censorship cont....

[Michael Badzik]

With all of the interest in censorship here recently, I should mention 
an introduction to the subject that I recently came across.

The current issue (#21) of Asian Cult Cinema magazine has an essay 
on Japanese censorship (of the pink kind) written by Thomas Weisser 
and Yuko Mihara Weisser (an abridged version of the one in their book 
"Japanese Cinema Encyclopedia: The Sex Films"). I will leave it to 
someone else to say if they have their facts straight, but it is an 
interesting read. It covers a lot of the things that Joss Winn has 
concerns about, and describes the methods people have used to push 
the limits of the system. Ironically, the accompanying pictures 
might make the article itself subject to censorship, if you happen 
to live in a place with particularly strict obscenity laws.

There is also an interview with Suzuki Seijun in the same issue. 

Michael Badzik
mike at vena.com