Yoshiwara (1937 film)

For the silent film, see Yoshiwara (1920 film).
Yoshiwara
Directed byMax Ophüls
Written by
Based onYoshiwara by Maurice Dekobra
Produced by
Starring
CinematographyEugen Schüfftan
Edited byPierre Méguérian
Music byPaul Dessau
Production
company
Milo Film
Distributed byCompagnie Cinématographique de France
Release date
  • 22 October 1937 (1937-10-22)
Running time
102 minutes
CountryFrance
LanguageFrench

Yoshiwara is a 1937 French historical drama film directed by Max Ophüls and starring Pierre Richard-Willm, Sessue Hayakawa and Michiko Tanaka. It is based on a novel of the same title by Maurice Dekobra.[1] It was shot at the Joinville Studios of Pathé in Paris and on location at the Musée Albert-Kahn in Billancourt and in Rochefort-en-Yvelines and Villefranche-sur-Mer. The film's sets were designed by the art directors André Barsacq and Léon Barsacq.

Synopsis

The film is set in the Yoshiwara, the red-light district of Tokyo, in the nineteenth century. It depicts a love triangle between a high-class prostitute, a Russian naval officer and a rickshaw man.[2]

Reception

The film was Ophüls' greatest pre-war French financial success.[3] Yoshiwara proved controversial in Japan where the government objected to the depiction of Japanese brothels and banned it. There was a negative reaction against the two Japanese actors who had starred in the film, and they were labelled as traitors.[4]

Cast

References

  1. ^ Goble p.121
  2. ^ Seigle p.10-11
  3. ^ Bacher p.37
  4. ^ Seigle p.10-11

Bibliography

  • Bacher, Lutz. Max Ophuls in the Hollywood Studios. Rutgers University Press, 1996.
  • Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.
  • Seigle, Cecilia Segawa. Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan. University of Hawaii Press, 1993.


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