Question re poisoning at end of vintage film

[Michael McCaskey]

Dear Erik Lofgren,

Thank you very much for the identification. I looked the film up, and hadn't realized how many talented people were involved in the making of this film. Apparently there were remakes as well, and this "original" film is available on DVD in Japan, though mostly just second-hand DVDs by now. Without the help of your clearer memory, I'd still be trying to remember the title.

Thanks Again,

Michael McCaskey
Georgetown Univ. 

----- Original Message -----
From: "Erik R. Lofgren" <elofgren at bucknell.edu>
Date: Sunday, August 10, 2008 9:36 pm
Subject: Re: Question re poisoning at end of vintage film

> 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
>