Secrets Behind the Wall

Name: Kabe no naka no himegoto
Genre: Drama
Duration: 1 h 14 min
Rating: 7.1
Cast: Hiroko Fujino, Aya Mine, Chikako Natsumi

Original title: Kabe no naka no himegoto

1965
1h 14m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

592

YOUR RATING

Drama

Japan, 1960. In a housing complex, a young introverted student observes his neighbors through a telescope. The voyeurism of a young man isolated and gloomy, will cause an explosion of madnes... Read allJapan, 1960. In a housing complex, a young introverted student observes his neighbors through a telescope. The voyeurism of a young man isolated and gloomy, will cause an explosion of madness.Japan, 1960. In a housing complex, a young introverted student observes his neighbors through a telescope. The voyeurism of a young man isolated and gloomy, will cause an explosion of madness.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

592

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Awards
- 1 nomination total

Trivia
This film was screened at the 15th Berlin International Film Festival against the will of the Japan Motion Picture Federation (Eiren). The Federation was astonished when the Festival notified the choice, and claimed that the film did not represent the Japanese film industry. Masakazu Nagata, the chairman of Eiren, asked the West German embassy in Tokyo to do something about it, as there was concern that the Festival's choice could interfere with cultural exchanges between Japan and Germany. The Japanese Film Pen Club was also extremely dissatisfied with Wakamatsu's film being treated as a representative of Japan. Nevertheless, the Berlin Film Festival screened the film, ignoring the protests of the Japanese film industry. When the screening began, intense whistling and cursing flew around, and the press conference was canceled. Several German critics also denounced the film. The Japanese Foreign Ministry issued a statement saying that the organizers of international film festivals should be careful not to hurt the feelings of a nation and not to spread the wrong image of a foreign country.

User reviews1

Review

Featured review

6/10

For Mature Audiences Only

This film is about certain people living in a crowded apartment complex in Japan. One middle-aged housewife named "Nobuko Uchida" (Hiroko Fujino) is having an affair with a neighbor named "Nagai" (actor unknown). Across the way is a young man studying for his college exams who prefers to watch his neighbors through their windows with his telescope. He observes Nobuko and Nagai making love which, along with the stress of his studying, drives him into a frenzy. But this isn't the only story happening in this apartment complex as almost all of the occupants feel imprisoned within their small rooms and desperately want someone to save them from their loneliness. Tragedy results when they lose hope. At any rate, rather than divulge any of the surprise twists that emerge, I will just add that there is some sexual violence that may not be suitable for all viewers. Likewise, while there is some slight nudity it really isn't anything out of the ordinary for a typical R-rated film. Instead, the director (Koji Wakamatsu) uses some rather entertaining symbolism to make a point. Overall, this wasn't a bad movie but I would say it is for mature audiences only.