- 女の園 (Garden of Women)
10/12/23 (Thurs)
Kinoshita Keisuke’s unusual 1954 work, which he wrote and directed, was ranked second in that year’s Kinejun poll only to yet another Kinoshita film, his smash hit Twenty-Four Eyes (and amazingly above The Seven Samurai, Chikamatsu Story, Late Chrysanthemums, Sansho the Bailiff, and An Inn in Osaka, among others). It is not nearly in the league of any of those and may have been helped by its sensational theme and starry cast. Still, it is extremely interesting as a portrait of a certain age. Oshima Nagisa says that this is the piece that inspired him to become a director, which makes sense considering the politics of his works. I assume the garden (園) is a reference to a school academy (学園), though the source novel is in fact called Artificial Garden (人工庭園).
sekenbanashi 