Yoshiwara is a 1937 French drama film directed by Max Ophüls and starring Pierre Richard-Willm, Sessue Hayakawa and Michiko Tanaka. It is based on a novel by Maurice Dekobra. The film is set in the Yoshiwara, the red-light district of Tokyo, in the nineteenth century. It depicts a love triangle between a high-class prostitute, a Russian naval officer and a rickshaw man.
Reception
The film was Ophüls' greatest pre-war French financial success. Yoshiwara proved controversial in Japan where the government objected to the depiction of Japanese brothels and banned it. There was a negative reaction against the two Japanese actors who had starred in the film, and they were labelled as traitors.
Cast
Pierre Richard-Willm – Lieutenant Serge Polenoff
Sessue Hayakawa – Ysamo, Kuli
Michiko Tanaka – Kohana
Roland Toutain – Pawlik
Lucienne Le Marchand – Namo
André Gabriello – Pô
Camille Bert – Le commandant
Foun-Sen – Geisha
Philippe Richard – L'attaché russe
Ky Duyen – L'agent secret
Georges Saillard – Le médecin
References
Bibliography
Bacher, Lutz. Max Ophuls in the Hollywood Studios. Rutgers University Press, 1996. Seigle, Cecilia Segawa. Yoshiwara: The Glittering World of the Japanese Courtesan. University of Hawaii Press, 1993.