Question re poisoning at end of vintage film

[Erik R. Lofgren]

The film in question is an Ichikawa Kon/Wada Natto adaptation of 
Tanizaki Junichiro's novel _Kagi_, released under the English title 
of _Odd Obsession_ in 1959 (I think).  The blowing shots are, I 
belive, of bamboo groves rather than sand.

The housekeeper does, in fact, poison the remaining members of the 
family after the daughter tries to do the same thing to her mother, 
but is thwarted because she does not realize the housekeeper had 
switched poison and soap in the two containers (a rather contrived 
device).

Erik

>I just finished watching Kobayashi Tsuneo's 1958 film version of 
>Matsumoto Seicho's mystery novel "Ten to sen," preparatory to 
>watching Ishibashi Kan's 2007 TV version starring Kitano Takeshi, 
>and comparing both versions with the original novel.
>
>The poisoning at the end of the 1958 film reminded me of another 
>film, probably of the same vintage or a bit later, in which at the 
>end the family retainer/housekeeper/cook kills some or most of the 
>family members by serving them a salad with arsenic dressing.
>
>It was a well-known film, and I saw it when it first came out, and 
>again later as a student at a university film series in the 1960s. I 
>think it also involved some disreputable photography by one of the 
>characters, who perhaps died sooner than the rest, and some 
>Sahara-scale blowing sand shots used as a recurring motif, perhaps 
>to symbolize futility or the like.
>
>I can't recall the title of that film, or whether it was based on a 
>story by Matsumoto Seicho, or perhaps on a novel by someone else. 
>The title will probably come back to me in the next few days, but if 
>anyone can remind me sooner I'd be very grateful indeed.
>
>Best Wishes,
>
>Michael McCaskey
>Georgetown Univ.


-- 

Erik R. Lofgren
Resident Director, 2008-09
Associated Kyoto Program
Doshisha University

Office Phone: (075) 251-3225
Office Fax: (075) 251-3084
http://www.associatedkyotoprogram.org

Associate Professor, East Asian Studies
Bucknell University