Kozaburo Yoshimura (1911-2000) is one of the neglected masters of classical Japanese film. He was responsible for some of the postwar Japanese cinema’s most compelling dramas, which bear eloquent witness to social change in a rapidly modernising and Westernising country. He began his directorial career at Shochiku in the 1930s and worked until the 1970s, but this programme will concentrate on his career in the 1950s, when his art was at its height. Working mostly at Daiei in fruitful collaboration with screenwriter Kaneto Shindo (himself also a distinguished director), he realised a sequence of gems such as Clothes of Deception (1951) and Undercurrent (1956) (the latter scripted by Japan’s leading woman screenwriter, Sumie Tanaka). These films earned him comparison with Mizoguchi for his sensitive exploration of female experience. Facilitated by the support of Kadokawa, Shochiku, The Japan Foundation and the National Film Archive of Japan, and featuring a new 4K digital restoration as well as vintage 35mm prints, this retrospective will highlight the beauty, power and relevance of Yoshimura’s cinema.

Curated by Alexander Jacoby and Johan Nordström

Kozaburo Yoshimura, undercurrents of modernity: Discover the selection