Films

Description

*SOUTHEAST ASIAN PREMIERE*

Based on the novel “The Life of an Amorous Woman” by poet SAIKAKU Ihara, MIZOGUCHI Kenji’s seminal work, chronicles the tragic downfall of a once-proud noblewoman–the eponymous Oharu, played by TANAKA Kinuyo–who is exiled for her illicit affair with Katsunosuke (MIFUNE Toshiro), a lowly page. Afflicted by the vicissitudes of fate, she fights for her dignity and life amidst the cruelty of society and strict moral codes of feudal-era Japan.

The Life of Oharu is among the most celebrated of the 15 collaborations between TANAKA and MIZOGUCHI and is often cited as one of Tanaka’s greatest roles. Unfairly labelled as only the ‘muse’ of auteur-director MIZOGUCHI, TANAKA, whose prolific career and star image, along with her powerful and dynamic screen presence, is now being reframed by film studies scholars, proposing to re-centre the authority of performance, instead of rendering it as secondary to directing.