SPECIAL SCREENING Women in the Mirror (Kagami no onna-tachi)

New York premiere.

2002, 129 min., color, 35mm.  In Japanese with English subtitles. 

Kiju (Yoshishige) Yoshida (Eros plus Massacre and Coup d’Etat) comes out of a 14-year hiatus with a beautifully and superbly refined classic about three generations of women still living under the shadow of the atomic bombs that destroyed Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Ai (Mariko Okada), an elderly woman, lives in Tokyo with her granddaughter Natsuki (Sae Isshiki). One day, she learns that her daughter Masako (Yoshiko Tanaka) has been found, 24 years after she disappeared shortly after giving birth. Masako has amnesia. Only one name still echoes in her memory–Hiroshima. Hoping to rebuild their lives, Ai, Masako and Natsuki travel together to Hiroshima.

Director Kiju Yoshida and actress Mariko Okada introduce the screening. 

Followed by a reception.

Tickets: $12; Japan Society members, seniors & students, $8.