- The first color film for Imamura and the first one that is largely outdoors— this may not sound like a big deal but to a student of Ozu with the shoji doors and control of mise-en-scene I think this is a big thing—he still does a good job using trees and outdoor structures to block and von Sternberg-up his mise-en-scene

- Great shot of the sun opening that we’d come back often—“story of a sun god” then the snack animal montage—Imamura’s obsession with Zoomorphism
- Shot through branches of tree to show man telling story to kids
- The red and green face of that town folk storyteller split down the middle- gorgeous work

- A shot of a shark eating pig and people saying “people call us animals” throughout- character chained
- A story of an island village- strange, a doomed family, sexuality (yes it is Imamura), incest, taboo—
- Shot through wooden window with vertical columns holding it up—another one later with a latter- loaded mise-en-scene
- Another great Ozu hallway shot
- Splendid shot 1 hour in with a masseuse woman in the center foreground—and two men talking, split up by her, in the background on the sides- really well done
- Lantern in the front/left foreground like an Ozu bottle
- Long film- almost 180 minutes
- Magic hour coast shot flooded with birds is really nice

- A sprawling family/town saga
- Unlike The Pornographers and Intentions of Murder there are just 15 minute stretches here where it’s all narrative unfortunately

- Shot through holes in a fence, shot of Uma between and framed by rocks

- Really well done sex scene- shallow focus sex in the background (blurred out) and in the foreground we get the overhead lamp (with lizards on it) blocking
- It’s its own world—no reference off the weird island for 3 hours—has an effect
- HR
[…] Profound Desires of the Gods – Imamura […]