Smallpox Tale

Synopsis

The smallpox virus has created its own unique atmosphere in Terayama’s film where the skin of a bandaged adolescent and the surface of the filmic image are subjected to a bizarre ‘disturbance’ as snails cross the screen and nails are hammered into the skull of the ailing patient. Illness in this film is as much a psychic entity as a physical one and manifests itself in an array of theatrical tableaux from grotesque women rigorously brushing their teeth to a snooker game where the players in white face makeup behave like automata. A Tale of Smallpox uses a medical theme to chart the traumatic dream life of Terayama’s times, evincing deep-rooted concerns in the Japanese national psyche that hark back to the upheaval of Meiji modernisation and the devastation of World War Two.

Main Cast

Keiko Niitaka

Age : N/A | Popularity : 5%

Yoko Ran

Age : N/A | Popularity : 3%

Takeshi Wakamatsu

Age : N/A | Popularity : 3%

Crew

Department	Role	Name
Camera	Director of Photography	Tatsuo Suzuki
Writing	Screenplay	Shūji Terayama
Directing	Director	Shūji Terayama
	Assistant Director	Henrikku Morisaki
Production	Producer	Eiko Kujo
Department	Role	Name

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