Name: Seijun Suzuki's TAISHŌ TRILOGY: KAGERO-ZA (1981)
Start: 2026-03-22T18:00:00-07:00
End: 2026-03-22T20:30:00-07:00
Location: Philosophical Research Society

Seijun Suzuki's TAISHŌ TRILOGY:  KAGERO-ZA (1981)

The Philosophical Research Society in Los Angeles is a nonprofit cultural and educational organization which presents concerts, film screenings, lectures, performance art and theatre events, gallery exhibits and more on the intersection between the creative arts and mythology, mysticism and metaphysics.

The Philosophical Research Society

Suzuki's feverish phantasmagoria of theatrical illusion, haunted memory, and obsessive longing!

Philosophical Research Society

SEIJUN SUZUKI’S TAISHŌ TRILOGY (Series Pass Available)<a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/seijun-suzukis-taisho-trilogy-zigeunerweisen-1980-tickets-1984156225683?aff=oddtdtcreator&amp;keep_tld=true" title="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/seijun-suzukis-taisho-trilogy-zigeunerweisen-1980-tickets-1984156225683?aff=oddtdtcreator&amp;keep_tld=true" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">3/15 — ZIGEUNERWEISEN (1980)</a>3/22 — KAGERO-ZA (1981)<a href="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/seijun-suzukis-taisho-trilogy-yumeji-1991-tickets-1984157177530?aff=oddtdtcreator&amp;keep_tld=true" title="https://www.eventbrite.com/e/seijun-suzukis-taisho-trilogy-yumeji-1991-tickets-1984157177530?aff=oddtdtcreator&amp;keep_tld=true" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">3/29 — YUMEJI (1991)</a><h4>Please Note: Each film in the trilogy is a completely standalone work—come for one, two, or all three!</h4> 7th House is proud to present maverick cinematic alchemist Seijun Suzuki’s extraordinary TAISHŌ TRILOGY across three consecutive Sundays this March—a trio of radically surreal late-career masterworks from one of Japanese cinema’s most singular, shape-shifting figures. Rising through the Nikkatsu studio system in the 1960s, Suzuki became a subversive force within genre filmmaking, transforming crime pictures into detonations of color, rhythm, and avant-garde invention. His now-legendary Branded to Kill (1967) proved so formally audacious that it led to his dismissal from the studio and a decade-long exile. When he returned in 1980, it was with something altogether stranger: three lavish, visually unbound works set during Japan’s Taishō era (1912–1926), a period of cultural collision and modern awakening. Across ZIGEUNERWEISEN (1980), KAGERO-ZA (1981), and YUMEJI (1991), Suzuki abandons conventional storytelling for a cinema of atmosphere, sensation, and unstable memory. Scenes unfold like moving paintings; time loops and fractures; sliding doors reveal impossible landscapes; characters drift through dreamlike tableaux where identity and desire blur into apparition. Drawing from silent cinema, theater, Western modernism, and the avant-garde, the trilogy erupts in bold color, theatrical artifice, and sudden ruptures of logic—at once ravishingly composed and gleefully disorienting. Rarely screened in the United States and widely regarded in Japan as the summit of Suzuki’s artistry, these films mark a triumphant rebirth: a lush, sensuous, and experimentally explosive triptych that drifts between dream, memory, and hallucination.<h4> </h4> KAGERO-ZASuzuki’s dreamlike trilogy wanders further into dream and delirium with KAGERO-ZA (AKA HEAT SHIMMER THEATER, 1981), a feverish phantasmagoria of theatrical illusion and obsessive longing. A playwright mourning the death of his lover becomes captivated by a mysterious woman who may in fact be her spectral double, drawing him into a labyrinth of encounters suspended between carnal desire, haunted memory, and theatrical illusion. What begins as grief soon mutates into fixation as reality slips further from his grasp. Here Suzuki unleashes a cascade of unforgettable imagery. Rooms transform into stages; color floods the frame in sudden, startling bursts—crimson curtains, electric blues, faces illuminated like figures in a living painting—while characters drift through heightened tableaux suspended between recollection and hallucination. The film moves with the logic of a dream—at once playful, disorienting, and intoxicating—its world thick with yearning, artifice, and memories that refuse to remain buried. If Zigeunerweisen drifts like a sensuous reverie, Kagero-Za erupts in a dazzling spectacle of cinematic illusion. Dir. Seijun Suzuki, 1981, 139 mins, Japan, Japanese w/ English subtitles, Unrated (Adults Only), Digital.Special thanks to American Genre Film Archive and Arrow Films. <h3>TICKETS: $12 | SERIES PASS: $26 (In Person Event Only)</h3>Please email events@prs.org or phone 323-663-2167 with any questions.

ADVISORY DISCLAIMERWith some exception, The Philosophical Research Society’s 7th House Screenings does not typically provide advisory warnings about potentially upsetting content or subject matter, as sensitivities are particular to each viewer. Please be sure to read event listings, research on the web, or visit <a href="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/" title="https://www.commonsensemedia.org/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Common Sense Media</a>, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/" title="https://www.imdb.com/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">IMDb</a>, and <a href="http://doesthedogdie.com/" title="http://doesthedogdie.com/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">DoesTheDogDie.com</a> for thorough info on content and age-appropriateness. If you have any specific content advisory questions, please email events@prs.org. CONTENT DISCLAIMERThe views, opinions, and thoughts expressed within exhibited works are solely those of their creators and may not represent those of the Philosophical Research Society (PRS), its affiliates, or any individuals associated with PRS. Screenings are intended for educational and entertainment purposes. ACCESSIBILITYPRS wants all guests to be able to enjoy our events safely and comfortably. If you require any accessibility accommodation, please reach out to events@prs.org before showtime and we will be happy to assist you. REFUND POLICIESAll sales are final. There are no refunds for PRS events , except in the event of a medical emergency, including but not limited to a positive COVID-19 test. Ticket exchanges may be granted on a case by case basis, pending circumstances.In the event that PRS is forced to cancel an event entirely, tickets will be refunded or vouchers offered for a rescheduled event. PARKINGWe encourage attendees to consider carpooling, walking or biking to events if possible, and please be considerate of our Los Feliz neighbors when parking. Nearby street parking is available, as well as limited parking onsite at PRS in the front lot (entry from Los Feliz Blvd. when heading east). PRS EVENT POLICIES<ul><li>We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.</li><li>Events are subject to change without notice, including guest speakers and/or performers.</li><li>We encourage you to arrive at least 30 min. before the scheduled event start time to find parking, enjoy the Bookstore and take your seats.</li><li>Please turn off all mobile devices before the show. Talking and texting are not allowed during the events.</li><li>No filming, audio recording or mobile phone recording of events, screenings, concerts or other programs by audience members is allowed without permission.</li><li>There is no smoking permitted on PRS grounds.</li><li>We strongly encourage guests to wear masks to PRS events to prevent the spread of infectious diseases.</li><li>PRS allows Service Animals into the facility under ADA and state guidelines. For further details please visit www.ADA.gov. No animals permitted whose sole function is to provide comfort or emotional support, under ADA guidelines and CA Health Code.</li><li>Please do not bring outside food or drink into PRS events.</li><li>Weapons are strictly prohibited at PRS events.</li></ul>

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Seijun Suzuki's TAISHŌ TRILOGY: KAGERO-ZA (1981)

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