Directed by Kon Ichikawa

Bridging Japan’s cinematic golden age and its freewheeling New Wave, Kon Ichikawa was a prolific transitional figure whose technical finesse and versatility were rooted in the craftsmanship of the classical tradition, but whose pervasive sense of dark-tinged irony gave his work a modern age. Though best known for his myriad literary adaptations—including the the searing antiwar dramas THE BURMESE HARP and FIRES ON THE PLAIN, the audacious tale of retribution in the world of kabuki theater AN ACTOR’S REVENGE, and the ravishing period elegy THE MAKIOKA SISTERS—he also made one of the all-time great documentaries in TOKYO OLYMPIAD, a breathtaking achievement that shows his total command of widescreen film technique.