Thursday, March 13, 2014 7:00 PM
Japan Society
333 E 47th St, New York, NY 10017
Introduction by Laurence Kardish, Senior Curator, Film, Emeritus, The Museum of Modern Art.
Donald Richie on Summer Vacation 1999:
“This profoundly romantic, beautifully realized independent production is one of the most original Japanese films of the year…. It is a muted, intense, romantic fusing of love and death. To this an entirely new dimension has been added by casting young girls (14 to 15) in the roles of the four young boys. The result is astonishing and extremely moving. One watches these young people, so young that a degree of androgyny is expected, and it is as though one is watching adolescence for the first time.” (Excerpted from Richie’s “New Japanese Cinema” report to Japan Society, spring 1988.)
A student has committed suicide at a boys-only boarding school located in the middle of a forest. During the summer vacation of 1999, only three students remain and one day, a boy who looks exactly like the dead student shows up. Inspired by Thomas’ Heart (Toma no shinzo), a legendary popular manga by Moto Hagio, Shusuke Kaneko (1955- ) depicts teenage yearning, mystery and dark passion. The screenplay is by Rio Kishida, a long-time collaborator with poet-filmmaker-theater director Shuji Terayama, and the mesmerizing cinematography is by Kenji Takama.
1988, 90 min., 35mm, color, in Japanese with English subtitles. Directed by Shusuke Kaneko. With Eri Miyajima, Tomoko Ohtakara, Miyuki Nakano, Rie Mizuhara (currently Eri Fukatsu). Voiceovers by Minami Takayama, Nozomu Sasaki, Hiromi Murata.
For more information about the event, please visit:
http://www.japansociety.org/event/summer-vacation-1999