As confessed by Josef von Sternberg, Anatahan is his legacy film. Actually shot in Japan, but in a Kyoto warehouse, without subtitles but with the voice-over of the master himself, it is the ultimate variation on the themes of fake and human nature. Within a phoney setting, there is the truth of bodies that love and kill one another. Misunderstood in its time, violently rejected by the Japanese audience, Anatahan is released again in restored copy. (VP)
Technical sheet
Japan / 1953-1958 / 92’ / Restaured version
Original version : Japanese, English.
Script : Josef von Sternberg.
Screen : Josef von Sternberg, Kôzô Okazaki.
Editor : Mitsuzô Miyata.
Sound : Hisashi Kase.
With : Akemi Negishi, Tadashi Suganuma.
Production : Nagamasa Kawakita, Yoshio Osawa, Josef von Sternberg.
Distribution : Capricci .