Do you like samurai movies?  

High school senior “Barefoot” (ITO Mariko) certainly does. In fact, she loves them and is obsessed with the Zatoichi series, legendary actor Raizo Ichikawa, and the great period films in the Japanese genre. She has even written a script and plans to make her own samurai film.  

Since their inception in the early 1900s, period films have been an influential genre in the Japanese cinematic landscape with even the most prominent filmmakers – such as MIZOGUCHI Kenji and KUROSAWA Akira – making their contributions. In their earliest forms, period films were heavily influenced by traditional Japanese kabuki theatre. However, throughout their long existence, period films have transformed and have been used by filmmakers to speak about modern as well as past issues in Japan. The impulse of filmmakers to take their own experiences and apply them to an established genre or style of filmmaking has advanced the Japanese period piece to the diverse genre that it is today. It is this very energy that tonight's film captures: the desire to carry past traditions forward with contemporary impressions and expressions. 

We hope you enjoy “It's a Summer Film”!