That Night's Wife

In the shadow of darkness, a man commits a shocking robbery. But this man is no criminal mastermind; he is Shuji, a sensitive father and husband doing the unthinkable to afford care for his ailing daughter whose life-threatening fever must break tonight or else. When Detective Kagawa trails Shuji to his modest tenement, it is Shuji’s wife Mayumi who decides to hold the detective hostage at gunpoint. The three strike a deal: Kagawa must stay until the night has passed and daughter Michiko is in the clear. In the morning, Kagawa can take Shuji to jail. 

Unfolding over the course of one night, Yasujiro Ozu’s That Night’s Wife combines nerve-fraying suspense with the emotional domestic drama one typically associates with the filmmaker’s later masterpieces, with beautifully evocative camera work and economic editing. Featuring the World Premiere of a newly-commissioned guitar-based score performed live by Kent Lambert (performing as Whine Cave) for Silent Movie Day. (Yasujiro Ozu, Japan, 1930, 65 min., 35mm)

Kent Lambert is a Chicago-based musician and media artist. His creative output primarily consists of 1) vocal driven art-pop music and 2) pop-inflected video art made from repurposed industrial and commercial media. His ever-mutating band Roommate has been performing stateside and abroad for almost two decades. Their fourth album MAKE LIKE was released in 2015.