Photographed by Kazuo Miyagawa, Kon Ichikawa's Hakai is an anguished, and revealing, film about the little-known caste system in Japan, in which an “Outcast” is one whose ancestors include butchers, leather craftsmen, dancers and other “lowly” figures. The story is of a young teacher in a small mountain community who is torn between his dying father's commandment, “Hide your identity as an Outcast,” and his sense of the injustice of the system. Slowly and painfully his allegiance is drawn away from his father towards another figure of respect, a well-known writer who has “come out” as an Outcast, and the young man makes the decision which forces him to leave his community. Ichikawa's breathtaking compositions move from dark, bleak imagery to snow-covered mountains and forests as the story unfolds. Our recent Tribute to cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa included two other Ichikawa/Miyagawa collaborations, Conflagration and Odd Obsession.