In his five decades as a writer, Donald Richie has investigated everything from the glories of noh to the mysteries of the Japanese tattoo, while attempting everything from the travel narrative ("The Inland Sea") to the historical novel (the meticulously researched, wittily engaging "Kumagai"). He is best known abroad, however, as the pre-eminent Western critic of Japanese cinema, beginning with the seminal study "The Japanese Film," which he wrote with Joseph Anderson and published in 1959.
He not only brought the works of Akira Kurosawa and Yasujiro Ozu to the attention of the West, but also made experimental films himself that, in the 1960s, injected heady new influences into Japanese cinema while pushing the tolerance of Japanese authorities to the limit.
Until April 6, Image Forum in Shibuya will screen a retrospective of Richie's films in five programs, all in new prints and all selected by Richie himself. They range from the black comedy of "Five Filosophical Fables" and the erotic poetry of "Boy With Cat" to the unsettling sacrifices of "Cybele" and the deadly play of "Wargames."