A 16-year-old girl works in a factory to pay her late father’s debt. When she makes up her mind to become a hostess, a boy approaches her with kind and gentle manners...(Also occasionally known in English as “Play”)
Direction
Masumura's aggressive close-ups weaponize the male gaze against itself.
Acting
Keiko Takahashi's guarded stillness versus calculated warmth.
Director
Yasuzō Masumura
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Masumura was a provocateur of Japanese New Wave, obsessed with women trapped by consumerism and patriarchal economics. This is pure ideology.
The title 'Games'/'Play' refers to emotional manipulation as sport—the wealthy literally wagering on broken girls.
JP
