Directed by Kinuyo Tanaka • 1955 • Japan
Starring Yumeji Tsukioka, Masayuki Mori, Ryoji Hayama
Widely considered Kinuyo Tanaka’s first personal film, FOREVER A WOMAN tells the story of a recent divorcée (Yumeji Tsukioka) who is diagnosed with late-stage breast cancer. In adapting the real-life story of the poet Fumiko Nakajo, Tanaka and screenwriter Sumie Tanaka (a longtime collaborator of Mikio Naruse’s, though of no familial relation to Kinuyo) investigate issues of mortality, sexuality, and female independence with a frankness and audacity unprecedented in postwar Japanese cinema.
Up Next in Directed by Kinuyo Tanaka
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The Wandering Princess
Directed by Kinuyo Tanaka • 1960 • Japan
Starring Machiko Kyo, Eiji Funakoshi, Yomei RyuKinuyo Tanaka’s first film in both color and CinemaScope is an epic about a woman caught in the torrents of history. Based on the memoirs of Hiro Saga, THE WANDERING PRINCESS tells the story of Ryuko (Machik...
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Girls of the Night
Directed by Kinuyo Tanaka • 1961 • Japan
Starring Chisako Hara, Akemi Kita, Yosuke NatsukiWith GIRLS OF THE NIGHT, Kinuyo Tanaka reunited with screenwriter Sumie Tanaka to explore Japan’s attempted reformation of former prostitutes. The film follows Kuniko (Hisako Hara), an escort who enters a ...
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Love Under the Crucifix
Directed by Kinuyo Tanaka • 1962 • Japan
Starring Ineko Arima, Tatsuya Nakadai, Mieko TakamineKinuyo Tanaka’s final work as a director evokes the golden age of Japanese cinema with a large-scale, sixteenth-century-set costume drama. Produced by the independent studio Ninjin Kurabu, LOVE UNDER T...
