The Outsiders (Mori to Mizuumi no Matsuri, 1958)
Japanâs sparsely inhabited northern island of Hokkaido is a land of rugged, majestic landscapes with an icy winter climate. Its frontier status has made it a natural setting for such man-against-the-elements action movies as the Kurosawa Akira-scripted
Jakoman and Tetsu (1949), in which a heroic member of a fishing outpost rallies his co-workers against the gang of a one-eyed outlaw.
Fukasaku Kinji remade the film in 1964 with Takakura Ken, the âClint Eastwood of Japanâ, replacing Mifune Toshiro as the titular Tetsu. Takakura then starred in the ten-film
Abashiri Prison series (1965-1967) as one of a group of yakuza jailbirds who continue their gang rivalries within prison walls while periodically making their escapes across the islandâs snowy hinterland.
Japanese cinema is typically viewed as a masculine domain. Until the 1980s, the studio systemâs structure presented a formidable barrier for women hoping to enter the industry in a creative capacity. Barring Japanâs first woman director, Sakane Tazuko, who made a single feature in 1936, the long-lost
Hatsu sugata, the few who chalked up a directing credit generally hailed from an acting background.
Only in the past decade have Japanese women filmmakers made real headway. Their swelling ranks and the acclaim, both domestic and international, for such names as Nishikawa Miwa (Dear Doctor, 2009;
Dreams for Sale, 2012), Tanada Yuki (
Moon & Cherry, 2004;