Zigeunerweisen (1980)

Original title

ツィゴイネルワイゼン

Directed by

Seijun Suzuki

Genre

horror film

Country

Japan

Runtime

2h 25m

Rated

TP

Rating

6.5 of 10 from 49 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

In 1920s Japan, a professor becomes obsessed with a mysterious man from his past and the man's wife. Strange events and ghostly encounters blur the line between reality and the supernatural.

surrealatmosphericunsettlingslow-burndreamlikebleakcerebralmoody

What happens

Zigeunerweisen (Japanese: ツィゴイネルワイゼン, Hepburn: Tsigoineruwaizen; from the German "Gypsy Airs") is a 1980 independent Japanese film directed by Seijun Suzuki and based on Hyakken Uchida's novel, Disk of Sarasate. It takes its title from a gramophone recording of Pablo de Sarasate's violin composition, Zigeunerweisen, which features prominently in the story. The film makes the first part of Suzuki's Taishō Roman Trilogy, followed by Kagero-za (1981) and Yumeji (1991), surrealistic psychological dramas and ghost stories linked by style, themes and the Taishō period (1912-1926) setting. All three were produced by Genjiro Arato. When exhibitors declined to screen the film, Arato screened it himself in an inflatable, mobile tent to great success. It won Honourable Mention at the 31st Berlin International Film Festival, was nominated for nine Japanese Academy Awards and won four, including best director and best film, and was voted the number one Japanese film of the 1980s by Japanese critics. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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