Japanese Noir Film Series

FALL FILM SERIES: JAPANESE NOIR

The Hard-boiled Detective. The Femme Fetale. The Crime Gone Wrong – You know the tropes. Film noir was a phenomenon in the early 1900s, but across the Pacific, filmmakers on a small island nation were taking those tropes and running away with them, creating some of the formative works of Japanese cinema.

This fall, we’re presenting a series of some of the greatest landmarks in the history of Japanese Noir. With commentary on the squalor of postwar Japan in STRAY DOG; to the pop art vibrancy and strangeness of TOKYO DRIFTER; to the sci-fi political allegory of THE RED SPECTACLES; to the 90’s independent renaissance shown in THE MOST TERRIBLE TIME IN MY LIFE. The series follows Japan’s own cultural expansion after World War 2 to become the cinematic powerhouse it is known for today.

FEATURING:
Stray Dog (Dir. Akira Kurosawa, 1949)
Cruel Gun Story (Dir. Takumi Furukawa, 1964)
Tokyo Drifter (Dir. Seijun Suzuki, 1966)
A Colt Is My Passport (Dir. Takashi Nomura, 1967)
The Red Spectacles (Dir. Mamoru Oshii, 1987)
The Most Terrible Time In My Life (Dir. Kaizo Hayashi, 1994)

All films will feature a written companion piece by Pop’s curator Nate Nelson, explaining the impact and importance of each film!

Tickets and showtimes are available now at www.popsarttheater.com

Program sponsored by the University of Wisconsin–Madison’s Center for East Asian Studies (@uwceas)

Poster design by Devon Hugdahl