Pitfall (Otoshiana)
Directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara
Written by Kobo Abe
1962/Japan
Teshigahara Productions/Toho Company
First viewing/Netflix rental
[box] I have never yet heard of a murderer who was not afraid of a ghost. John Philpot Curran [/box]
There’s some effective filmmaking here but I failed to get the point if there was one.
A miner and his young son are wandering around looking for work. They are told they can find some in a certain town. When they arrive they discover it is a ghost town. The only living soul they can find is the woman who operates the candy store.
Before very long, the miner is murdered by a mystery man in white. The mystery man pays the candy store lady to deny he was ever in town. The miner’s ghost observes the investigation. A bunch of other stuff happens, somehow involving two rival miners unions and other ghosts.
I’m a big fan of Teshigahara’s Woman in the Dunes (1964) but I found his feature film debut underwhelming. The staging and photography have some of the eerie feel of Woman but the story lacks the focus or power of that film. It’s basically a loosely connected series of unpunished bad acts. Not a favorite.
Trailer – no subtitles
