Emperor Tomato Ketchup

Name: Tomato Kecchappu Kôtei
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 h 12 min
Rating: 5.8
Cast: Goro Abashiri, Tarô Apollo, Shiro Demaemochi

Original title: Tomato Kecchappu Kôtei

1971
1h 12m

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

790

YOUR RATING

Drama

Set in a future in which children have overthrown adults, the film does not have a central narrative. It depicts a series of graphic tableaux in which children engage in cruel and abusive ac... Read allSet in a future in which children have overthrown adults, the film does not have a central narrative. It depicts a series of graphic tableaux in which children engage in cruel and abusive acts against the adults.Set in a future in which children have overthrown adults, the film does not have a central narrative. It depicts a series of graphic tableaux in which children engage in cruel and abusive acts against the adults.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

5.8/10

790

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Trivia
British alternative-rock band Stereolab, named their 1996 album Emperor Tomato Ketchup after this film

Alternate versions
A 27-minute cut of the movie was released in 1971. A re-cut version, attempting to recreate the film as originally made in 1970, was released as a 75-minute, color-tinted feature in 1996.

Connections
Edited from Janken sensô (1971)

User reviews9

Review

Featured review

7/10

Strange, political, experimental, Yes, child porn, NO

In the post-war period Japan there was a new constitution which guaranteed new rights in terms of freedom of expression similar to those in the US, even arguably more "free". As a result experimental cinema blossomed and decreasing financial boundaries for entry into film-making allowed a renaissance in artistic and experimental cinema. Far from offensive, Emperor Tomato Ketchup uses the canvas of the moving image to explore political (anarchist movements), social issues, and sexual issues but at no point are the scenes intended for sexual stimulation. In fact the scenes which contain nudity do include a mature woman and young teenage boy, but what take place is not actual sex but more a nudist/naturalist depiction of humanity and playfulness. This film is not a depiction of reality but rather, befitting an avant garde film, the creation of another world where extremes and strangeness exist to point out issues in own own reality. Without experimental film there is no new film.