Directed by Shohei Imamura • 1958 • Japan
Starring Osamu Takizawa, Shin’ichi Yanagisawa, Hiroyuki Nagato

Shohei Imamura’s debut feature immediately established his iconoclastic sensibility in its robust, ribald portrait of a ragtag band of outsiders getting by on the margins of society. Following the creative and romantic complications of an idealistic young director (Hiroyuki Nagato) as he joins up with a traveling troupe of actors who mix kabuki with striptease, STOLEN DESIRE bursts with the earthy sensuality and affectionate humanity that would become hallmarks of Imamura’s later work.