THE TRAP

『罠』 
Wana

International Premiere of 4K Restoration. The ominous final chapter of Hayashi’s trilogy opens in a promising light as Maiku has turned a new corner: business is booming, his sister’s been accepted into college, and he’s in love for once with the mute and angelic Yuriko (Yui Natsukawa, Still Walking). However, a brooding prologue suggests otherwise as Hayashi’s love story is countervailed by a new terror when a series of serial killings, all connected to a disquieting figure with a masked visage, begins to instill fear in Yokohama. Young women have been found dead, injected with poison and left as “sleeping beauties”—dressed up with tranquil countenances while accompanied by the faint redolence of woodland fragrance. Sharing DNA with some of Dario Argento’s most outré gialli and possessing a nihilistic edge influenced by the contemporaneous Aum Shinrikyo attacks, Hayashi’s harrowing finale spins a hallucinatory descent into darkness as Maiku finds himself assailed by a frightening opponent deep within the bowels of the city.

Dir. Kaizo Hayashi, 1996, 106 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Masatoshi Nagase, Yui Natsukawa, Kiyotaka Nanbara, Tetta Sugimoto.

Part of So as To Dream: The Eternal Mysteries of Kaizo Hayashi
October 11-19, 2024

© FOR LIFE MUSIC ENTERTAINMENT, INC.

Special Thanks to Bret Berg (American Genre Film Archive); Miyuki Takamatsu and Yuko Takagi (Freestone); Kaizo Hayashi; Nicolas Raffin (ICA); Kyoko Omori; and Monika Uchiyama.

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 Sivakumarann, 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.