“Through June and July, PFA will present films from its Japanese collection. Some of these films are not in the best of condition - some of these are not the best of films. But they will present the scope of genres, directors, and performers not generally encountered. What should become immediately obvious is that the great films of Kurosawa, Mizoguchi and others are not so far removed from the average run of films, and that a great deal of credit for the greatness of those films must go to the fairly high standards of technical competence and performance values which these ‘standard' Japanese films demonstrate, and which form the very basis on which the industry is founded. The June program is a selection of period films from the fifties and sixties: there is a very close connection between classical theater and these films in terms of content, performers, and even the plots. The July program will consist of a series of thrillers, Yakuza, and police-detective stories which feature modern theater actors and are, in general, homages to Western films."
-Sybil Thornton
