ARCHIVED ONLINE EVENT - Japan Society Film Club: Onibaba directed by Kaneto Shindo

Date
Wednesday 2 February 2022
Time
6.30pm

Booking Details
Free - Booking essential
Priority for Japan Society Members

Please remember to watch the film in advance. Onibaba is available on BFI player and Mubi with subscription and on Amazon Prime Video (rent & buy).

Do you love Japanese film classics, anime or contemporary cinema stories? Do you miss Japan and want to see it at least on screen? Would you like to learn and discuss about Japanese culture and society? Join us for the Japan Society Film Club where we will chat online about films and Japan in an informal atmosphere.

Join us for our Film Club in February where we will discuss the stylish horror period drama Onibaba directed by Kaneto Shindo in 1964.

Onibaba (鬼婆, literally "Demon Hag") is a horror period film set in medieval Japan during a period of civil war and poverty. Two women, an older peasant woman (Nobuko Otowa) and her daughter-in-law (Jitsuko Yoshimura), make their living by murdering passing samurai and trading their belongings for food. When the daughter begins an affair with a neighbour, the older woman is consumed by jealousy and anger. She will do anything to destroy their relationship, but the consequences of her actions will backfire on her and her family. At the same time poetic, erotic and macabre, with a symbolic and atmospheric visual style, Onibaba presents a harsh tale of the destructiveness of lust, envy, and rage. The film also incorporates some of the most distinctive themes in Kaneto Shindo’s filmography such as the representations of class and gender struggles, the atomic bombing and issues around ageing.

Kaneto Shindo (1912-2012) was a versatile and skilful film director, scriptwriter, producer and author. Born in Hiroshima, Shindo started his film career in 1935 when he joined Shinko Kinema in Tokyo as a set designer. He worked with director Kenji Mizoguchi and began to write scripts. After the war, he moved to Shochiku Studios and developed a successful career as scriptwriter for filmmakers such as Keisuke Kinoshita, Noboru Nakamura, and Kosaburo Yoshimura, with whom he left Shochiku in 1950 to establish the independent production company Kindai Eiga Kyokai. He debuted as film director in 1951 with Story of a Beloved Wife a biographical film about his struggles as a young screenwriter. Shindo directed more than 40 films and wrote over 200 scripts during his 70 years in the industry, with his last film Postcard released in 2010 when he was 98 years old. Among his most celebrated works as a director are Children of Hiroshima (1952), The Naked Island (1960) and Kuroneko (1968) as well as the documentary Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director (1975).

Japan Society Film Clubs will take place on the first Wednesday of the month. We will recommend a film to watch in advance and meet online to discuss. Films are often available online for free, to rent or with subscription, on DVD/Blu Ray or on BFI player. When possible, we will invite film experts to introduce and lead the discussion, but the event is open to all and we encourage participants to freely express their opinions and feelings about the films.

If you have any questions, please call the Japan Society office on 020 3075 1996 or email events@japansociety.org.uk.

Booking Info