a young woman with her head down sits a distance away from the young man speaking to her outsidealr

Older Brother, Younger Sister
(Ani imoto)

Screening on Film
Directed by Naruse Mikio.
With Kyo Machiko, Mori Masayuki, Kuga Yoshiko.
Japan, 1953, 35mm, black & white, 87 min.
Japanese with English subtitles.
Print source: The Japan Foundation

This Daiei melodrama reunites Rashomon (1950) stars Kyo Machiko and Mori Masayuki as siblings Mon and Inokichi. Mon's unexpected pregnancy causes concurrent changes in Inokichi and her younger sister, San (Kuga Yoshiko): as Inokichi descends into rageful madness, San becomes more assured in her own desires. Based on the 1934 short story by Muro Saisei, the film places its conversations about sex and love within a sparse rural setting, where passersby eagerly eavesdrop and distribute gossip for the whole town. Notably, Naruse hired Tanaka Kinuyo as an assistant for this film, allowing her to gain further experience for her own directorial debut later that year. – Kelley Dong

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