view
ドキュメント 路上 [Document Rojo / On the Road: The Document] (Noriaki Tsuchimoto, 1964)
Mar
26
Road Traffic Act 1934
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
view
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
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.
0課の女 赤い手錠 is the first of no less than 9 instalments. Based on Tōru Shinohara's #manga 0課の女 [Zero-ka no Onna] who may be better known for his さそり [Sasori / Scorpion], which in its turn was adapted into the popular Female Prisoner Scorpion series of WiP films.
view
新宿泥棒日記 [Shinjuku Dorobō Nikki / Diary of a Shinjuku Thief] (Nagisa Ōshima, 1969)
Aug
14
Love Your Bookshop Day
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.
