Can you imagine a film about lesbian nuns in 1950s Japan? Look no further than this year’s BFI Flare festival.
‘Impure Nuns’ is a cheap flick from Japan’s Shin-Tōhō studio. Released in 1958 it tells the story of a young Catholic woman who enters a convent after a rape & abortion. Some years on, after becoming a model nun, she is seduced by a wild young novice and her life unravels.
The film is mad, camp as hell, disturbing in its treatment of rape; but at times also beautiful and romantic. It bombed on release as it wasn’t sexually explicit enough for its intended male audience but was too obviously intended as semi-porn to be remarketed to women (they did try).
The director was Michiyoshi Doi and it starred Miyuki Takakura as Sister Eri and Mayumi Ōzora as the young novice Anna.
#土居通芳 #高倉みゆき #大空眞弓 #新東宝株式会社 #shintoho #michiyoshidoi #miyukitakakura #mayumiozora #bfiflare #lgbtq #lesbian #nun #japanesecinema #japan #日本🇯🇵 #queercinema
Eye For Film
Holland Focus
w
