Seeing 'The Ghost of Yotsuya' in 35mm!

The National Film Archive of Japan's film program honoring movie figures who died in the last two years. Photo by Brett Homenick.

The Nagisa Oshima retrospective isn't the only thing happening these days at the National Film Archive of Japan. Also taking place is a film program entitled In Memory of Film Figures We Lost in 2021-2022. The first half of the program runs from July 4 through September 3, and the second half will take place from October 10 through the 22nd. 

Recognize any of the faces here? Photo by Brett Homenick.

To be honest, most of the selected films don't appeal to me all that much, but one title in particular intrigued me -- Nobuo Nakagawa's The Ghost of Yotsuya (1959). Composer Chumei Watanabe passed away last year, so this film was chosen to honor his memory.

A poster for Nikkastu's Two for Ginza (1967), starring the lovely Masako Izumi. Photo by Brett Homenick.

Not only was The Ghost of Yotsuya shown in 35mm, but it was actually shown with English subtitles! Suffice it to say, it was an opportunity I couldn't pass up, especially since (believe it or not) I'd never seen it before.

A poster for Princess from the Moon (1987), celebrating the career of the late SFX director Teruyoshi Nakano. Photo by Brett Homenick.

As expected, I enjoyed the film. It was effectively creepy with many great visuals. This film proves just how great a director Nobuo Nakagawa was at horror, a genre he truly excelled at. The print was in excellent shape, and the subtitles were well written and easy to read. 

It was a great afternoon at the movies. I'm not sure I will check out any of the other films on offer, but, if I do, it will be tough -- to say the least -- to top today's offering.