THIS TRANSIENT LIFE at Japan Society NY this coming Saturday

Japan Society NY

presents

(c) Courtesy of Arrow Films

This Transient Life / Mujo

Directed by Akio Jissoji

Starring: Ryo Tamura, Eiji Okada, Michiko Tsukasa,

Mitsuko Tanaka, and Minori Terada

Japan, 1970, 145 minutes

DCP, b&w, in Japanese with English subtitles

When: Saturday, February 22, 7 PM 

Where: Japan Society NY

333 East 47th Street, NYC

Map

Tickets: $14/$11 seniors, students & persons

with disabilities/$10 Japan Society members

Winner of the 1970 Locarno Film Festival’s Golden Leopard and an instant theatrical hit for the Art Theater Guild (ATG), Jissoji’s controversial debut concerns a brother and sister who retreat into an incestuous relationship in defiance of every social and moral obligation put upon them—a taboo act of self-willed liberation that leads to more than one tragedy. A challenging work featuring breathtaking black-and-white compositions and extravagant camera movements, This Transient Life is often regarded as Jissoji’s masterpiece and an unheralded highlight of ATG’s game-changing productions.

Part of the Akio Jissoji: The Buddhist Trilogy film series

Akio Jissoji POEM at Japan Society NY this coming Saturday

Japan Society NY

presents

Poem / Uta

Directed by Akio Jissoji

Starring: Saburo Shinoda, Eiko Yanami, Hiroko Sakurai,

Ryo Tamura, and Shin Kishida

Japan, 1972, 136 minutes

DCP, b&w, in Japanese with English subtitles

When: Saturday, February 22nd at 4:00 pm

Where: Japan Society NY

333 East 47th Street, NYC

Map

Tickets: $14/$11 seniors & students/$10 Japan Society members

The final entry in Jissoji’s trilogy is also the most austere, marking a stark departure in style and substance from his previous two films. A severely ascetic young man employed by a wealthy family takes it upon himself to protect their large estate and the spiritual lineage of Japanese tradition it symbolizes despite the family’s amoral sons’ apathy and embrace of Western values. Recalling postwar masterworks such as Kon Ichikawa’s Conflagration (1958) and Yuzo Kawashima’s The Temple of Wild Geese (1962), Poem similarly questions the place of purity within the cruel reality of modern life.

Part of the Akio Jissoji: The Buddhist Trilogy film series

Akio Jissoji's MANDALA at Japan Society NY this coming Saturday

Japan Society NY

presents

(c) Courtesy Arrow Films

Mandala / Mandara

Directed by Akio Jissoji

Starring: Shin Kishida, Ryo Tamura, Koji Shimizu,

Akiko Mori, and Hiroko Sakurai.

Japan, 1971, 135 minutes 

DCP, color and b&w, in Japanese with English subtitles

When: Saturday, February 22nd at 1:00 pm

Where: Japan Society NY

333 East 47th Street, NYC

Map

Tickets: $14/$11 seniors, students & persons

with disabilities/$10 Japan Society members

Jissoji’s second feature addresses the despondency and confusion of Japan’s post-’68 youth through the divergent responses of two former anti-state student activists confronted by a menacing primitivist utopian cult invested in rape and agriculture. Referencing a range of contemporary political discourses and filmmaking practices—including the experimental arthouse of the New Wave and the radical pink “eroductions” of peers like Koji Wakamatsu—Mandala finds Jissoji continuing his investment in highly stylized and contentious material while also offering pointed criticism of the era’s excesses.

Part of Akio Jissoji: The Buddhist Trilogy film series

AKIO JISSOJI: THE BUDDHIST TRILOGY to screen at Japan Society NY on two Saturdays in February

Japan Society NY

Presents

Akio Jissoji: The Buddhist Trilogy
(This Transient Life, Mandala, and Poem)

When: Saturday, February 15 & Saturday, February 22, 2020

Where: Japan Society NYC

333 East 47th Street

Map

Tickets: $14/$11 seniors & students/$10 Japan Society members

Special Offer: Purchase all 3 Akio Jissoji films in the same transaction
and receive $2 off each ticket

After making a name for himself in the late sixties as a boundary-pushing writer and director for the sci-fi television series Ultraman, Akio Jissoji went on to emerge as an equally innovative independent filmmaker with a trio of highly experimental and visually daring narrative features released through the Art Theater Guild (all scripted by Toshiro Ishido) that offer transgressive interpretations of Buddhist philosophy and the existential problem of impermanence. Long unavailable on home video outside of Japan, the complete “Buddhist Trilogy” makes its overdue debut at Japan Society with brand-new digital remasters.

The full schedule and information about each of the three films is available here.

Please note: These films contain strong sexual content including depictions of sexual violence.