JFTFP25: Broken Commandment (PG)

Film

Share this event

JFTFP25: Broken Commandment (PG)

Thursday 13th March

Original title: 破戒 (Hakai)

Dir. MAEDA Kazuo, Japan, 2022, 119 mins. In Japanese with English subtitles. Cast. MAMIYA Shotaro, ISHII Anna, YAMOTO Yuma, MASHIMA Hidekazu.

SEGAWA Ushimatsu (MAMIYA Shotaro) is a teacher at a rural school in early 20th-century Japan. A keen humanist passionate about his job, he also hides a dangerous secret that may never be revealed: he is a burakumin, a member of Japan’s outcaste community.

Only by hiding his roots was Ushimatsu able to become a teacher, but now he is constantly tormented by his professional duty to lead by example and tell the truth. His feelings are intensified by his admiration for INOKO Rentaro (MASHIMA Hidekazu), a writer and activist who makes no secret of his burakumin status. Though Ushimatsu continues to keep his own secret for the sake of his social survival and romantic prospects, those around him begin to question his origins, and his position within the school soon comes under threat.

Adapted from literary master SHIMAZAKI Toson’s 1906 classic, Broken Commandment is a moving deep-dive into a hidden, taboo class system that still lingers in Japan today. A contemporary successor to previous adaptations by master directors like KINOSHITA Keisuke and ICHIKAWA Kon, this new version inherits its predecessors’ opposition to injustice and discrimination while critiquing the growing militarism at the turn of the century.

Dates & Times

 Thursday 13th Mar  6:00pm
Book Now

The Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2025

Am I Right? Justice, Justification and Judgement in Japanese Cinema.

Season Pass: Get a discount (each ticket for £7) when you book tickets for the 4 films in the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme at the same time.

A Samurai in Time – Thursday 6 March, 8pm
Broken Commandment – Thursday 13 March, 6pm
Let’s Go Karaoke! – Thursday 20 March, 8.30pm
All the Long Nights – Thursday 27 March, 6pm

The UK’s biggest festival of Japanese cinema, the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme (JFTFP), is back for its latest and greatest instalment!

In a world where injustice runs rampant, cinematic expressions of justice seem inexhaustible: time and time again, heroic protagonists fend off malicious antagonists or enact their revenge, the constant injustices they face mirroring audiences’ own. Japan is no exception to this, and the JFTFP25 promises to showcase how Japanese filmmakers use the language of cinema to explore the concepts of criminal, social, and moral justice, along with the ways people respond to external judgement. Featuring everything from thought-provoking hidden gems to laugh-a-minute entertainment, UK audiences are invited to join us in questioning the very concepts of justice, justification, and judgement against today’s backdrop of ever-changing values and perspectives.

Co-presented by: The Japan Foundation
Major Supporter: The Great Britain Sasakawa Foundation
Sponsors in Kind: Athletia, Calbee, Clearspring, Pentel, SUQQU

Find Us

Enquire about this Event