Carmen from Kawachi

(Kawachi Karumen, Seijun Suzuki, Japan 1966, 89 min., 35mm, Japanese w/English subtitles)

The decidedly unsentimental education of a provincial factory worker, who is raped by two fellow villagers, starts her on the road to sexual awareness and finally, independence. A 1960s riff on the opera Carmen (including a rock version of its famous aria, “Habanera”), this picaresque tale sends its heroine from the countryside to Osaka and Tokyo in search of success as a singer. Fierce sensuality and resilience are seen by Suzuki as a kind of spiritual force in an otherwise amoral universe.

Post-screening Zoom Q&A with William Carroll, author of Suzuki Seijun and Postwar Japanese Cinema