Institute History
Description
On a day in early autumn, Natsuko comes home with two necklaces and a bunch of roses for her flatmate, Mitsu. It is Mitsu's birthday. But there is a white handkerchief hanging in the window of the apartment, a sign that Mitsu's boyfriend, Hideo, is visiting so Natsuko should stay away. Natsuko secretly loves Mitsu. In order to win her, Natsuko seduces Hideo, hoping to drive a wedge between him and Mitsu. However, Natsuko becomes pregnant. It is Christmas when Mitsu finds out what has happened. She angrily throws Natsuko out of the apartment, but Natsuko is not so easily deterred. Neglecting her own well-being, gripped by obsession, she begins following Mitsu day and night.
The film was indirectly inspired by a short newspaper item in 1976, which reported that a young woman who worked at a beauty salon had died of starvation. Yazaki developed this stark item into a story of two young women sharing a city apartment. One of them, Natsuko, works in a nursery school; the other, Mitsu, works in a beauty salon. The film explores Natsuko's dawning awareness that she is in love with her roommate.