The international spotlight is shining on the directorial works of Kinuyo Tanaka, a Japanese film legend known more for her acting roles in prewar productions.

In recent years, efforts have been made to seek gender equality in the film industry and to re-evaluate the accomplishments of female directors.

Those activities have led to fresh looks at the films directed by Tanaka (1909-1977)—and widespread praise.

Remastered editions of her films were showcased at the Cannes Film Festival, the Tokyo International Film Festival and other venues in 2021.

During a discussion event held at the Tokyo filmfest in November, Christian Jeune, who serves as Cannes deputy general delegate, said he rediscovered the greatness of Tanaka as a director and couldn’t understand why her films had remained obscure.

Long lines formed at the Lumiere Film Festival held in Lyon, France, in October whenever Tanaka’s films were screened, according to film journalist Mizue Hayashi.

“Citing her masterful directorial skills, the underlying theme of humanity and how wide-ranging her genres are, some experts placed her on the same level with master directors such as Jean Renoir and John Ford,” she said.

Tanaka was one of the top stars in Japanese cinema from the prewar period, appearing in such classics as “The Neighbor’s Wife and Mine,” “Flower in Storm” and “The Life of Oharu.”

After the war, Tanaka became the second female director in Japan and made six films from 1953 to 1962. But her efforts gained little recognition at the time.

Last year, all six of her films were remastered in 4K digital.

“She portrays women’s sexuality in a delicate manner in all of her works,” said Ayako Saito, a professor at Meiji Gakuin University well-versed in Tanaka’s productions. “It is possible that she wanted to express what she couldn’t through the characters she had played.”

Tanaka received support from Keisuke Kinoshita and other great filmmakers in her directorial debut, “Love Letter.”

The screenplay of “The Moon Has Risen,” which was shown at Cannes in 2021, was written by Yasujiro Ozu.

But perhaps her most highly rated film is “Forever a Woman,” which stars Yumeji Tsukioka and is about a real-life tanka poet who died of breast cancer.

When Tanaka was making “Love Letter,” she said she hated being labeled a “female director,” that gender had nothing to do with being a director, and that she wanted to portray male characters from the female perspective, according to Mika Tomita, a senior researcher at the National Film Archive of Japan.

But while making “Forever a Woman,” Tanaka boasted she wanted to express what women would feel as a woman herself, Tomita said.

“I could clearly see how suppressed feelings and depressed emotions had grown and culminated to tell that story,” Tomita said.

The Museum of Modern Art in New York will host a special screening of “Forever a Woman” in late January, while Tanaka’s six films are scheduled to be shown in theaters in France from mid-February.

SHEDDING LIGHT ON FEMALE DIRECTORS

In autumn 2021, film researchers and other experts founded a website to shed light on overlooked female filmmakers in Japan and to introduce their works.

In addition to Tanaka, the website features Tazuko Sakane, the nation’s first female director, Sachiko Hidari and Yuko Mochizuki.

Chika Kinoshita, a professor at Kyoto University's graduate school specializing in the history of Japanese cinema, heads the project.

Kinoshita said postwar film studios had a system under which only “male college graduates” were eligible to take a test required to become an assistant director. From that post, they could later be promoted to directors.

The system effectively deprived women of an opportunity to become feature film directors.

Under such circumstances, Sakane, who had worked as a script supervisor, as well as actresses Tanaka, Hidari and Mochizuki, made their foray into directing based on their filmmaking expertise and trust from their colleagues.

Kinoshita cited an example of how the perspective of a female filmmaker is reflected in the finished product. In a scene in “The Far Road” directed by Hidari, a woman wipes away stains on her kimono after her husband overturned a table in anger.

“By adding details of everyday life, the range of portrayal can be expanded,” the professor said. “It makes films richer and more interesting.”

Kinoshita said she intends to cover screenwriters, costume designers and many other women who were involved in filmmaking on the website.

(This article was written by Misuzu Sato and senior staff writer Noriki Ishitobi.)