Yoshiwara (1937 film)

Yoshiwara is a 1937 French historical drama film directed by Max Ophüls and starring Pierre Richard-Willm, Sessue Hayakawa and Michiko Tanaka. It is based on a novel of the same title by Maurice Dekobra. It was shot at the Joinville Studios of Pathé in Paris and on location at the Musée Albert-Kahn in Billancourt and in Rochefort-en-Yvelines and Villefranche-sur-Mer. The film's sets were designed by the art directors André Barsacq and Léon Barsacq.

Synopsis
The film is set in the Yoshiwara, the red-light district of Tokyo, in the nineteenth century. It depicts a love triangle between a high-class prostitute, a Russian naval officer and a rickshaw man.

Reception
The film was Ophüls' greatest pre-war French financial success. Yoshiwara proved controversial in Japan where the government objected to the depiction of Japanese brothels and banned it. There was a negative reaction against the two Japanese actors who had starred in the film, and they were labelled as traitors.

Cast

 * Pierre Richard-Willm as Lieutenant Serge Polenoff
 * Sessue Hayakawa as Ysamo, Kuli
 * Michiko Tanaka as Kohana
 * Roland Toutain as Pawlik
 * Lucienne Le Marchand as Namo
 * André Gabriello as Pô
 * Camille Bert as Le commandant
 * Foun-Sen as Geisha
 * Philippe Richard as L'attaché russe
 * Ky Duyen as L'agent secret
 * Georges Saillard as Le médecin