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LoveYourBookshopDay

新宿泥棒日記 [Shinjuku Dorobō Nikki / Diary of a Shinjuku Thief] (Nagisa Ōshima, 1969)

Aug

14

Love Your Bookshop Day

新宿泥棒日記 (1969)

Umeko (Rie Yokoyama) in a bookstore. In the foreground a large fallen pile of books. DPs: Seizō Sengen & Yasuhiro Yoshioka.

Umeko (Rie Yokoyama) believes to have caught Torio redhanded (Tadanori Yokoo, whose character has been renamed “Birdey” in the English translation), shoplifting from her bookstore. Torio however is a performance actor – and real-world Art Theatre Guild performer – and the act of stealing is part of his research. The young people's encounter sets something in motion. Together them embark on committing crimes in #Tokyo's labyrinthine #Shinjuku neighbourhood and find their mirror images in a #kabuki play.

 

新宿泥棒日記 is a playful, dangerous exploration of youth and rebellion in a rapidly shifting Japan.