Yoshiwara is a 1937 French historical drama film directed by Max Ophüls and starring Pierre Richard-Willm, Sessue Hayakawa and Michiko Tanaka. It is based on a novel of the same title by Maurice Dekobra.[1] It was shot at the Joinville Studios of Pathé in Paris and on location at the Musée Albert-Kahn in Billancourt and in Rochefort-en-Yvelines and Villefranche-sur-Mer. The film's sets were designed by the art directors André Barsacq and Léon Barsacq.
Synopsis
The film is set in the Yoshiwara, the red-light district of Tokyo, in the nineteenth century. It depicts a love triangle between a high-class prostitute, a Russian naval officer and a rickshaw man.[2]
Reception
The film was Ophüls' greatest pre-war French financial success.[3] Yoshiwara proved controversial in Japan where the government objected to the depiction of Japanese brothels and banned it. There was a negative reaction against the two Japanese actors who had starred in the film, and they were labelled as traitors.[4]
Cast
- Pierre Richard-Willm as Lieutenant Serge Polenoff
- Sessue Hayakawa as Ysamo, Kuli
- Michiko Tanaka as Kohana
- Roland Toutain as Pawlik
- Lucienne Le Marchand as Namo
- André Gabriello as Pô
- Camille Bert as Le commandant
- Foun-Sen as Geisha
- Philippe Richard as L'attaché russe
- Ky Duyen as L'agent secret
- Georges Saillard as Le médecin
References
Bibliography
- Bacher, Lutz. Max Ophuls in the Hollywood Studios. Rutgers University Press, 1996.
- Goble, Alan. The Complete Index to Literary Sources in Film. Walter de Gruyter, 1999.
- Seigle, Cecilia Segawa. Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan. University of Hawaii Press, 1993.
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