Pastoral: To Die in the Country

 A.K.A. Pastoral Hide and Seek
『田園に死す』
Den-en ni Shisu

Presented with the support of the John and Miyoko Davey Endowment Fund for Classic Film.

Imported 35mm Print. Based on Terayama’s autobiographical collection of tanka poetry, Pastoral: To Die in the Country entrenches itself in the framework of a child’s game—“those long games of hide and seek”—as a filmmaker seeks out his own sense of self within the faint sketches of his past, re-imagining the countryside of his adolescence. Fragmented and prismatic, Terayama’s surreal manifestation of childhood is a refracted mémoire of broken time, inhabited by carnival acts, provincial superstitions and a chorus of cloaked women. Shot in Terayama’s native Aomori against the backdrop of the haunted Mount Osore—a gateway to the underworld in Japanese mythology—Pastoral epitomizes Terayama’s unclassifiable brilliance. The film’s angura theatricality and phantasmagorical imagery are rich with symbolism, confronting the wounds of Showa’s imperial legacy, displays of the perverse amid sexual deviance and coupling desires, and the inevitable follies of youth.

Print courtesy of The Japan Foundation.

Dir. Shuji Terayama, 1974, 101 min., 35mm, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Kantaro Suga, Hiroyuki Takano, Chigusa Takayama, Yoshio Harada.

Recommended Programming:

Shuji Terayama’s Duke Bluebeard’s Castle
January 15-18, 2025

Part of John and Miyoko Davey Classics
Year-round screenings of beloved classics, restorations, and rediscoveries of classic Japanese cinema, offering a new cinematic canon from across the scope of Japanese cinema. Presented with the John and Miyoko Davey Endowment Fund for Classic Japanese Film.

Image: © 1974 Jinrikihikokisha / ATG.

Japan Society programs are supported by 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, Anime NYC 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, George P. Hirose, David Toberisky, Joseph Rajaratnam and Dharshini Iolanthe Sivakumaran, and Film Circle members.

Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines, the official Japanese airline sponsor of Japan Society Film Program. Housing assistance is provided by the Prince Kitano New York, the official hotel sponsor of Japan Society Film Program.