The Marriage of YASUSHI

1986, 23:20 min, color, sound

In this psychologically charged domestic melodrama, Idemitsu articulates a mordant vision of a skewed familial structure, in which rigid gender roles are played out through Oedipal conflicts. Yasushi, a young man devoted to his mother, marries a young woman and leaves home. His strong attachment to his mother, who suffers from an abusive husband, eventually results in the breakdown of his own marriage. The mother is seen on a television monitor, pleading for Yasushi's attention. Idemitsu presents both women as victims of a patriarchal system — the mother who is neglected by her own husband and so turns to her son, and the young woman who must battle strict codes of behavior established by a misogynist culture.

In Japanese with English subtitles.

With: Sumie Ozawa, Kenji Hamamoto, Hiroshi Sugita, Yumi Sahanushi. Camera: Michael Goldberg. Translation: Alfred Birnbaum.

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Rental
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$120.00
 
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DVD NTSC
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