Keisuke KINOSHITA 木下恵介
Carmen Comes Home
Nippon Retro ²
A village in Nagano Prefecture is expecting a distinguished visitor: Okin, who rose to fame in Tokyo under her stage name Lily Carmen, is coming home to visit her father. What no one knows is that Okin is famous in the city as a strip dancer. Japan’s first color film is a brilliant satire of the contrast between urban and rural mentalities.
Fri., June 09, 2023, 19:00
Kino des DFF
With an introduction by Henrik DIELS
16mm, Original with English subtitles
FSK 0
Cityscapes & Countryside Classic Comedy
カルメン故郷に帰る
Karumen kokyo ni kaeru
Japan 1951
86 minutes
World sales
Shochiku
Film print
Japan Foundation
Cast
Hideko TAKAMINE, Toshiko KOBAYASHI, Takeshi SAKAMOTO, Mieko MOCHIZUKI, Akio ISONO
About Keisuke KINOSHITA
木下恵介
Keisuke KINOSHITA (1912–1998) is considered one of the most important Japanese directors. Starting in 1943, he made popular dramas, comedies, romances, ghost stories and noir films for Studio Shochiku, finding strong images even within conventions. After ARMY (1944), he was not allowed to work until the end of World War II. From 1945 on, the tension between the past and the hope for a new beginning was his central theme. The suffering, responsibility, and moral challenge of the individual are at the heart of many of his dramas. KINOSHITA’s rejection of feudal, militaristic Japan is clearly visible. With CARMEN COMES HOME (1951), he brought the first Japanese color film to the cinema, a summer comedy with serious overtones. KINOSHITA, who also repeatedly addressed the contrast between country and city, is considered the central humanist of post-war Japanese cinema. His sensitively-portrayed characters and their fates continue to touch audiences today.
In cooperation with Japan Foundation Tokyo and Japanisches Kulturinstitut (The Japan Foundation)
