Forever A Woman (The Eternal Breasts) (1955)
Forever A Woman (The Eternal Breasts) (1955)
Forever a Woman (Aka The Eternal Breasts) (1955)

The Melbourne Cinémathèque & ACMI present

Forever a Woman (Aka The Eternal Breasts)

Kinuyo Tanaka | Japan | 1955 | Unclassified (15+)
Film

This event has ended and tickets are no longer available.

When

Wed 15 Nov 2023

Based on the autobiography of poet Fumiko Nakajo, who died of breast cancer in 1954 aged 31, this unflinching namida chodai (tear-jerker) is a rare view of Japanese society from a truly female perspective. Avoiding melodrama and sentimentality, it depicts a rural Japanese woman’s struggle through a mastectomy, divorce, single motherhood and growing independence. Shot using low angles, deep staging and frequent close-ups, Tanaka shows the influence of Ozu and Naruse on her filmmaking, while approaching the story scripted by Sumie Tanaka with her signature lyricism. Starring Yumeji Tsukioka.

Format: DCP
Language: Japanese with English subtitles
Source: Janus Films
Runtime: 106 mins

Event duration

106 mins

Rating

Unclassified (15+)

Where

Cinema 1, Level 2
ACMI, Fed Square

How to get there

Membership options

Mini membership
(3 consecutive weeks)
$28.5–$33.5

Annual memberships
$161–300

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Also screening on Wed 15 November

About the program

Kinuyo Tanaka (1909–77) is one of the greatest and most prolific screen actors and – after Sakane Tazuko – only the second woman to make it as a film director in the Japanese film industry. Appearing in 250 films over the span of 50 years, Tanaka acquired her first screen credit aged 14, while her major breakthrough came in films such as Ozu’s I Graduated But… (1929)...

Read the full program notes
Behind The Screen- Kinuyo Tanaka, Trailblazing Filmmaker

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Australia's longest-running film society, Melbourne Cinémathèque screens significant works of international cinema in the medium they were created, the way they would have originally screened.

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