By the early 1950s, Japanese society tried to move on from the war and into the modern era. The tensions of period, between tradition and modernity, raised questions about fundamental issues, ranging from the position of women to what it means to be Japanese in a changing society. Yasujiro Ozu was the master of the contemporary domestic drama in which these themes are contemplated but Kenji Mizoguchi, who made more lyrical historical dramas, reflects on very similar issues in a different – and in some ways freer – context. Keisuke Kinoshita’s Carmen Comes Home, the country’s first colour film (in Fujicolor of course), takes a more comedic but not less serious look at these matters, though Ozu’s The Munekata Sisters, which has a dramatic plot, is very funny as well as thoughtful. 

In collaboration with the Japan Foundation and the Japanese Embassy in Luxembourg