History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess

A screening of Shōhei Imamura's 1970 documentary in which bar hostess Madame Onboro recounts postwar Japanese history through bar lounge conversations.

The ICA screens Shōhei Imamura's 1970 documentary History of Postwar Japan as Told by a Bar Hostess (にっぽん戦後史 マダムおんぼろの生活), the first of several documentaries he made in the 1970s. Framed as a series of bar lounge conversations, the film follows Imamura interviewing Madame Onboro, whose life story is juxtaposed with the grand events of postwar Japanese society and accompanied by archival newsreel reportage. The 101-minute film is in Japanese with English subtitles and is part of the season The Lower Depths: The Cinema of Shohei Imamura. All screenings are ad-free, 18+, and begin with a 10-minute curated selection of trailers.