Onan

16mm, black and white, sound, 7 min
scans not available
Music by Yasunao Tone This film narratives the story of young man who makes holes on nude photographs with a heated stick and later gives birth to a hue plastic egg (an art work of Natzuyuki Nakanishi ...
Rental format: 16mm

Stills

About

Music by Yasunao Tone This film narratives the story of young man who makes holes on nude photographs with a heated stick and later gives birth to a hue plastic egg (an art work of Natzuyuki Nakanishi who plays the role of the young man). "ONAN is a work about desire (masterbation) which has no object but itself. The appearance of the large egg objectifies the man's desires. After colliding with the other (a girl), the hero falls down while still holding the egg, thus caricaturing the desire of the hero. "The basis framework of the story is conventional, yet Iimura's way of telling is lift me with a new knowledge of love. What more can you ask of a film? For example, with all the expert gyrations of Bressons's film, BALTHAZAR, (which is about love too) it seemed to me just a remake of some very tired sentiments. ONAN shows, at least to me, that Iimura can handle narrative material where most avant gardists fear to tread. At the root, Iimura seems to have a feature-film-maker's sensibility." – Carl Linder, Film Culture 44, Spring 67 "In Onan (1962) a young man becomes aroused by looking at pictures of naked women in girlie magazines. He makes several visually-startling attacks on the photographs with a penile-looking stick he has heated in a hibachi; then he apparently masturbates. Later we see the man rolling around on the bed until he gives birth to a large egg, made of some synthetic substance. After rubbing the egg all over his body, he runs outside and offers it to a woman; her refusal causes him to lie down in a fetal position which he maintains until the end of the film. Onan suggests the essentially furstrating lifelessness of eroticism based on the callous exploitation of the female body. The implication seems to be that the sadistic attitude toward women revealed in the man's attacks on the photographs ultimately renders him an eternal baby in this real relationships with women." – Scott MacDonald, Afterimage, April, 1978

Films

  • Other films by this artist in our catalogue

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    Early Film Poems
    Experimental

    Early Film Poems
    Takahiko Iimura

    sound, 44 min
    Rental format: DVD NTSC
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    Ai (Love)
    Experimental

    Ai (Love)
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, sound, 10 min
    Rental format: 16mm
    • Body
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    Iro (Colors)
    Experimental

    Iro (Colors)
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, color, sound, 10 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Kuzu (Junk)
    Experimental

    Kuzu (Junk)
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, sound, 10 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    On Eye Rape

    On Eye Rape
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, silent, 10 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Screen Play
    Experimental

    Screen Play
    Takahiko Iimura

    color, sound, 10 min
    Rental format: DVD NTSC
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    Desade
    Experimental

    Desade
    Takahiko Iimura

    black and white, sound, 10 min
    Rental format: 16mm
    • Body
    • Erotic
    • Arts / Artists
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    Sakasama (Upside Down)
    Experimental

    Sakasama (Upside Down)
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, color, silent, 13 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Rose Color Dance
    Experimental

    Rose Color Dance
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, silent, 13 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Anma (The Massure)
    Experimental

    Anma (The Massure)
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, silent, 13 min
    Rental formats: 16mm, DVD NTSC
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    A Dance Party in the Kingdom of Lilliput No. 1
    Experimental

    A Dance Party in the Kingdom of Lilliput No. 1
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, sound, 14 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Eye For Eye, Ear for Ear
    Experimental

    Eye For Eye, Ear for Ear
    Takahiko Iimura

    black and white, sound, 25 min
    Rental format: DVD NTSC
    • Films About Film
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    I Saw the Shadow
    Experimental

    I Saw the Shadow
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, silent, 13 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Taka and Ako
    Experimental

    Taka and Ako
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, silent, 13 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Experiments in New York
    Experimental

    Experiments in New York
    Takahiko Iimura

    DVD, color and b/w, sound, 29 min
    Rental format: DVD NTSC
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    Writing With Light: White Calligraphy
    Experimental

    Writing With Light: White Calligraphy
    Takahiko Iimura

    black and white, sound
    Rental format: DVD NTSC
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    White Calligraphy
    Experimental

    White Calligraphy
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, silent, 18.5 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    New York Scene
    Experimental

    New York Scene
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, silent, 35 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Summer, Happenings, U. S. A.
    Experimental

    Summer, Happenings, U. S. A.
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, sound, 28 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Face
    Experimental

    Face
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, color, sound, 20.5 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    For Filmic Meditation
    Experimental

    For Filmic Meditation
    Takahiko Iimura

    color and b/w, sound, 42 min
    Rental format: DVD NTSC
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    Filmmakers
    Experimental

    Filmmakers
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, color, sound, 30 min
    Rental formats: Digital file, DVD NTSC, VHS NTSC
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    Film Strips II
    Experimental

    Film Strips II
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, silent, 13.5 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Buddha Again (a. k. a. Cosmic Buddha)
    Experimental

    Buddha Again (a. k. a. Cosmic Buddha)
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, color, sound, 16.25 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    A Chair & Blinking
    Experimental

    A Chair & Blinking
    Takahiko Iimura

    DVD (NTSC), black and white, sound, 8 min
    Rental format: DVD NTSC
    • Body
    • Minimal / Conceptual
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    Kiri (Fog)
    Experimental

    Kiri (Fog)
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, silent, 5 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Film Strips I
    Experimental

    Film Strips I
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, silent, 11.5 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Yoko Ono: This Is Not Here
    Experimental

    Yoko Ono: This Is Not Here
    Takahiko Iimura

    DVD, color, sound, 18 min
    Rental format: DVD NTSC
    • Music
    • Arts / Artists
    • Literarature / Theater
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    Shutter
    Experimental

    Shutter
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, sound, 25 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    The Pacific Ocean
    Experimental

    The Pacific Ocean
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, color, silent, 30 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    In The River
    Experimental

    In The River
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, color, sound, 19.5 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Performance/Myself (Or Video Identity)
    Experimental

    Performance/Myself (Or Video Identity)
    Takahiko Iimura

    color and b/w, sound, 29 min
    Rental format: DVD NTSC
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    On Duration in Film
    Experimental

    On Duration in Film
    Takahiko Iimura

    black and white, sound, 39 min
    Rental format: DVD NTSC
    • Structural
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    Models: A-3: Time Length 1,2,3,4
    Experimental

    Models: A-3: Time Length 1,2,3,4
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, sound, 12 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Models: B-4: Seeing, Not Seeing

    Models: B-4: Seeing, Not Seeing
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, 4 min
    Rental formats: 16mm, DVD NTSC
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    Models: A-2: Timing 1, 2, 3, 4
    Experimental

    Models: A-2: Timing 1, 2, 3, 4
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, sound, 11.5 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Japanese Experimental Films - 1970s
    Experimental

    Japanese Experimental Films - 1970s
    Takahiko Iimura

    color and b/w, sound, 64 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Models: A-4: Timed 1,2,3
    Experimental

    Models: A-4: Timed 1,2,3
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, sound, 7.5 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Models: B-1: Counting, 100 Or X's

    Models: B-1: Counting, 100 Or X's
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, 11.5 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Models: B-2: A Line 1, 2, 3

    Models: B-2: A Line 1, 2, 3
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, 9.5 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Models: B-3: To See the Frame, Not to See the Frame

    Models: B-3: To See the Frame, Not to See the Frame
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, 11.5 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    Models: A-1: 2 Min. 46 Sec. 16 Frames
    Experimental

    Models: A-1: 2 Min. 46 Sec. 16 Frames
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, sound, 9 min
    Rental format: 16mm
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    1 To 60 Seconds
    Experimental

    1 To 60 Seconds
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, sound, 30.5 min
    Rental format: 16mm
    • Films About Film
    • Films About Film
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    + & - (Plus and Minus)

    + & - (Plus and Minus)
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, sound, 26 min
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    Parallel

    Parallel
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm
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    On Time In Film/DVD
    Experimental

    On Time In Film/DVD
    Takahiko Iimura

    black and white, sound, 33 min
    Rental format: DVD NTSC
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    24 Frames Per Second (Revised)
    Experimental

    24 Frames Per Second (Revised)
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, sound, 12 min
    • Films About Film
    • Films About Film
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    24 Frames Per Second
    Experimental

    24 Frames Per Second
    Takahiko Iimura

    16mm, black and white, sound, 10.5 min
    • Films About Film
    • Films About Film