Mizu de kakareta monogatari

Yoshida’s first independent film after leaving the Shochiku Studio is based on a novel by Ishizaka Yōjirō depicting an incestuous mother-son relationship.
Matsutani Shizuo is an introverted office worker who lives alone with his beautiful mother Shizuka. Shizuka raised her son by herself, but has also been having an affair with Hashimoto, a powerful man in town. Shizuka and Hashimoto encourage Shizuo to marry Hashimoto’s daughter Yumiko, in whom Shizuo sees a resemblance to his mother and whom he suspects to be his half-sister. He marries Yumiko anyway but is torn between his wife and his mother. Intercutting Shizuo’s vacillations with flashbacks of his childhood and with dream sequences unveiling the protagonist’s desires, the film explores the sexual psychology of the highly Oedipal family relationships, using bold black-and-white photography and audaciously composed images.
Turning independent enabled Yoshida to tackle controversial topics such as incest and sexuality which were shunned by the major studios. The exploration of female sexuality and identity was to become a central theme in his subsequent films, which he realized together with his wife, actress Okada Mariko. (Roland Domenig)

All retrospective films that will be shown at the Filmmuseum after the Viennale - from 2.11. - can of course also be reserved as usual at filmmuseum.at or by calling 01/533 70 54 and purchased at the box office of the Austrian Film Museum. The prices of the Austrian Film Museum apply.

Yoshida Kijū: GOOD-FOR-NOTHING (1960), BLOOD IS DRY A.K.A BLOODY THIRST (1960), BITTER END OF A SWEET NIGHT (1961), AKITSU SPRING (1962), 18 WHO CAUSE A STORM A.K.A. 18 ROUGHS (1963), A STORY WRITTEN WITH WATER (1965), WOMAN OF THE LAKE (1966), IMPASSE (1967), THE AFFAIR (1967), AFFAIR IN THE SNOW (1968), FAREWELL TO THE SUMMER LIGHT (1968), EROS + MASSACRE (1969), HEROIC PURGATORY (1970), COUP D’ETAT (1973), A PROMISE (1986), WUTHERING HEIGHTS (1988), WOMEN IN THE MIRROR (2002), BEM-VINDO A SÃO PAULO (2004, Episode)