Benten Kozō (The Gay Masquerade). 1958. Directed by Daisuke Ito

Film

Benten Kozō (The Gay Masquerade). 1958. Japan. Directed by Daisuke Ito. Screenplay by Fuji Yahiro. With Raizo Ichikawa, Shintaro Katsu, Kyoko Aoyama. In Japanese; English subtitles. 86 min.

A classic kabuki spin on the Robin Hood legend, The Gay Masquerade is done up in spectacularly colorful widescreen fashion by director Daisuke Ito, a pioneer of the jidaigeki (period drama), and cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. As the honorable thief who doubles as a courtly woman, Raizo Ichikawa (Conflagration) gives a brashly modern gender-bending performance.

35mm print courtesy the National Film Center; The National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo; and Kadokawa.

This film accompanies Kazuo Miyagawa: Japan’s Greatest Cinematographer.

Sunday, April 15, 2018, 1:30 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2, Theater 2

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2
Saturday, April 14, 2018, 7:00 p.m.

MoMA, Floor T2, Theater 2

The Roy and Niuta Titus Theater 2

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