SHOCHIKU 120th ANNIVERSARY

Remastered Classics in the Spotlight

Venue(s): Togeki, Higashi Ginza
October 10 (Mon) - 23 and November 21 - 27: 18:50-
Language: Japanese with English subtitles
Official website: www.shochiku.co.jp/120festival/
Tariff: General/University students: ¥1,300, Seniors: ¥1,100, Students (Elementary/Junior-high/High school): ¥1,000, Handicapped: ¥1,000
Advance tickets: Other discouns, call the theater
Talk event: NA

Title: 松竹120周年祭 (SHOCHIKU 120th ANNIVERSARY)

Celebrating its 120^th anniversary in 2015, the venerable Shochiku Company has one of autumn’s biggest treats in store for cinephiles: An extraordinarily rich lineup of nine classic Japanese films covering 1939 – 1962, completely restored and digitally remastered, with two of them premiering locally for the first time.

It’s a must-see roster, even for those who have viewed grainier film versions of these masterpieces in the past: Kenji Mizoguchi’s The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum, 1939 (Japan premiere); Keisuke Kinoshita’s Carmen Comes Home, 1951; Nagisa Oshima’s Cruel Story of Youth, 1960; and a mini-retrospective of Yasujiro Ozu’s work: Late Spring, 1949 (Japan premiere); Tokyo Story, 1953; Equinox Flower, 1958; Good Morning, 1959; Late Autumn, 1960; and his final film, An Autumn Afternoon, 1962.

The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum

Late Spring

Shochiku’s 120th Anniversary celebration runs for 20 days in October and November. Proving that it continues to deserve its reputation for innovation, the studio is including English subtitles on the 6:50 pm screenings each night. [Full schedule below.]

Shochiku was founded in 1895 as a theatrical production company. It is not only Japan’s foremost producer of kabuki, it has also produced many of the country’s most celebrated films, from the first talkie to the first color film, to the work of classic masters like Ozu, Mizoguchi, Kinoshita and Mikio Naruse. It has always been a director’s studio: Akira Kurosawa made films with Shochiku, as did Nagisa Oshima and Seijun Suzuki, and more recently, the likes of Takashi Miike, Takeshi Kitano and Taiwanese auteur Hou Hsiao-Hsien.

Shochiku didn’t actually begin producing film until 1921, but it is considered the oldest continuously-operating film studio in Japan, and it was an innovator from the first. Adopting the Hollywood studio model, it imported the star system and opened the first sound stage in Japan, in Kamata. It also stopped using female impersonators on screen, a big leap forward for the industry.

Shochiku is now an innovator in the state-of-the-art digital restoration of its incredible back catalog (over 4,000 titles!). For the past several years, Shochiku Classics have thrilled audiences old and new at Cannes, Venice and other namebrand festivals around the world, as well as at Tokyo’s own Filmex. Tokyo Filmgoer applauds these efforts to preserve Japan’s cinema heritage, and we’re looking forward to rediscovering many more titles in the future.

Date	Day	Starting	Title	Title in Japanese	Duration
10/10	Sat	18:50	Cruel Story of Youth	青春残酷物語	96 min
10/11	Sun	18:50	The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum	残菊物語	143 min
10/12	Mon	18:50	Carmen Comes Home	カルメン故郷に帰る	86 min
10/13	Tue	18:50	The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum	残菊物語	143 min
10/14	Wed	18:50	Cruel Story of Youth	青春残酷物語	96 min
10/15	Thu	18:50	Carmen Comes Home	カルメン故郷に帰る	86 min
10/16	Fri	18:50	The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum	残菊物語	143 min
10/17	Sat	18:50	Equinox Flower	彼岸花	118 min
10/18	Sun	18:50	Good Morning	お早よう	94 min
10/19	Mon	18:50	Late Autumn	秋日和	128 min
10/20	Tue	18:50	Equinox Flower	彼岸花	118 min
10/21	Wed	18:50	Good Morning	お早よう	94 min
10/22	Thu	18:50	Late Autumn	秋日和	128 min
10/23	Fri	18:50	Equinox Flower	彼岸花	118 min
11/21	Sat	18:50	Late Spring	晩春	108 min
11/22	Sun	18:50	Tokyo Story	東京物語	135 min
11/23	Mon	18:50	An Autumn Afternoon	秋刀魚の味	133 min
11/24	Tue	18:50	Late Spring	晩春	108 min
11/25	Wed	18:50	Tokyo Story	東京物語	135 min
11/26	Thu	18:50	An Autumn Afternoon	秋刀魚の味	133 min
11/27	Fri	18:50	Late Spring	晩春	108 min