Eat
the Kimono is a brilliant documentary about Hanayagi Genshu,
a Japanese feminist and avant-garde dancer and performer, who
has spent her life defying her conservative culture contempt
for independence and unconventionality. She denounced Emperor
Hirohito as a war criminal, and dismissed death threats made
against her by right-wing groups. Not afraid of dangers, she
opposed the Emperor Akihito¡¦s enthronement by throwing firecrackers
and ended up in jailed. She established an avant-garde dance
theater to express her reaction to the society by her art creation.
¡§You mustn¡¦t be eaten by the kimono,¡¨ says Genshu, making reference
to the traditional Japanese dress designed to restrict movement
for women. ¡§You must eat the kimono, and gobble it up.¡¨
