The Lady and the Beard begins as a knockabout, vulgar comedy but shades into melancholy and pathos. The “beard” of the title belongs to Okajima, a kendo sword fencer and collegian who cannot find a job in Depression-era Japan. The beard comes off when “the lady”—a typist he has saved from a mugging—convinces Okajima it’s a hindrance to gainful employment. Even clean-shaven, he cannot shrug off trouble: the new woman in his life turns out to be a jewel thief. The Lady and the Beard is fascinating for its “sexual audacity” and for its complex critique of both westernization and narrow-minded Japanese nationalism.
Part of film series
Screenings from this program
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Yasujiro Ozu.
Woman of Tokyo / A Mother Should Be Loved
Live Musical AccompanimentScreening on Film
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Yasujiro Ozu.
Where Now are the Dreams of Youth?
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu, 1932
Live Musical AccompanimentScreening on Film
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Yasujiro Ozu.
The Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu, 1941
Screening on Film
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Yasujiro Ozu.
The Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu, 1941
Screening on Film
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Yasujiro Ozu.
Record of a Tenement Gentleman
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu, 1947
Screening on Film
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Yasujiro Ozu.
I Was Born But...
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu, 1932
Live Benshi Performance by Midori SawatoLive Musical AccompanimentScreening on Film
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Yasujiro Ozu.
The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu, 1952
Screening on Film
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Yasujiro Ozu.
An Autumn Afternoon
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu, 1962
Introduced by Filmmaker Masahiro ShinodaScreening on Film