43-film retrospective ‘Japan in Black’ combines classics, current trends and new discoveries

17/07/2008

The Japan in Black retrospective featured at the upcoming edition of the San Sebastian International Film Festival will include 43 films from every period of Japanese film history and the different paths the genre has taken so far.

Japan in Black will include silent era movies by Daisuke Ito, classics by Akira Kurosawa and Shohei Imamura, and new trends from Japanese film noir which are having a profound influence on modern filmmaking around the world. Films by names such as Kiyoshi Kurosawa, Masato Harada, Takashi Miike and Takeshi Kitano come together in what will probably be one of the genre’s most ambitious showcases.

A number of specialists and devotees will be coming to San Sebastian to take advantage of this unique opportunity to learn more about a special kind of film noir now enjoying a period of revival. Theater Of Life: Hishakaku (Jinsei Gekijo – Hishakaku, 1963) by Tadashi Sawashima and Big Time Gambling Boss (Bakuchi-uchi: Socho Tobaku, 1968) by Kosaku Yamashita are just some of the new discoveries that will be featured in Japan in Black, a retrospective that will draw some of today’s most talented filmmakers to San Sebastian.

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 Films screened at the retrospective: 

• A Diary Of Chuji’s Travels (Chuji tabi nikki, 1927) Daisuke Ito
• Jirokichi The Rat (Oatsurae Jirokichi Goshi, 1931) Daisuke Ito
• Police Officer (Keisatsukan, 1933) Tomu Uchida
• Dragnet Girl (Hijosen no onna, 1933) Yasujiro Ozu 
• Stray Dog (Nora Inu, 1949) Akira Kurosawa 
• I Saw the Killer (Kyatsu o nigasu na, 1956) Hideo Suzuki
• Stake Out (Harikomi, 1957)  Yoshitaro Nomura 
• Endless Desire (Hateshinaki yokubo, 1958) Shohei Imamura 
• Afraid to die (Karakkaze yarô, 1960) Yasuzo Masumura
• The Sun’s Burial (Taiyo No Hakaba, 1960) Nagisa Oshima
• The Last Gunfight (Ankokugai no Taiketsu,1960) Kihachi Okamoto
• Greed in Broad Daylight (Hakuchuu no Buraikan, 1961) Kinji Fukasaku
• Pigs And Battleships (Buta to gunkan, 1961) Shohei Imamura
• Zero Focus (Zero no shoten, 1961) Yoshitaro Nomura
• High and Low (Tengoku To Jigoku, 1963)  Akira Kurosawa
• Theater Of Life: Hishakaku  (Jinsei Gekijo – Hishakaku, 1963) Tadashi Sawashima
• Youth of the Beast (Yaju no seishun, 1963) Seijun Suzuki 
• Pale Flower (Kawaita Hana, 1964) Masahiro Shinoda
• Abashiri Prison / Man from Abashiri jail (Abashiri bangaichi, 1965) Teruo Ishii 
• Brutal Tales of Chivalry (Showa Zankyoden, 1965) Kiyoshi Saeki
• The 893 Gang (893 Gurentai, 1966) Sadao Nakajima
• A Colt Is My Passport (Koruto wa Ore no Pasupoto,1967) Takashi Nomura
• Big Time Gambling Boss (Bakuchi-uchi: Socho Tobaku, 1968) Kosaku Yamashita
• Man Without a Map / Ruined Map (Moetsukita chizu, 1968) Hiroshi Teshigawara
• I, The Executioner (Minagoroshi no reika, 1968) Tai Kato
• Shinjuku Mad (Shinjuku Maddo, 1970) Koji Wakamatsu
• Stray Cat Rock: Sex Hunter (Nora-neko rokku: Sekkusu Hanta, 1970) Yasuharu Hasebe
• Cherry Blossom Fire Gang (Junko intai kinen eiga: Kantô hizakura ikka, 1972) Masahiro Makino
• Female Prisoner #701: Scorpion (Joshuu 701-Go: sasori, 1972) Shunya Ito
• Battles Without Honor and Humanity (Jingi naki tatakai, 1973) Kinji Fukasaku 
• Graveyard Of Honor (Jingi no hakaba, 1975) Kinji Fukasaku
• The Inugami Family (Inugamike No Ichizoku, 1976) Kon Ichikawa
• The Man Who Stole the Sun (Taiyo wo nusunda otoko, 1979) Kazuhiko Hasegawa
• The Beast to Die (Yaju Shisubeshi, 1980) Toru Murakawa
• The Yakuza Wives (Gokudo no onna-tachi, 1986) Hideo Gosha 
• Violent Cop (Sono otoko kyobo ni tsuki, 1987) Takeshi Kitano 
• The Most Terrible Time In My Life (Waga jinsei saiaku no toki,1993) Kaizo Hayashi
• Gonin (Gonin, 1995) Takashi Ishii
• Onibi - The Fire Within (Onibi, 1995) Rokuro Mochizuki
• Rainy Dog (Gokudo Kuroshakai, 1997) Takashi Miike
• Bullet Ballet (Baretto Baree, 1998) Shinya Tsukamoto
• Serpent's Path (Hebi no michi, 1998) Kiyoshi Kurosawa
• Jubaku: Spellbound (Kinyû fushoku rettô, 1999) Masato Harada

Donostia-San Sebastián, 17 July 2008