WOMAN IN FLAMES

Love is a burning thing and it makes a fiery ring.

Honô to onna, which for its English release was retitled Flame and Women (as well as the considerably less evocative Impasse) was a drama starring Mariko Okada as a woman stuck in a disintegrating middle-class marriage. The couple is unable to conceive a child, which is merely part of the problem. That’s probably why when they opt for artificial insemination it does not save the marriage, but rather leads to a split and the woman’s search for her new child’s biological father. If you’re thinking the movie doesn’t sound like pulp material, well, you’re right. But it’s an important film about the role women were expected to play in Japanese society and how suffocating it could be, and the poster portrays emotional death by using a shot of Okada looking physically dead or paralyzed, and we think that’s kind of pulpy. Honô to onna premiered in Japan today in 1967. You can decide for yourself whether it’s worth your time by viewing a trailer here.

Japan, Hono to onna, Flame and Women, Impasse, Yoshishige Yoshida, Mariko Osada, poster art, cinema, movie review

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HISTORY REWIND

The headlines that mattered yesteryear.

April 19

1927—Mae West Sentenced to Jail

American actress and playwright Mae West is sentenced to ten days in jail for obscenity for the content of her play Sex. The trial occurred even though the play had run for a year and had been seen by 325,000 people. However West’s considerable popularity, already based on her risque image, only increased due to the controversy.

April 19

1971—Manson Sentenced to Death

In the U.S, cult leader Charles Manson is sentenced to death for inciting the murders of Sharon Tate and several other people. Three accomplices, who had actually done the killing, were also sentenced to death, but the state of California abolished capital punishment in 1972 and neither they nor Manson were ever actually executed.

April 18

1923—Yankee Stadium Opens

In New York City, Yankee Stadium, home of Major League Baseball’s New York Yankees, opens with the Yankees beating their eternal rivals the Boston Red Sox 4 to 1. The stadium, which is nicknamed The House that Ruth Built, sees the Yankees become the most successful franchise in baseball history. It is eventually replaced by a new Yankee Stadium and closes in September 2008.

April 17

1961—Bay of Pigs Invasion Is Launched

A group of CIA financed and trained Cuban refugees lands at the Bay of Pigs in southern Cuba with the aim of ousting Fidel Castro. However, the invasion fails badly and the result is embarrassment for U.S. president John F. Kennedy and a major boost in popularity for Fidel Castro, and also has the effect of pushing him toward the Soviet Union for protection.

April 16

1943—First LSD Trip Takes Place

Swiss scientist Albert Hofmann, while working at Sandoz Laboratories in Basel, accidentally absorbs lysergic acid diethylamide, better known as LSD, and thus discovers its psychedelic properties. He had first synthesized the substance five years earlier but hadn’t been aware of its effects. He goes on to write scores of articles and books about his creation.