A Promise

Co-presented with Film at Lincoln Center as part of The Radical Cinema of Kijū Yoshida (December 1-8, 2023); Presented in partnership with the Japan Foundation, New York.

『人間の約束』 
Ningen No Yakusoku

Imported 16mm Print. Yoshida came out of his feature filmmaking retirement with this typically idiosyncratic meditation on what was, at the time, a taboo topic: euthanasia. A Promise examines the situation of the elderly as they try to hang onto a shred of their own dignity while awaiting the end of their lives. Rentaro Mikuni (who appeared in Yoshida’s earlier A Story Written with Water) stars as a dementia-afflicted widower who confesses to having killed his wife; Yoshida then takes us back, with immense restraint and profound moral sensitivity, to the events that lead up to her death, arriving at a devastating image of human mortality. Featuring music by Haruomi Hosono (of Yellow Magic Orchestra).

Dir. Kiju Yoshida, 1983, 16mm, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Rentaro Mikuni, Sachiko Murase. Score by Haruomi Hosono.

Print courtesy of The Japan Foundation.

---

© Gendai Eigasha.

Japan Society programs are made possible by leadership support from Booth Ferris Foundation, and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature. Film programs are generously supported by ORIX Corporation USA, public funds from the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs in partnership with the City Council, and Yen Press. Endowment support is provided by the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund and The John and Miyoko Davey Endowment Fund. Additional season support is provided by The Globus Family, David Toberisky, and Friends of Film. Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines, the official Japanese airline sponsor of Japan Society Film. Housing assistance is provided by the Kitano Hotel, the official hotel sponsor of Japan Society Film.