Flame of Feeling
(Honoo to onna)
Screening on Film
Directed by Kiju Yoshida.
With Mariko Okada, Isao Kimura, Mayumi Ogawa.
Japan, 1967, 35mm, black & white, 101 min.
Japanese with English subtitles.
Print source: The Japan Foundation
With Mariko Okada, Isao Kimura, Mayumi Ogawa.
Japan, 1967, 35mm, black & white, 101 min.
Japanese with English subtitles.
Print source: The Japan Foundation
Yoshida used the then-controversial topic of artificial insemination to explore the steady erosion of a seemingly "normal" middle-age couple and the widening gulf that inexplicably grows between them. Mariko Okada powerfully conveys the confusion of a woman whose belief that she is incapable of love leads her on a troubled search to restore her emotions. Among the lesser known of the Yoshida-Okada collaborations, Flame of Feeling is one of their most richly allegorical and alluringly stylish "anti-melodramas."