Pink Bodies: On the Aesthetic and Ideological Dimensions of the Female Body in Japanese Pink Cinema

Pink cinema, a genre of erotic Japanese film that emerged in the early 60s, has exerted a large influence on Japanese cinematic history both stylistically and industrially. Known for its short length, small budgets and presence of erotic elements like nudity and sex scenes, Pink film has surprisingly been understudied in the West given its large span (its heydays lasted from the late 60s to the late 80s) and impressive production (at its height in the late 70s it accounted for 70% of Japanese cinematic production). This thesis seeks to rectify this by taking a chronological look at Pink cinema in relation to its main iconographic concern, the female body. To do this, this thesis will engage with genre theory as well as feminist theories of abjection allied with strong formalist readings of key films over the years to understand the aesthetic and ideological underpinnings of the genre.