Nikkatsu who were expecting a different product. This forces him to eventually have to release the film himself.
As an art film, there’s no surprise the overall structure feels plotless and like a bunch of random stories woven together. Yoriko Doguchi who plays the main character Akiko does a great job at showing the contrast of appearing as the most innocent and naive character in a circus of free spirited students. Even though it is one of the earliest efforts of Kurosawa’s career, there is a hint of qualities that he will bring over to later films in his career such as bending reality and the basis of highly metaphoric works. Definitely not the filmmaker’s best work, but I believe it is worth seeing for diehard fans of Kurosawa.
