Cinema Japan: A Wreath for Madame Kawakita
The Pacific Film Archive’s 24 film series Cinema Japan: A Wreath for Madame Kawakita is not quite half over. Here’s what’s left.
Sunday, November 16, 2008
3:00 p.m. Akiko—Portrait of a Dancer
Sumiko Haneda turns her expert lens on dancer Akiko Kanda in this portrait of creativity, individuality, and rebellion.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
/2:00 p.m. Ode to Mount Hayachine
A mystical mountain provides the setting for Sumiko Haneda’s fascinating documentary look into Japanese folklore and tradition.Friday, November 28, 2008
8:40 p.m. Her Brother
Kon Ichikawa’s powerful family drama, set in the Taisho era, with virtuoso performances by Kinuyo Tanaka and Keiko Kishi.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
5:00 p.m. Zigeunerweisen
Seijun Suzuki weds surrealism to ghost story to evoke the late 1920s in Japan as a period of changing mores akin to Weimar Germany.
Sunday, November 30, 2008
3:00 p.m. Tora-san’s Sunrise and SunsetA Japanese populist classic from Yoji Yamada’s Tora-san series. Our bumbling proletarian hero has adventures in the Tokyo suburbs and in the arts.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
7:00 p.m. The Ceremony
Oshima’s audacious family saga is nothing less than the history of the postwar Japanese state. “Makes contemporary cinema look puny by comparison, so dense and complex its achievement.”—Cinematheque Ontario
Friday, December 5, 2008
9:00 p.m. BoyNagisa Oshima’s New Wave classic is a furious indictment of the desperation in Japan’s postwar economy. “Weird, beautiful, and terrifying.”—The Observer
Sunday, December 7, 2008
2:00 p.m. Black Rain
Focusing on the psychological toll on one family, Imamura “treats the medical horrors of post-atomic Hiroshima with a tense, sorrowful reserve.”—N.Y. Times
Sunday, December 7, 2008
4:30 p.m. Onibaba
Two women lure samurai to their deaths in one of the key works of the Japanese New Wave and a great influence on the recent “J-Horror” wave.Friday, December 12, 2008
6:30 p.m. Tokyo Drifter
Suzuki’s free-jazz version of a yakuza tale is a fabulous collection of surrealist set pieces and mind-warping visual gags.
Friday, December 12, 2008
8:20 p.m. Violence at Noon
Oshima weaves the story of a serial killer into a chronicle of the failure of idealism (and Japan’s socialist movement). “Grandly idiosyncratic.”—N.Y. Times
Sunday, December 14, 20082:00 p.m. A Last Note
Shindo’s autumnal masterwork about an elderly theater actress vacationing at her mountain villa is a tribute to dignity in the face of aging.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
4:15 p.m. Where Spring Comes Late
A miner takes his family from sunny western Japan to wintry Hokkaido in Yamada’s touching drama.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
7:00 p.m. Intentions of MurderA neglected housewife is raped by an intruder with whom she develops a bizarre relationship. “Imamura gazes at her in quiet awe.”—N.Y. Times
