Pigs and Battleships

1961 ‘豚と軍艦’ Directed by Shōhei Imamura

In the city of Yokosuka, Kinta and his lover Haruko, both involved with yakuza, brave the post-occupation period with a goal to be together.

Hiroyuki Nagato Jitsuko Yoshimura Masao Mishima Tetsurō Tamba Shirō Ōsaka Takeshi Katō Shoichi Ozawa Yôko Minamida Hideo Sato Eijirō Tōno Akira Yamanouchi Sanae Nakahara Kin Sugai Bumon Kahara Tomio Aoki Kō Nishimura Kotoe Hatsui Toshio Takahara Hyosuke Kobe Takeo Yazu Taiji Tonoyama Hideo Kidokoro Toyoko Takechi Nobuo Kawakami Shuntaro Tamamura Hitomi Nakagawa Ayako Fukuda

Alternative Titles

Hogs and Warships, Buta to gunkan, Pigs & Battleships, Cochons et Cuirassés, Filles et gangsters

drama comedy crime action

108 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Sean Baker 16

Took me too long to watch Imamura's early work. Finally tackling the Criterion Imamura "Pigs, Pimps and Prostitutes" Box Set.
This film is amazing. I totally see how this film got Imamura on the world cinema scene -- an interesting alternative to what was the old school style of the Japanese studio system.
Imamura's fascination of cultural clash, gender politics and the underground economy is clear in this film and sets a path to what is to come in his career. I love how the film is equally as harsh toward both the US and Japan.
And the climax is pretty climactic. Budget must have been significant because this entire end sequence was shot on a set -- recreation of the Yokosuka red light district. It's strange that this ending isn't discussed more in film criticism. It's pretty epic.
The B&W cinemascope is gorgeous.
Criterion DVD - Deserves a Blu-ray
Review by Cormac 👑 ★★★★

Just me and you against the world, baby. It just so happens, the world’s got a few plans of her own. What initially feels cut from the same cloth as McQueens Lovers Rock in that ‘hiding from the outside world with your better half, a sense of security found in a once-in-a-million connection, outrunning your socioeconomic standing one embrace at a time’ way slowly unravels to reveal itself as increasingly toxic, Kinta and Haruko’s relationship mirroring the mutually destructive and exploitative ties between Japan’s lower class and the newly occupying U.S. government which makes up our bustling backdrop; Exploited and spat out by their own kind, forced to do the same to one-another as Yokosuka emerges as this swirling hub of…
Review by dEL ★★★★ 5

So this film is black and white (snooze) and foreign (snooze). Thankfully Hollywood remade it, shortened the title to just "Battleship" and cast Rhianna as the pig.
Review by SY ★★★★★

As critical of the Japanese as it is of the Americans and their capitalist ideology, this manic, irreverent effort is appropriately set among the lower stratum of society and boldly wears its heart (and its themes) on its sleeves. The film is quite a visual spectacle; the opening sequence alone is simply incredible in terms of camera work. And the acting and the music are very bold, and rightly so. Imamura is slowly becoming a favorite of mine.
Review by Chris 🦑 ★★★★★

the last 25 or so minutes of this movie might be one of the most iconic climaxes ive ever seen in any movie... truly a masterpiece
Review by joaopedrofaro ★★★★★ 3

um filme onde todas as relações são criadas, definidas e destruídas pelo imperialismo, enquanto todos os personagens tentam continuar vivos (ou não) nesse universo idiossincrático de caos celebratório. um primeiro e segundo plano em movimento constante de deslocamento corporal em espaços cada vez mais conectados pela desordem. o mundo entregue aos porcos. protopunk, incansavelmente brutal, maravilhoso, gigantesco, essencial.
Review by Mike Kennedy ★★★★

Like all Japanese directors in the years after WWII, Shôhei Imamura got into the Japanese film industry by sitting for an exam then a follow up interview and being allocated as an assistant to an existing director, in Imamura’s case, Yasujirō Ozu. Although this sounds impressive, I have seen interviews and stories about this framework - really a form of apprenticeship - that say the position title covered a range of duties from gofer to extras wrangler to anything the director needed done. For example on Tokyo Story (1953), there were two assistant directors ahead of Imamura who was credited as second assistant director. However, what this framework did was give wannabe directors the chance to shadow top flight directors.…
Review by Rakestraw ★★★½

Film Viewing Resolution #29
Shohei Imamura's Pigs and Battleships is an uneven film. Rough around the edges. It's the type of film that features a number of ingredients - socio-political issues, gangster stylings, goofball comedy, moral dilemmas, typical love story, etc. The only problem being, that all these ingredients fail to coalesce into a powerful, poignant film. It's as though Imamura had the makings of a classic film but was unable to emulsify said ingredients, making for film lacking in identity.
The glaring example being the character of Kinta, played by Hiroyuki Nagato. Kinta is a goofball, wanna-be gangster, in the truest sense (if there is one). He runs a pig farm for the local gang while also being the…
Review by Diogo Serafim ★★★★½

We are all freightened pigs killing each other, no matter where we came from. Imamura's harsh, dynamic storytelling provides such a compelling emotional dimension to the film, a bustling camera perfectly aligned with the film's volatile power struggle, cultural anthropology and post war Japan's unstable environment, Haruko's eyes supporting the weight of an entire nation's despair.
Review by Jim Drew ★★★★★

A sheer pleasure to catch a rare screening of this Shohei Imamura classic. I'm not even sure if it even is regarded as a classic, but it is.
The tale of a poor community of hoodlums, prostitutes and other townfolk living in a harbour town forced to welcome American sailors. At the time this view of conforming to the west must've been fairly provocative, particularly as Japanese cinema was largely an export business for festivals abroad. Despite what sounds like heavy subject-matter, this has many delightful moments of comedy and the characterization is very strong, particularly in the lead guy and girl, who have epiphanies which help us get onside with their slightly unsavoury personalities. It's also beautifully filmed and has some great visual flourishes.
Review by Philbert Dy ★★★★

The refrain is "who would want to work in a factory?" Who would want to make an honest living, living paycheck to paycheck, Especially in a post-war society infected with just a tinge of the American dream? Why are these small-town hicks from half a world away getting all the fun? Of course, Kinta's actual job as a baby Yakuza is to take care of pigs. There's a promise of an outsized bonus at the end, but it doesn't really seem to be any more glamorous than the theoretical factory job.
And at every corner, his colleagues are ready to throw him under the bus. And they do, repeatedly. But Kinta takes it all in stride, because who would want…
Review by James ★★★★

Five features in and Shōhei Imamura produced his first great film, a gruesome, nihilist Yakuza thriller that is by far the most entertaining, stylish and politically provocative of all his early films at Nikkatsu.
Set in the coastal city of Yokosuka during its post-war occupation by US naval forces, there is strong resentment of both America's intervention and Japan's compliance, the city becomes a literal pigsty during the incredible finale that borders on farcical, with pigs running through the streets, crushing gang members during the action packed showdown in which Imamura's propensity for superlative metaphor knows no limits. You can tell the budget was significantly increased, the recreation of the red light district built entirely on a studio set looks…

Recent reviews

Review by Stephen Henderson ★★★★★

Truly wasn't ready for how literal the title of this movie was.
This is my first foray into Criterion's Japanese Noir collection, and I love it so far! As far as noir goes, this movie hits all the right notes, and adds a good amount of absurdist comedy to boot. There's also a good amount more development of multiple female characters, which contrasts incredibly with the American noirs I'm used to.
Review by Keanu Reus ★★★½

There's a scene where an actor gets the hiccups and chokes on his spit in the same take. Just want to mention that first because it was funny af
Pigs and Battleships takes an absurd approach to Post-War Japan through the small, two-bit crime life of a young man and his girlfriend. With countless GIs seen walking the streets, in nightclubs or brothels, to mentions of military goods/vehicles, there's a clear opportunity for the gangsters to exploit the situation as best as they could while Kinta clumsily stumbles his way around it.
The climax of the story is just crazy non-stop sequence, as pigs literally overflow the town by a whole block, trampling people to death. Made the whole movie worth it. Along the way, I was already enjoying it but that scene sealed it.
Review by Paradox_9 ★★★★★

wow.
Review by Thiago Borges ★★★★

Tragicômica jornada (meio afetada) de um jovem Yakuza, cujas decisões erradas levam-no a um destino inescapável. Ótimas movimentações de câmera em certas cenas, e parte final marcante - desde os porcos nas ruas até a garota finalmente deixando tudo pra trás.
Review by MAK ★★★★

2021 Criterion Challenge
Film 7 - A film from Wes Anderson’s Top 10
Review by Cormac 👑 ★★★★

Just me and you against the world, baby. It just so happens, the world’s got a few plans of her own. What initially feels cut from the same cloth as McQueens Lovers Rock in that ‘hiding from the outside world with your better half, a sense of security found in a once-in-a-million connection, outrunning your socioeconomic standing one embrace at a time’ way slowly unravels to reveal itself as increasingly toxic, Kinta and Haruko’s relationship mirroring the mutually destructive and exploitative ties between Japan’s lower class and the newly occupying U.S. government which makes up our bustling backdrop; Exploited and spat out by their own kind, forced to do the same to one-another as Yokosuka emerges as this swirling hub of…
Review by Screenhouse ★★★

plenty of pigs and battleships. A similar type of silly as The Sopranos where everyone is just very dumb.
Review by Philip Oppenheim ★★★★½

Pachinko parlors,
Whore houses, an Army base --
All a big pig sty
Review by cliffkato ★★★★

Way more pigs than I was expecting.
Review by andersoncrook ★★★★

Solid...
Review by zaddymovies ★★★★½

Fast-paced story of small time gangster Kinta, trying in all the wrong ways to earn respect and prove his loyalty, and his long suffering girlfriend Haruko who wants a better life for Kinta. This is grimy, often hilarious, sometimes brutal and disgusting. The setting of Yokosuka's red light district reminds me of High & Low with bright signs and Americans and brothels and gangsters everywhere. Just amazing to look at and Imamura knows how to end a movie in a memorable fashion! Wow!
Review by Ryan Noonan ★★★★

This movie has everything, and I mean that almost literally. It’s postwar Japan, so you’ve got the locals and the occupying Americans, but there are also some Chinese guys who hate everyone. There’s gangsters, pimps, prostitutes, rape, abortion, alcoholism, stomach cancer... pig farming? Absolutely chaotic energy as everyone tries to claw their way ahead of everyone else and succeeds only in sinking deeper into the mire.