YBCA film series presents Lolita in Full Bloom: Japanese Teen Heroines of the 80's February 8, 2007

Lolita in Full Bloom: Japanese Teen Heroines of the 80s
Feb 8, 15 & 17, 7:30 pm
$8 regular
$6 students, seniors & teachers
$6 YBCA Members

First, it’s important to understand that “Lolita” does not have the same meaning in Japan as elsewhere. It is more about a pose, an image of kawaii (cuteness), and of young women rebelling against the constraints still put upon Japanese women. Think Buffy the Vampire Slayer, not Nabokov. These three films star female pop stars known in Japan as “idols.” In contrast to the cutesy, innocent young girl stereotype, Japan fell in love with these tantalizing heroines who portrayed sassy, bold and naively sexy adolescents on the brink of womanhood.

Sailor Suit and Machine Gun
by Shinji Somao (1981, 112 min, 35mm)
Thu, Feb 8, 7:30 pm
Hiroko Yakushimaru, the most iconic and charismatic “idol” of the period, plays Izumi, a feisty high school girl who takes on the yakuza world with a loaded machine gun. Named the boss of a yakuza clan after the unexpected death of her father, quiet Izumi becomes ensnared by violence and drugs.

Typhoon Club
by Shinji Somao (1985, 114 min, 16mm)
Thu, Feb 15, 7:30 pm
A Japanese Breakfast Club. Youthful excitement bubbles over into reckless abandon on campus as a typhoon approaches. The film poignantly expresses the teenagers’ frenzied anxiety, and Yuki Kudo and Yuka Onishi shine in their performances as bold, adventurous girls. Winner of the Tokyo International Film Festival Young Cinema Award.

Exchange Students
by Nobuhiko Obayashi (1982, 112 min, 16mm)
Sat, Feb 17, 7:30 pm
As Kazuo looks at himself in the mirror, he lifts his shirt and gasps at the sight of protruding breasts. His body has been exchanged for his friend Kazumi’s, and they are unable to return into their own bodies. Stuck inside Kazumi’s body, Kazuo is forced to take on her demure personality. He also must learn how to wear a bra and tame his violent temper—in which he fails miserably. Idol Satomi Kobayashi gives an extraordinary performance as a frustrated boy trapped in a girl’s body.

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