Sailor Suit and Machine Gun \u00a9 1981 Kadokawa Corp.<\/i><\/p>\n
New York, March 22, 2023<\/b>\u2014Japan Society is pleased to announce the 2023 Globus Film Series, Rites of Passage: The Films of Shinji Somai<\/i><\/b>. The first North American retrospective on one of Japan\u2019s most neglected auteurs, this series will spotlight director Shinji Somai (1948-2001)<\/b>, who while widely lauded in his native Japan, remains to this day largely unrecognized in the West.<\/p>\n
Kicking off Rites of Passage<\/i> is the World Premiere <\/b>of a new 4K restoration<\/b> of Typhoon Club<\/i><\/b>\u2014Somai\u2019s undisputed masterpiece (Taiwanese auteur Hou Hsiao-Hsien<\/b> would declare, \u201cThis is cinema!<\/i>\u201d in regard to the film)\u2014on April 28th, followed by an opening night party. Recently acquired by Cinema Guild<\/b>, future release plans for Typhoon Club <\/i>along with Somai\u2019s 1983 postmodern road movie P.P. Rider<\/i><\/b> are in the works. Series highlights include pop idol Hiroko Yakushimaru\u2019s breakthrough Sailor Suit and Machine Gun<\/i><\/b>\u2014with screenings of both the theatrical and 1982 (kanpeki-ban<\/i>) complete version; the North American Premiere<\/b> of the 4K Luminous Woman <\/i><\/b>restoration; and imported, archival prints of both Somai\u2019s epic maritime tragedy The Catch <\/i><\/b>and the pop-inflected Tokyo Heaven<\/i><\/b>.<\/i><\/p>\n
\u201cA major figure in Japanese cinema, Shinji Somai\u2019s recognition and influence are rarely discussed outside of Japan,\u201d said Alexander Fee<\/b>, Japan Society\u2019s Film Programmer, \u201cthis series offers a special chance to rediscover one of Japan\u2019s greatest filmmakers, whose formative works established a unique approach to filmmaking that continues to inspire the current generation today.\u201d<\/p>\n
A pioneering filmmaker during what is oftentimes referred to as the \u201clost decade\u201d of Japanese cinema, Somai came to prominence during the 1980s\u2014a time when the nation\u2019s film industry found itself in flux, perturbed by the collapse of the Japanese studio system in the previous decade. This transitional period would lead to the rise and development of independent productions, leaving Somai to serve as a crucial bridge into the post-studio era. Characterized by his demanding work ethic and innovative use of long takes (one argued to be more influential than those of Kenji Mizuguchi<\/b>), Somai forged a unique identity, working predominantly within the genre trappings of seishun eiga <\/i>(youth films) and directing some of the era’s most original and enduring works, five of which comprise Kinema Junpo<\/i>‘s critics list for the best Japanese films of all time.<\/p>\n
Somai\u2019s acclaimed oeuvre encompasses an eclectic mix of generic and stylistic conventions, ranging from Kadokawa pop idol vehicles to Nikkatsu\u2019s Roman Porno<\/i> to independent art dramas\u2014all underpinned by the filmmaker\u2019s potent evocation of adolescence. Documenting the tempestuous rigors of youth, Somai\u2019s output would remain a persistent influence on filmmakers to come\u2014from Shunji Iwai<\/b> and Shinji Aoyama<\/b> to Kiyoshi Kurosawa<\/b> and Ryusuke Hamaguchi<\/b>. Somai\u2019s frequent depictions of bodies of water\u2014including torrential downpours and typhoons\u2014parallel the emotional turbulence and volatility of youth, externalizing the alienating depths of growing up in an increasingly chaotic world.<\/p>\n
Tickets: <\/b>$15\/$12 students and seniors \/$10 Japan Society members.<\/p>\n
Screening of Typhoon Club<\/i><\/b> + <\/i>Opening Night Party: $18\/$15\/$14<\/p>\n
Screenings take place in Japan Society\u2019s landmarked headquarters at 333 East 47th Street, one block from the United Nations. Lineup and other details subject to change. For complete information, visit japansociety.org<\/a>. Tickets are available now.<\/p>\n FILM DESCRIPTIONS<\/b><\/p>\n All films are listed alphabetically.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n The Catch<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n \u300e\u9b5a\u5f71\u306e\u7fa4\u308c\u300f (Gyoei no Mure)<\/b><\/p>\n Friday, May 12 at 7:00 PM<\/b><\/p>\n Dir. Shinji Somai, 1983, 140 min., 35mm, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Ken Ogata, Masako Natsume, Koichi Sato.<\/i><\/p>\n Imported 35mm Print.<\/b> In Somai\u2019s relentless and near-mythical tale of the high seas, a young man takes on the intergenerational calling of his girlfriend\u2019s family\u2014that of a tuna fisherman. Abandoning his father\u2019s vocation, Shinichi (Koichi Sato) turns to his girlfriend\u2019s father Fusajiro, a leather-faced fisherman played by Ken Ogata, to teach him the ways of the sea but struggles to assimilate to the rugged and callous lifestyle. His doting girlfriend Tokiko finds herself caught in a current of emotional devastation as she tends to both men, witnessing the arduous occupation harden and shape Shinichi as he obsesses over mastering his new trade. Playing out as a family tragedy of repeated cycles of trauma and pain, Somai\u2019s maritime odyssey is a modern-day Melvillian epic.<\/p>\n Love Hotel<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n \u300e\u30e9\u30d6\u30db\u30c6\u30eb\u300f (Rabu Hoteru)<\/b><\/p>\n Saturday, April 29 at 5:00 PM<\/b><\/p>\n Dir. Shinji Somai, 1985, 88 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Minori Terada, Noriko Hayami.<\/i><\/p>\n Echoes of the past reverberate when an ex-call girl and a debtor meet two years after the desperate and fateful night that first brought them together. An existential study of two lonely and tortured souls, Somai\u2019s torrid pinku eiga <\/i>follows the pair as they kindle a newfound friendship amid the chaos of their broken and dispirited lives. Somai, who started his career as an assistant director at Nikkatsu in the ’70s, would not direct a feature for the studio until Love Hotel<\/i>. Love Hotel<\/i> is a melancholic entry into the studio\u2019s legendary Roman Porno<\/i> catalogue, set against the backdrop of a shimmering neon cityscape and soundtracked by Momoe Yamaguchi\u2019s heartrending crooning.<\/p>\n Luminous Woman<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n \u300e\u5149\u308b\u5973\u300f (Hikaru Onna)<\/b><\/p>\n Friday, May 5 at 8:30 PM; Saturday, May 13 at 2:00 PM<\/b><\/p>\n Dir. Shinji Somai, 1987, 118 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Keiji Muto, Monday Michiru, Narumi Yasuda.<\/i><\/p>\n North American Premiere of 4K Restoration. <\/b>A burly hulk of a man (pro-wrestler Keiji Muto) makes his way from Hokkaido to the decrepit trash heaps of outer Tokyo, searching for his beloved in what is perhaps Somai\u2019s strangest feature. When he finds himself pulled into the gladiator pits of a Tokyo nightclub, the mountain man agrees to fight in exchange for information on his lost love. Operating within a bizarre carnivalesque realm of tightrope acts, acrobatic jesters and opera, Somai\u2019s magenta-tinged Luminous Woman<\/i> inhabits a dreamlike Tokyo underworld populated by tragic figures bearing forgotten hopes and dreams.<\/p>\n FILM DESCRIPTIONS<\/b><\/p>\n P.P. Rider<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n \u300e\u30b7\u30e7\u30f3\u30d9\u30f3\u30fb\u30e9\u30a4\u30c0\u30fc\u300f (Shonben Raida)<\/b><\/p>\n Saturday, April 29 at 2:00 PM; Saturday, May 13 at 5:00 PM<\/b><\/p>\n Dir. Shinji Somai, 1983, 118 min., DCP, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Tatsuya Fuji, Michiko Kawai, Masatoshi Nagase.<\/i><\/p>\n Based on a story by Leonard Schrader (The Man Who Stole the Sun<\/i>), P.P. Rider<\/i> follows three friends\u2014Jojo, Jishu and Bruce\u2014who, after witnessing the kidnapping of their class bully, try to rescue their tormentor from the grip of his yakuza<\/i> captors. Aside from the occasional detour, the trio trail their kidnapped classmate across the country, running into a cast of seedy characters along the way\u2014including a pair of layabout cops and a wiry, washed-up gangster played by Tatsuya Fuji (In the Realm of the Senses<\/i>). Playful and referential, Somai\u2019s farcical seishun eiga<\/i> employs a variety of stylistic techniques and gags to offer an escapist summer fantasy of carefree misadventures in turn broaching a darker undercurrent despite its tongue-in-cheek demeanor. A Cinema Guild release.<\/i><\/p>\n Sailor Suit and Machine Gun<\/i><\/b><\/a><\/p>\n \u300e\u30bb\u30fc\u30e9\u30fc\u670d\u3068\u6a5f\u95a2\u9283\u300f (Serafuku to Kikanju)<\/b><\/p>\n 1982 <\/b>Complete Version<\/b><\/a> on Saturday, April 29 at 7:00 PM; <\/b>Theatrical Cut<\/b><\/a>\u00a0on Friday, May 5 at 6:00PM.<\/b><\/p>\n Dir. Shinji Somai, 1981\/1982, 112 min. (Theatrical) \/ 130 min. (Complete), DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Hiroko Yakushimaru, Tsunehiko Watase, Akira Emoto.<\/i><\/p>\n Theatrical & Complete Cuts.<\/b> Based on the popular youth novel by Jiro Akagawa, Sailor Suit and Machine Gun<\/i> focuses on the life of schoolgirl Izumi Hoshi (Kadokawa idol Hiroko Yakushimaru) who inherits the reins of a dying yakuza<\/i> clan and is thrown headfirst into a gangster feud. Vying for respect in an adult world, Izumi takes charge and challenges the violent drug cartel that threatens her clan. Between Somai\u2019s skillful direction, a hit theme song and Yakushimaru herself\u2014dressed in her iconic sailor fuku<\/i>, Sailor Suit and Machine Gun<\/i> had all the makings of a smash hit, emerging as a cultural phenomenon that catapulted Yakushimaru to widespread popularity and perfectly captured the zeitgeist of ’80s Japan.<\/p>\n