History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess

History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess
Directed byShōhei Imamura
Screenplay byShōhei Imamura
Produced by
  • Nobuyo Horiba
  • Motoo Ogasawara
Starring
  • Emiko Akaza
  • Etsuko Akaza
  • Akemi Akaza
  • Shōhei Imamura
CinematographyMasao Tochikawa}
Edited by
  • Mutsuo Niwa
  • Noriaki Sugimoto
Music byHaruo Ibe
Production
companies
  • Nippon Eiga Shinsha
  • Toho
Distributed byToho
Release date
  • 6 March 1970 (1970-03-06) (Japan)
[1][2]
Running time
105 minutes[1][2]
CountryJapan

History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess (にっぽん戦後史 マダムおんぼろの生活, Nippon sengoshi – Madamu Onboro no seikatsu) is a 1970 Japanese documentary film by director Shōhei Imamura.[1][2][3]

Synopsis

Director Shōhei Imamura interviews Emiko Akaza, the bar hostess of the film's title, who reflects on her life as a prostitute and madam in post-war Yokosuka and comments on news reel footage of Japan's history from 1945 to the present.

Production

After the poor box-office performance of his ambitious 1968 film, The Profound Desire of the Gods, Imamura decided to undertake a more modestly budgeted film. Characteristically, Imamura seeks to investigate an alternative interpretation of recent Japanese history through the eyes of a person living in the lower strata of that society.[4]

Beginning with this film, Imamura was to spend the next decade working in the documentary format. He returned to purely fictional narrative with Vengeance is Mine (1979).[4]

Release

History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess was released in Japan 3 June 1970 where it was distributed by Toho. The film was shown in Los Angeles in 1998 with any earlier American release being undetermined.[1]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Galbraith IV, Stuart (2008). The Toho Studios Story: A History and Complete Filmography. Scarecrow Press. pp. 267–268. ISBN 978-1461673743.
  2. ^ a b c "にっぽん戦後史 マダムおんぼろの生活 (Nippon sengoshi: Madamu onboro no seikatsu)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  3. ^ "にっぽん戦後史 マダムおんぼろの生活 (Nippon sengoshi: Madamu onboro no seikatsu)" (in Japanese). Kinenote. Retrieved 5 July 2021.
  4. ^ a b Sharp, Jasper. "History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess". Midnight Eye. Archived from the original on 12 June 2006. Retrieved 5 July 2021.


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