Istantanee di trasposizioni cinematografiche nel panorama queer del Giappone contemporaneo

Abstract

This article aims at analyzing the ways in which contemporary Japanese cinema has represented gay subjectivities and cultures over the last twenty years. More precisely, the article focuses on four Japanese gay movies: Bara no sōretsu (Matsumoto Toshio, 1969), Hatachi no binetsu (Hashiguchi Ryōsuke, 1993), Kira Kira Hikaru (Matsuoka George, 1992), and Tabù (Ōshima Nagisa, 1999). On the one hand, these movies show a strong sense of ambivalence towards male homosexuality, which is typical of contemporary Japanese society. On the other, they explore the relationship between Japanese perception of homosexuality and Western cultural influences.