Poet, playright, theatre director, filmmaker, essayist, agitator and lover of all things anarchistic, chaotic, and truthful, SHUJI TERAYAMA (1936-1983) is one of Japan?s most revered and respected artists. In the heady and extremist Japanese art scene of the late 70s, Terayama created a number of unforgettable and highly controversial films. EMPEROR TOMATO KETCHUP is his epic, sexually revolutionary and hallucinatory work from 1972 in which "magical women act as the initiatory, yet protectively maternal sexual partners to children. The children, in revolt, have condemned their parents to death for depriving them of self-expression and sexual freedom; they create a society in which fairies and sex education are equally important and literally combinable." (Amos Vogel, Film as a Subversive Art). Featuring decadent, playful and disturbing episodes which seem to be drawn from the theatrical improvisations of Terayama's "troupe", EMPEROR TOMATO KETCHUP is a strange and breathtaking exploration of taboo and self-determination.
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