Woman Of Tokyo And That Night’s Wife

An exciting double feature of Yasujiro Ozu silents. The sacrificial theme in Woman of Tokyo recalls Mizoguchia young woman supports her brother through school by becoming a prostitutebut the elliptical and mysterious style is thoroughly Ozu’s. This 1933 film may be the most formally radical of his late silent pictures. 47 min. The earlier That Night’s Wife (1930), an uncharacteristic Sternbergian crime thriller, is mainly set inside a single cluttered flat, where a policeman, hoping to arrest a commercial artist who’s robbed an office, is held at bay by his gun-wielding wife. The results are tense, claustrophobic, and visually striking throughout. 65 min. Both films are in Japanese with subtitles. (JR)

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