Collaborative anti-cinema of Yoshida Kiju and Okada Mariko

Abstract

The Collaborative Anti-Cinema of Yoshida Kijū and Okada Mariko examines films created by this cinematic pairing with an emphasis on gender, sexuality, and authorship. The thesis aims to move away from the historically rigid view of Yoshida as film auteur, which has in turn denied Okada autonomy despite her strong presence within the eleven films they made together. In examining Yoshida and Okada’s writing on cinema and unpacking the often-contradictory ways these texts speak to each other, I offer a radical new approach to their work which identifies a collaborative ‘tension’ within their partnership. The project examines how this tension manifested in three key areas: through the use of meta-textuality, the subversion of film genres such as the post-war melodrama, and a more women-oriented approach to the political film.