One of probably the most iconic works of ukiyo-e is Hokusai’s 1814 print “The Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife,” which depicts a girl amid a sexual liaison with two octopuses. It is so acquainted that its outré bestialistic imagery is considerably diluted. The image even seems in Mad Men (2007–15) as ornament in a Japanophilic promoting govt’s workplace. “I picked it for its sensuality, but it also in some way reminds me of our business,” he remarks.
This is only one instance of shunga — or “spring picture,” with “spring” being a euphemism for intercourse — a class of ukiyo-e throughout the type’s heyday in 1600–1800s Japan. Junko Hirata’s Shunga (2023) is a foray into this world, relating many much less acquainted works within the style. Making its North American premiere at this yr’s Japan Cuts, the documentary delves deep into shunga’s historical past, its persevering with affect on Japanese artwork, and the connection between “legitimate” artwork and pornography.
Shunga is likely one of the most pleasantly stunning nonfiction movies to come back alongside shortly, noteworthy for avoiding lots of the pitfalls so many documentaries about artwork journey into. The style feels bloated with 80-minute scans of actions and subjects that cut back them to their most blatant speaking factors and historic referents, seemingly made to be watched within the background on a streaming service or pulled out for college kids on a gradual day. But Hirata adopts a deliberate, methodical strategy, presenting these artworks with the scrutiny of a curator. She’s not afraid of scenes through which specialists communicate at size in regards to the finer particulars of particular prints, even leaving of their pauses in speech so the viewers can take in what they’re saying. The viewer is inspired to assume like a critic, to think about how selections in composition, linework, and shade have an effect on the affect of every piece.
Gratifyingly, the movie additionally presents its risqué topic in a maturely simple, matter-of-fact method. Shunga is filled with cartoonish and bawdy imagery, some much more outrageous than “Dream of the Fisherman’s Wife.” There are people with genitalia for heads, exaggeratedly massive intercourse organs, extremely specific and fluid-rich renderings of coitus, and far more. It could be really easy to titter at this, to mock the illicit tastes of the Edo interval’s chōnin class. Hirata is as an alternative curious in regards to the origins of such imagery, and the way it ties into the broader tendencies of the period. Multiple artists, historians, and different speaking heads assert shunga’s validity, however the movie’s very building makes the argument most strongly.
Another aspect bolstering shunga’s artistry is the shut consideration the movie pays to how a lot labor went into creating these photos. Ukiyo-e is a type of woodblock printing, that means it melds portray and carving. One of probably the most mesmerizing sequences visits a contemporary woodblock artist who demonstrates what a fragile course of it’s to render hair — together with pubic hair — within the ukiyo-e type. It’s painstaking, intricate work. Shunga is a uncommon documentary about artwork that may do greater than present a crash course; it would simply flip you right into a discovered respect of effective artwork pornography.
Shunga (2023), directed by Junko Hirata, will play as a part of Japan Cuts at Japan Society (333 East 47th Street, Midtown East, Manhattan) on July 13.
