Japan House London Announces Mizoguchi and Godzilla film seasons

Curated by academic and Japanese film critic Dr Alexander Jacoby, Japan House London is hosting screenings of five films directed by Mizoguchi. The Japanese filmmaker directed roughly 100 films during his career, starting in the 1920s and spanning three decades. Many of his films won awards, and he has been cited as an inspiration for many notable directors, including Orson Welles, Martin Scorsese and Werner Herzog.

Films and associated events in the season:

Jacoby has chosen the films to highlight two themes present throughout much of Mizoguchi's work – the expected role and exploitation of Japanese women under Japan's feudal system (a form of mitate, in which contemporary critique was hidden through historical events), and Japan's literary heritage. Many of Mizoguchi's films are adaptions of novels or plays - A Story from Chikamatsu, for example, is adapted from a bunraku play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, one of Japan's greatest dramatists.

Alexander Jacoby, Senior Lecturer in Japanese Studies at Oxford Brookes University, said:

"It was Mizoguchi who made me fall in love with Japanese cinema a quarter of a century ago. His films are some of the most beautiful in all of world cinema; his images are as vivid as woodblock prints and as delicate as ink-wash landscape paintings; his camera tracks and cranes with dynamism and grace. But he always keeps the human element to the fore; he is saddened by human suffering, angry at injustice, and inspiring in his hope. His films move in more than one sense."

Focus on Godzilla
September – December 2024

Post-war Japanese cinema responded to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings in several ways, including through kaiju eiga (monster movies). Godzilla specifically acts as an allegory of the threat of nuclear power - a monster awakened after a hydrogen bomb testing in the Pacific. Godzilla is not just an embodiment of the bombs, but also represents the subsequent physical and emotional fallout for the local population. To mark the 70th anniversary of the original Godzilla film, Japan House London will be screening a selection of the franchise, including:

Exact dates of the screenings will be confirmed nearer the time.

Ainu film screenings

As part of Japan House London's current exhibition Ainu Stories: Contemporary Lives by the Saru River, there are a number of related film screenings planned. These will run up until April 2024. Please visit the What's On page of the website for further information. Screenings often book out very quickly, so follow Japan House London on social media and subscribe to the newsletter to be the first to hear the latest event information.

Current scheduled films include:

Notes to Editors

About Japan House London

Japan House London is a cultural destination offering guests the opportunity to experience the best and latest from Japan. Located on London's Kensington High Street, the experience is an authentic encounter with Japan, engaging and surprising even the most knowledgeable guests. Presenting the very best of Japanese art, design, gastronomy, innovation, and technology, it deepens the visitor's appreciation of all that Japan has to offer. This year, Japan House London marks five years of bringing the best of Japan to the UK and beyond. Part of a global initiative, there are two other Japan Houses, one in Los Angeles and the other in São Paulo.

About Alexander Jacoby

Alexander Jacoby lectures on Japanese cinema at Oxford Brookes University and is the author of A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors (2008, Stone Bridge Press) and a forthcoming monograph on Hirokazu Koreeda (British Film Institute / Bloomsbury). He has curated retrospectives of Japanese film at BFI South Bank, The Museum of Modern Art in New York, Il Cinema Ritrovato in Bologna and the Giornate del Cinema Muto in Pordenone, Italy.

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