Carmen Comes Home

Book any 3 films in our Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme season for the special price of £24. Sign in and add your tickets to the basket, and the discount will be applied at the checkout.

Just after the Second World War, the arrival of a city girl (TAKAMINE Hideko) and her friend (KOBAYASHI Toshiko) attracts curiosity from the residents of a rural mountain village. The girl’s name is Okin, and although she once called this very village home, she now claims to have become an artistic dancer in Tokyo under the stage name of Carmen.

The principal of the village school (RYU Chishu), a self-professed champion of the arts, is overjoyed to learn that his tiny village has produced such an esteemed artist, but when he witnesses Carmen and her friend’s dress sense and behaviour, he and the other villagers are confused and even upset. One day, determined to decorate her hometown with the brocade she prides herself on, Carmen agrees to showcase her dancing skills for the villagers…

An iconic light-hearted comedy, Carmen Comes Home remains one of master filmmaker KINOSHITA Keisuke’s (The Snow Flurry, JFTFP24) most beloved films, exploring the shifts and disparities in post-war Japanese moral standards. It also bears great historic significance as the first ever Japanese feature film produced in full colour.

©1951/2012 Shochiku Co., Ltd.

Screening as part of the Japan Foundation Touring Film Programme 2025, under this year's theme Am I Right? Justice, Justification and Judgement in Japanese Cinema