Yoshiwara
1937 · France · 102 min
- Director
- Max Ophüls
- Screenplay
- Maurice Dekobra, Arnold Lippschitz
- Producer
- Herman Millakowsky
- Music
- Paul Dessau
- Cinematography
- Eugen Schüfftan
Cast
What it is about
Set in the Yoshiwara, the red-light district of Tokyo in the nineteenth century, the film follows a love triangle between a high-class courtesan, a Russian naval officer and a rickshaw puller. Without revealing how things end, the story traces the loyalties and desires that pull its three characters in different directions.
How it was made
Directed by Max Ophüls and based on the novel of the same title by Maurice Dekobra, the screenplay was written by Dekobra together with Arnold Lipp. Shooting took place at Pathé's Joinville Studios in Paris, with location work at the Musée Albert-Kahn in Billancourt, Rochefort-en-Yvelines and Villefranche-sur-Mer. The sets were designed by André and Léon Barsacq, the cinematography was by Eugen Schüfftan and the music by Paul Dessau. The cast includes Sessue Hayakawa, Pierre Richard-Willm and Michiko Tanaka.
Reception and legacy
It was Ophüls' biggest financial success in pre-war France. In Japan, however, it caused controversy: the government objected to its depiction of Japanese brothels and banned it. The two Japanese actors in the cast faced a very negative reaction and were labelled traitors.
Stills
Trivia
Ban in Japan
The Japanese government objected to the film's portrayal of its brothels and ultimately banned it in the country.
Filming at a museum
Part of the shoot took place on location at the Musée Albert-Kahn in Billancourt, as well as in Rochefort-en-Yvelines and Villefranche-sur-Mer.
More films by Max Ophüls
Letter from an Unknown Woman
Montparnasse 19
La Ronde
The Earrings of Madame de...
Lola Montès
CaughtOriginal Cinematopedia text based on Wikipedia (en) and Wikidata.