Twilight Saloon

Tomu Uchida’s second comeback film, after staying in China since World War II. Isamu Kosugi plays an alcoholic painter who quit painting when he realized his wartime work was propaganda. He bears witness to intersecting narratives that all take place on a single set, a cheap saloon featuring records and live performance. Gliding long takes and long shots, layered in depth, create a visual cross-section of postwar Japanese society in which classical opera, military marches, folk, and pop songs articulate the political, social, and sexual tensions between groups as well as reveal the interiority of each character. An all-star allegory of postwar Japan as seen by a war returnee.

1955, 93 min., 35mm, b&w. In Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Tomu Uchida. With Isamu Kosugi, Keiko Tsushima, Daisuke Kato, Tetsuro Tamba, Jun Tatara.

Print courtesy of National Film Center, The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo.

Tickets: $12/$9 Japan Society members, seniors & students


Part of the 2016 Globus Film Series Japan Sings! The Japanese Musical Film.

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