Pitfall (1962)

Wissenswertes

Pitfall , a.k.a. The Pitfall and Kashi To Kodomo, is a 1962 Japanese film directed by Hiroshi Teshigahara, written by Kōbō Abe. It was Teshigahara's first feature, and the first of his four film collaborations with Abe, the others being Woman in the Dunes, The Face of Another and The Man Without a Map. Unlike the others, which are based on novels by Abe, Pitfall was originally a television play called Purgatory (Rengoku). The film has been included in The Criterion Collection. It is known for its surreal storytelling structure and themes of hopelessness, exploitation, and human suffering.

Production

The film's focus on the exploitation of coal miners was likely influenced by Teshigahara and Abe's political leanings, and their sympathy with the Tokyo demonstrations in 1960 against Anpo.

The film was shot in Kyūshū, and incorporates stock footage of mining disasters and starvation that had afflicted the area. Many of the visual devices and themes are similar to the contemporaneous work of Shōhei Imamura, whose 1959 film My Second Brother also featured Kyūshū coal miners.

Teshigahara often disagreed with his film crew, and fired two assistant directors who did not wish to include the scene in which the policeman rapes the shopkeeper.

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