Typhoon Club

Typhoon Club 
『台風クラブ 』

World Premiere of 4K Restoration. Shinji Somai’s beloved cult film Typhoon Club is widely heralded as the director’s seminal feature, considered to be one of the greatest Japanese films ever made. Offering a caustic immersion into the lives of disaffected junior high students on the cusp of adulthood, Typhoon Club features a lively cast of young talent—including idol Youki Kudoh (The Crazy Family, Mystery Train)—facing existential intrigues, budding sexuality, and rising social tensions in the days leading up to a typhoon’s arrival. Stranded in their schoolhouse as the storm settles in, the group undergoes an awakening as they dispel all—insecurities, fear and desire—under the swell of the tempest. Screening followed by an Opening Night Party.

Dir. Shinji Somai, 1985, 115 min., DCP, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. With Youki Kudoh, Yuichi Mikami, Yuka Onishi.

Tickets
$18 Nonmembers / $14 Members

Following Typhoon Club, all attendees are welcome to enjoy an Opening Night Party featuring a selection of Japanese foods and drinks. The evening will feature live performances from Shoko Nagai and Satoshi Takeishi.

A veteran of the New York downtown music scene, Shoko has performed with John Zorn, Miho Hatori, and many more. She has composed the scores to films from Linda Hoaglund, Mari Kawade, and others. Whether behind a drum set or computer-based instruments, “connecting the contrasting elements beyond genre” is what Satoshi strives for. He received a Grammy Award in 2015 with the Paul Winter Consort.

Beverages generously donated by:

Part of the Globus Film Series: Rites of Passage
April 28—May 13, 2023

Rites of Passage showcases the work of Shinji Somai, an iconic Japanese director who remains largely unrecognized in the West. A pioneering filmmaker in the 1980s—a period sometimes described as Japanese cinema’s lost decade—Somai has had a persistent influence on filmmakers that followed, including Shunji Iwai, Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Ryusuke Hamaguchi. Encompassing a mix of genre and stylistic conventions from independent art dramas to idol vehicles, Somai’s films are tied together by his potent depictions of the turbulence and volatility of youth growing up in an increasingly chaotic world.

---

Image: Typhoon Club © 1985 Director’s Company.

Rites of Passage: The Films of Shinji Somai is supported, in part, by a generous gift from The Globus Family.


Special Thanks to Bret Berg (AGFA); Ed McCarry (Cinema Guild); Miki Zeze (Kadokawa); Alo Joekalda (The National Film Archive of Japan); Mami Furukawa and Umi Yamamoto (Nikkatsu); Aya Takagawa (Shochiku).

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 endowment support from the Lila Wallace-Reader’s Digest Endowment Fund. Additional season support is provided by The Globus Family, David Toberisky, Akiko Koide and Shohei Koide, Geoff and Fumi Matters, Laurel Gonsalves, and David S. Howe. Transportation assistance is provided by Japan Airlines, the exclusive Japanese airline sponsor of Japan Society Film.