A Man with Whom Men Fall in Love: Homosociality and Effeminophobia in the Abashiri Bangai-chi Series

ABSTRACT

This paper focuses on ninkyō eiga (the chivalry film) and especially the Abashiri Bangai-chi series to examine politics of effeminacy in the masculinist film genre. Unlike conventional ninkyō eiga in which any corporeal intimacy between the men is negated, the Abashiri Bangai-chi series is subversive in a way that it acknowledges the sexual intimacy in a male-dominated environment. Particularly, effeminate characters are employed as comic relief who sexually approach masculine yakuza only to be rejected. They appear as the abject opposite of masculinity to sustain the supremacy of patriarchy. On the other hand, intimacy between masculine men is highly exaggerated to the extent that the male body becomes a visual spectacle that exudes homoeroticism. Especially, effeminate characters are the ones that are given opportunities to adore men’s bodies and fondle them for sexual pleasure. Abashiri Bangai-chi is a reactionary series that borrows the formula of ninkyō eiga to present the idealized versions of masculinity but also plays with the generic convention by amusingly exposing the erotic nature of the act of consuming masculine yakuza.

Notes

¹ Translations of all Japanese sources cited in this article are by the author unless otherwise noted.

² It is often the case that a film depicts, before a vengeful raid, the journey of the protagonist (with his partner in some cases) to the headquarters of the adversary. This journey is known as michi-yuki and is represented in a highly aestheticized manner with atmospheric lighting, expressionist mise-en-scène, and melancholic music that highlights man’s willingness to sacrifice one’s life in the battle against evil.

³ For instance, the first installment is based on The Defiant Ones (1958); the final battle sequence in the third installment is similar to that of Vera Cruz (1954) (Shiba & Aoyama, 1998: 35); the shooting competition in the fifth Western installment is analogous to the opening of Winchester ‘73 (1950); and the ninth installment even has a reference to West Side Story (1961) when rebellious youths appear as they snap their fingers.

⁴ Right after the end of the Abashiri Bangai-chi series, Toei launched the Shin Abashiri Bangai-chi [New Abashiri prison] series (1968–1972, eight installments) in 1968. Since this new version is substantially different from the older one, this paper excludes the new version when it mentions the Abashiri Bangai-chi series.

⁵ Hereafter, each installment will be referred to as Abashiri Bangai-chi 1, Abarishi Bangai-chi 2, and so on, for the sake of simplicity.

⁶ Only the seventh installment is not written by Ishii, but by Fumio Kōnami and Hiro’o Matsuda.

⁷ Two installments of the Abashiri Bangai-chi series were among the top ten films in the box office in 1965, and three installments in 1966 (Eiga, 1986: 16).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI (Grant Number JP20J10971).