Pigs and Battleships

Pigs and Battleships (豚と軍艦, Buta to gunkan) is a 1961 Japanese film by director Shohei Imamura. The film depicts the mutually exploitative relationship that exists between the U.S. military and the lower elements of Japanese society at Yokosuka. It is based on the novel by Kazu Otsuka.

Plot

The film focuses on Kinta, a member of the Himori Yakuza, who has been put in charge of the gang's pork distribution and his girlfriend Haruko, who works at a bar. Kinta is shown working with other gangsters, beating up a local shopkeep who caters to Americans and paying the people who work on the hog farm. When Kinta goes to visit Haruko in the afternoon she leaves without speaking to him and Kinta finds out through her sister that Haruko is being paid 30000 yen to go on a date with a sailor (and that her mother has already spent the money). Haruko returns to Kinta later that night, although Kinta is unhappy because of the earlier events. Haruko reveals that she is pregnant and expresses her concerns about Kinta’s work.