Film at Lincoln Center in partnership with The Japan Foundation, New York is to run a retrospective of Yoshimitsu Morita’s (1950-2011), a renowned Japanese filmmaker, from Dec. 2-11.
Tickets for the retrospective will be available for purchase on Nov. 10 at 12 p.m. General admission tickets are $15. Tickets are $12 for students, seniors (62+) and people with disabilities and $10 for FLC members.
The longtime producer of Morita’s films, Kazuko Misawa, will introduce four of the twelve films presented within the retrospective: “The Black House,” “Deaths in Tokimeki,” “The Family Game,” and “Lost Paradise.” Morita and Misawa worked together to make “Something Like It,” “Kitchen,” “Haru,” “Keiho,” “Like Ashura,” “Mamiya Brothers,” “Take the A Train,” as well as other collaborations.
Morita’s career spanned over 30 years, in which he created an expansive body of work that made a lasting mark on Japanese cinema. His work reveals themes commenting on Japanese society. A 2011 AP article reported in The New York Times entitled “Yoshimitsu Morita, Filmmaker Acclaimed for Social Satires, Dies at 61,” said “Mr. Morita won international acclaim for his movies, which depicted the fragile beauty of the Japanese psyche and landscape while daringly poking fun at the country’s rigid bureaucracy and ritualistic hierarchy.”
With 31 writing credits, 29 directorial credits, four producer credits, four acting credits and five credits within the self category of IMDb, Morita’s collection of work is made up of critically stylized pieces that set him apart in cinematic history. His famous films include: “Something Like It” (1981), the 1983 dark comedy “The Family Game” , “And Then” (1985), “Deaths in Tokimeki” (1984), “Top Stripper” (1982), the horror film “The Black House” (1999) and romantic drama “Haru” (1996).
The 12 Morita films screening at the FLC retrospective offer Morita’s surprising collection of works for the enjoyment and appreciation of NYC.
For a full list of the films within the retrospective and to purchase tickets, please visit www.filmlinc.org. The films will screen at the Walter Reade Theater (165 W 65th St) and note that they will be in Japanese with English subtitles.
