Adachi Masao is one of the most radical figures in postwar Japanese culture. Once a fugitive from the Japanese state, Adachi forged his filmmaking career amid the upheavals of the 1960s and '70s counterculture, shaped by student uprisings, political violence, and global conflict.

This critical biography traces his life and work from early collaborations with Wakamatsu Koji and Oshima Nagisa, through his years in the Middle East fighting for the Palestinian cause with the Japanese Red Army, to his highly anticipated return to filmmaking in the twenty-first century.

The first-ever English-language book on Adachi, based on extensive interviews with the director, this study offers a vivid and comprehensive portrait of the filmmaker and his provocative oeuvre — from socially engaged pink films and New Wave cinema to experimental documentary and avant-garde psychodrama. An essential read for those interested in cinema, history, or politics.

About the Author
William Andrews is a Tokyo-based writer and translator originally from Britain. He is the author of The Japanese Red Army: A Short History and Dissenting Japan: A History of Japanese Radicalism and Counterculture, from 1945 to Fukushima. His translations in the visual and performing arts have been widely published.