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Retrospective - Nobuo Nakagawa, The Maestro of Japanese Horror Films
March 24th at the JACCC/Aratani Japan America Theatre (click for map)
 Nobuo NAKAGAWA (1905-1984) is known for being a maestro of the horror film as well as a filmmaker who displayed a unique creativity in various genres. He began his career in the silent film period and after World War II, became one of the most important program picture directors at Shintoho, where he created such masterpieces as “Ghost Story of Yotsuya” (59) and “Jigoku” (60). With his last film, “The Living Koheiji” (82), NAKAGAWA had made 97 films in total.
With unconventional technics, striking visuals, and entertaining stories,
NAKAGAWA’s films will give audiences the opportunity to discover
some fascinating cinematic art influencing contemporary Japanese horror genre.
A century after his birth, his films are now finally gaining acclaim at the international level. After Tokyo FilmEx, Venice International Film Festival, and Berlin Film Festival, with assistance from the Japan Foundation, we in America have the unique opportunity to see four of NAKAGAWA’s signature films shown with English subtitles on the special film day dedicated to NAKAGAWA.
*** North America Premiere ***
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 A Wicked Woman/Dokufu Takahashi Oden |
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3/24 (Fri) / Japan America Theatre /
2:55 pm – 4:13 pm |
(Japan, 1958, 74 min.)
Director: NAKAGAWA Nobuo
Screenwriter: Katsuyoshi Nakatsu, Shin Nakazawa
Producer: Mitsugu Okura
The protagonist swears to wreak vengeance on all men for the death
of her daughter and becomes a demon.
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| Hell/Jigoku |
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3/24 (Fri) / Japan America Theatre /
4:45 pm – 5:58 pm |
(Japan, 1960, 101 mins.)
Director: Nobuo Nakagawa
Screenwriter: Ichirô Miyagawa
Nobuo Nakagawa, Producer: Mitsugu Okura
Tackling the theme of “hell” as in the title, this astonishing artwork deals with the human’s karma and salvation. A chain of unfortunate events develop in the first half, while the second half vividly portrays Buddhist hell stories in a picture scroll.
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| Mansion of The Ghost Cat/Borei Kaibyo Yashiki |
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3/24 (Fri) / Japan America Theatre /
6:30 pm – 8:10 pm |
(Japan, 1958, 69 mins.)
Director: Nobuo Nakagawa
Screenwriter: Jiro Fujishima, Yoshihiro Ishikawa
Producer: Mitsugu Okura
The descendant of the servant of a cruel and vicious samurai returns to the town where she was born, only to find that a cat who is possessed by the spirits of those murdered by the samurai is trying to kill her.
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| Ghost Story of Yotsuya/Tokaido Yotsuya Kaidan |
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3/24 (Fri) / Japan America Theatre /
8:40 pm – 10:00 pm |
(Japan, 1959, 76 mins.)
Director: Nobuo Nakagawa
Screenwriter: Yoshihiro Ishikawa, Masayoshi Onuki
Producer: Mitsugu Okura
Based on an 18th-century masterpiece by Nanboku Tsuruya. It is about a woman who haunts her husband after she dies a miserable death.
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