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Washington, DC – “Pages of Beauty and Madness” explores the rich history of Japanese literature — from classic novels to modern manga — through film adaptations from Japan, Korea, Cambodia and France. These classic and critically acclaimed film adaptations are precious and rarely seen since their original release in the cinema. Three films will be offered free of charge at the Freer Gallery’s Meyer Auditorium in October. Seating for all film screenings is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
Two of the films will have additional book club meetings following the films on October 13 and 20, where viewers can gather and discuss the book after the screening. The books on which the films are based will be available for sale in the Sackler Gallery shop.
Gibier d’Elevage | October 11, 7pm
Directed by Rithy Panh, Cambodia/France, 2011, 93 min.
The film: Set in Cambodia during the Vietnam War, the film adaptation is a powerful antiwar statement and, in director Rithy Panh’s words, an allegory for “the Cambodian people reduced to slavery by the Khmer Rouge.” The longer the pilot’s captivity lasts, the more his young captors’ naiveté and playfulness yield to the murderous ideology into which they are being indoctrinated.
The book: In Kenzaburo Oe’s provocative story The Catch, an African-American bomber pilot crashes in a remote Japanese village during World War II and becomes both a prisoner and an object of curiosity to the children who capture him.
Perfect Number | October 13, 2pm
Directed by Pang Eun-jin, Korea, 2012, 119 min.
The film:Single mother Hwa-sun accidentally murders her abusive ex-husband during a fight. Her neighbor Suk-go, a mild-mannered math teacher who’s secretly obsessed with Hwa-sun, mysteriously comes to her aid, disposing of the body and devising an ingenious alibi. This sets in motion a plot full of surprising twists in Korean actress-turned-director Bang Eun-jin’s adaptation of Japanese novelist Keigo Higashino’s popular mystery The Devotion of Suspect X.
Book club:Terry Hong of the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center will lead an informal discussion of the book after the screening.
