Mitasareta seikatsu

By producing Susumu Hani’s second film, the Ninjin Club gave their support to the work of a key filmmaker of the so-called New Wave, a movement for renewal in Japanese cinema that began in the late 1950s. In MITASARETA SEIKATSU, he paints a portrait of the young Junko – played with remarkable versatility by Ineko Arima – who leaves an unhappy marriage behind to resume her acting career. Her new life unfolds in vignettes: encounters with an old friend, auditions, odd jobs, political discussions within the theatre group she joins and demonstrations against the US–Japan Security Treaty. Alongside Arima, the city of Tokyo is the film’s second protagonist, captured in a documentary style with handheld camerawork – at times somber, at times hopeful, always a reflection of Junko’s inner state. (mg)