Yoshida’s return to form after a fifteen-year interval takes on the atomic bomb, which keeps haunting many Japanese lives to this very day. Three generations of women question their identity but, with Hiroshima’s A-Bomb Dome in the background, have to admit that there can be no definitive answer to their query, due to the irrational character of the atomic bombing. Although more conventional than his independent films of the late 1960s and early 1970s, all Yoshida’s style elements are conspicuously present in this strong late work by the almost 70-year-old director. The Women in the Mirror brought him to Cannes and sparked a reappraisal of his oeuvre in his homeland and in France. It also marked the renewal of his collaboration on screen with actress Okada Mariko after three decades.
Film details
Country of production
Japan
Year
2002
Festival edition
IFFR 2010
Length
129'
Medium/Format
35mm
Language
Japanese
Premiere status
None
Director
Yoshida Kiju
Producer
Narusawa Akira, Ayabe Masanori, Takahashi Matsuo
Screenplay
Yoshida Kiju
Editing
Yoshida Kiju, Morishita Hiroaki
Production design
Heya Kyoko
Principal cast
Okada Mariko
Production company
Groove Corporation, Gendai Eigasha, Root Pictures, Groove Cinema Tokyo