The Insect Woman (1963)

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The Insect Woman (1963) – S. Imamura

Japanese director Shohei Imamura (who continued making movies into the 2000s) famously said that his films were “messy” and it’s true.  Although afterwards it is possible to trace a narrative line and to consider the point and purpose of events, during the film itself things can be quite unpredictable and sometimes strange.  The Insect Woman follows Tome from her fatherless birth in the countryside in 1918 through WWII where she was forced to work for the landlord (and sleep with the landlord’s son) on to the 50s where she was, in succession, a factory worker and union leader, a maid, a prostitute, a pimp, and a cleaning lady.  Imamura sees her as a pragmatic survivor, much like an ant or a beetle, scurrying about protecting her self-interest and occasionally working for others when it suits her ends. Her daughter (also born out of wedlock, like the two generations of women in her family before her) seems to have similar characteristics, also managing to use her wiles to achieve her own goals: this time, she deceives her sugar daddy (the same business man who “kept” her mother) in order to get money to start a collective farm.  In the end, we see Tome scurrying about in the dirt, like an insect, hitting home the entomological theme.  As sociological commentary, Imamura’s film is intriguing but a bit unclear – is this a feminist film, showing the spirit of women to overcome obstacles, even those put in front of them by the patriarchy? If so, Tome’s willingness to exploit other women (and to do so in a mean-spirited way) flies in the face of that, unless it is to say that this horrible social system corrupts all those who try to achieve some measure of equity and even comfort.  Perhaps that’s it.