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Pitfall

Otoshiana

Japan

1962

97 Min
Black and White
1.33:1
Japanese
  • Currently 4.1/5 Stars.
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DIR Hiroshi Teshigahara

PROD Tadashi Ôno

SCR Kôbô Abe

DP Hiroshi Segawa

CAST Hisashi Igawa, Kunie Tanaka, Hideo Kanze, Kazuo Miyahara, Sumie Sasaki, Kanichi Omiya, Kei Satô, Sen Yano, Ton Shimada, Shigeru Matsuo, Kikuo Kaneuchi

ED Fusako Morimichi

PROD DES Kiyoshi Awazu

MUSIC Toshi Ichiyanagi, Yuji Takahashi, Tôru Takemitsu

SOUND Kenji Mori, Junosuke Okuyama

Cannes (Semaine de la critique)

Synopsis

When a miner leaves his employers and treks out with his young son to become a migrant worker, he finds himself moving from one eerie landscape to another, intermittently followed (and photographed) by an enigmatic man in a clean white suit, and eventually coming face to face with his inescapable destiny. Hiroshi Teshigahara’s debut feature and first collaboration with novelist Kobo Abe, Pitfall is many things: a mysterious, unsettling ghost story, a portrait of human alienation, and a compellingly surreal critique of soulless industry, shot in elegant black-and-white. —The Criterion Collection

Director

Original

Hiroshi Teshigahara

Hiroshi Teshigahara (勅使河原 宏, Teshigahara Hiroshi?, January 28, 1927 – April 14, 2001) was an avant-garde Japanese filmmaker.

He was born in Tokyo, son of Sofu Teshigahara, founder and grand master of the the Sogetsu School of ikebana. He graduated in 1950 from the Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and Music and directed his first film, Pitfall (1962), in collaboration with author Kōbō Abe and musician Tōru Takemitsu. The film won the NHK New Director’s award, and throughout the 1960s, he continued to collaborate on films with Abe and Takemitsu while simultaneously pursuing his interest in ikebana and sculpture on a professional level.

In 1965, the Teshigahara/Abe film Woman in the Dunes (1964) was nominated for an Academy Award and won the Special Jury Prize at the Cannes Film Festival. In 1972, he worked with Japanese researcher and translator John Nathan to make the movie Summer Soldiers, a film set during the Vietnam War about American deserters living on the fringe… read more

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Displaying 4 of 16 wall posts.
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Zachary George Najarian-Najafi

8May12

I'm not sure how I feel about this one. I liked the ghost story, but the political portions of the film were pretty boring. It has some great moments, but it doesn't reach the level of intensity or artistry that the two other films in the box set do. But for a debut, damn, is this some good stuff.

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Daniela

21Apr12

Not as good as Sunna no Onna but still has some good moments. Another interesting female character. These films remind me of Ace in the Hole . . . cross national connection/influence?

Picture of chimère

chimère

17Sep11

To me it was very reminiscent of Herk Harvey's 'Carnival of Souls'. Similar juxtapositions of existence and non-existence, enigmatic omniscient presence haunting the protagonists, leading them to their demise. The experimentally thematic use of sound.. ..had the same mesmerizing effect in both films, made worlds apart, in the same year, exploring similar themes in a similar fashion. It's quite amazing.

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JP. Schmidt

5Aug11

As many have stated before me -- an amazing first feature. There are moments throughout this film which, intentional or not, will be repeated in the best and most humble way possible for years to come.

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Articles

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W184

Daily Briefing. Merv Bloch and "The Telephone Book"

By David Hudson on January 25, 2012

Also: Teshigahara’s Pitfall in Chicago, news and great reads.

read article

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Reviews

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Vagueness at its best

By Rohit on November 28, 2010

This movie is tough to review because it essentially is supposed to be vague and strangely that is the strongest reason for anyone to watch it. Another way to describe this movie is that its a kind…  read review

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Displaying 1 discussion topic.

The Miner's Son

1 post by 1 person over 1 year ago

DVD

Buy the DVD from The Criterion Collection.