Special Series

Carmen from Kawachi

河内カルメン

Directed by: Seijun Suzuki
1966 / 89 minutes / Recommended for ages 18+

続きは映画.comへ

Wild and humorous with a hint of eroticism

Screened as part of JFF 2017

Cheerful Tsuyuko is on her way home from a romantic rendezvous when malicious admirers abduct and take advantage of her. Returning home, her devastation intensifies when she finds her mother sleeping with the local priest in exchange for money. Disturbed by nightmarish memories of those recent events, she flees to Osaka where she wanders through a series of jobs and partners, each stranger than the last.

Suzuki’s button-pushing Carmen from Kawachi starts out like a misogynistic comedy. However, patient viewers are rewarded as it quickly transforms into a subversive critique of patriarchy and gender politics.

河内のドン百姓勇造の娘麗子は、美しく豊かな肉体で村中の男を悩殺していた。中でも刷毛工場の息子で大学生の彰は、露子に夢中であったが、露子もまた彰に強く魅かれていた。が、村祭の夜、悪童らに処女を奪われ、母のきくが悪坊主良巌坊と関係するのを見た露子は、家出同然に大阪にとび出した。さて大阪に出た露子は同級生雪江の世話でバーに勤めた。いやらしい沢山の男の中で、同郷人だという勘造は露子に惣れこみ、露子のアパー…