The 1980s and the Movie And Then: Adaptation in Consumer Society

Abstract

Due partly to the Japanese translation of Jean Baudrillard's study La société de consummation: ses mythes, ses structures, the sociology of consumption was disseminated in Japan during the 1980s, leading to the formation of the idea of a consumption society. This phenomenon also influenced the 1980s reevaluation of Natsume Soseki, as can been seen in the consumer-friendly cover illustrations, designed by Watabe Seizō for the Kadokawa paperback editions of Soseki's works, and the film adaptation of Soseki's novel And Then, directed by Morita Yoshimitsu. This film, however, can also be seen as the “after-life,” or residuum, of the novel. This aspect of the film is revealed in the visual representation of the female protagonist, and in freeze frame shots or surreal sequences. Focusing on these images and sequences, I analyze the “un-consumable something” that is expressed in the film version of And Then.