The Women in the Mirror

Screening Schedule

Nov. 21 (Sat.) 9:30

See Time Table

Details

Sypnosis:
Yoshida returned to fiction maker after a fifteen-year interval with this ‘family drama’ that takes on the important theme of the atomic bomb, still haunting many Japanese lives until this very day. Three generations of women question their identity but, with the atomic dome of Hiroshima in the back-ground, have to admit that there can be no definitive answer to their query, due to the irrational character of the atomic bombing. All Yoshida’s style elements are conspicuously present in this strong late work by the almost 70-year old director. While many admirers of his films prefer to speak of ‘ his most recent work ‘ rather than ‘his last work ‘ , Yoshida himself has mentioned that ne can very well live with the idea of this film becoming his testament. The Women in the Mirror brought him to Cannes and sparked a reappraisal of his oeuvre in his homeland and France. It also marked the renewal of his collaboration on screen with Okada Mariko after three decades. ( Dick Stegewerns )

<Filmmakers>
production Grouve Cooperation, Gendai Eigasha, Root Pictures, Groove Kinema Tokyo.
producer Narusawa Akira, Ayabe Masanori, Takahashi Matsuo.
director Yoshida Yoshishige
scenario Yoshida Yoshishige
camera Nakabori Masao
lighting Sano Takeji
art director Heya Kyõko
music Harada Keiko, Miyata Mayumi
editor Yoshida Yoshishide, Morishita Hiroaki
sound Yokomizo Masatoshi

<Cast>
Okada Mariko
Tanaka Yoshiko
Isshiki Sae
Murota Hideo
Nishioka Tokuma
Yamamoto Mirai
Kitamura Yukiya
Sannjyou Miki
Inuzuka Hiroshi

Director

Kiju ( Yoshishige ) Yoshida :

Director. A key filmmaker of the Shochiku New Wave in postwar Japanese film and a prominent director of films.

Born in 1933, Fukui city, Japan.
In 1955, upon graduation from Tokyo University with a degree in French Literature, and
Yoshida took the entrance examination for Shochiku and was hired as an assistant director.
He worked primarily for director Keisuke Kinoshita, but he also found himself to another Shochiku luminary, Yasujirou Ozu.
Yoshida started his career at Shochiku Ofuna Studio with ‘ Good for Nothing ‘ (1960 ) and he led the New Wave in the 1960th.
In 1962, Yoshida directed ‘ An Affair at Akitsu’, a movie that produced by Mariko Okada as her 100th anniversary performance.
In 1964, Yoshida and Okada married and after going independent, they established a production firm, Gendai Eigasha in 1966.
Up to now, Yoshida has made films and documentaries.
His most celebrated film is ‘ Eros + Massacre ‘ ( 1969 ) and ‘ The Women in the Mirror’ （2003）was officially show as a special feature film at the 55th Cannes Film Festival in France.
In 2008, Pompidou Center in Paris performed the Kiju Yoshida’s retrospective show and screened his all films and a part of documentaries.

Major films include:
‘ Good for Nothing’ (1960) ‘ An Affair at Akitsu ‘ ( 1962 )
‘ A Story Written in Water ‘ (1965) ‘ The lake of Women ‘ (1966 ) ‘ The Affair ‘ (1967 )
‘ Flame and Feeling ‘ (1967 )　‘ Eros + Massacre ‘ (1969) ‘ Purgatory Heroica ' (1970) ‘ Coup d’Etat ’ ( 1973)‘ The Human Promise ’ (1986) ‘ Wuthering Heights ’ (1988 )
‘ The Women in the Mirror ’ (2003 )