settima

Tokyo

ドキュメント 路上 [Document Rojo / On the Road: The Document] (Noriaki Tsuchimoto, 1964)

Mar

26

Road Traffic Act 1934

ドキュメント 路上 (1964)

A look from a Tokyo cab driver's perspective. We see the dashboard, heavy trucks ahead, and behind, and the reflection of the driver in his rearview mirror. DP: Tatsuo Suzuki.

Bad drivers: the start of compulsory driving tests in the UK was established on March 26, 1934* with the Road Traffic Act.

“This film portrays the traffic war that goes on every day. — Tokyo, 1964”

– opening title

*I find no solid proof to support this statement

Le mystère Koumiko [不思議なクミコ / The Koumiko Mystery] (Chris Marker, 1965)

Oct

11

1964

Le mystère Koumiko (1965)

A closeup of Koumiko's face, taken from a television screen. DP: Chris Marker.

“Mr. Everyman explains how to look like a Japanese and thus impress those wild and not very civilized people. Mrs. Everyman replies that for savages, they look remarkably civilized. Meanwhile, Mr. Everyman, seeing more people looking even more Japanese, is reassured. Mrs. Everyman sees soldiers parading in European uniform. She smiles ironically. But now a number of typical Japanese walk into the house. Her irony disappears. And Mr. Everyman is not ashamed to admit… he is mystified.”

– narrator

0課の女 赤い手錠 [Zeroka no onna: Akai wappa / Zero Woman: Red Handcuffs] (Yukio Noda, 1974)

Sep

12

National Police Woman Day

0課の女 赤い手錠 (1974)

Rei (Miki Sugimoto) wielding the red chain of her handcuffs. DP: Yoshio Nakajima.

Rei (Miki Sugimoto) is a member of Division Zero, a top secret division of #Tokyo's police department. Hired to investigate a high-profile #kidnapping, she infiltrates the gang and kills them off with her signature blood-red handcuffs.

 

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.