Yoshiwara (1937 film)

Yoshiwara is a 1937 French drama film directed by Max Ophüls and starring Pierre Richard-Willm, Sessue Hayakawa and Michiko Tanaka. It is based on a novel by Maurice Dekobra. 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.[1]

Yoshiwara
Directed by	Max Ophüls
Produced by	Samuel Epstein Herman Millakowsky
Written by	Maurice Dekobra (novel) Arnold Lipp Wolfgang Wilhelm Max Ophüls
Starring	Pierre Richard-Willm Sessue Hayakawa Michiko Tanaka Roland Toutain
Music by	Paul Dessau
Cinematography	Eugen Schüfftan
Edited by	Pierre Méguérian
Production company	Milo Film
Distributed by	Compagnie Cinématographique de France
Release date	22 October 1937
Running time	102 minutes
Country	France
Language	French

Reception

The film was Ophüls' greatest pre-war French financial success.[2] 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.[3]

Cast

• Pierre Richard-Willm – Lieutenant Serge Polenoff
• Sessue Hayakawa – Ysamo, Kuli
• Michiko Tanaka – Kohana
• Roland Toutain – Pawlik
• Lucienne Le Marchand – Namo
• André Gabriello – Pô
• Camille Bert – Le commandant
• Foun-Sen – Geisha
• Philippe Richard – L'attaché russe
• Ky Duyen – L'agent secret
• Georges Saillard – Le médecin

References

1. Seigle p.10-11
2. Bacher p.37
3. Seigle p.10-11

Bibliography

• Bacher, Lutz. Max Ophuls in the Hollywood Studios. Rutgers University Press, 1996.
• Seigle, Cecilia Segawa. Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan. University of Hawaii Press, 1993.

External links

• Yoshiwara at IMDb