the 1960s scenes, both musically and stylistically. In the final scene, Eiko's lover, a film director, commits suicide by hanging himself with a length of film. Eiko and Wada gather all of the 1920s characters and take a group picture of them. The two then leave the building. Themes In a 1970 interview for the magazine Cahiers du Cinéma, Yoshida explains: "The fundamental theme is: how to change the world, and what is it that needs to be changed? Reflecting on the present situation through the medium of an era already past, I came to believe that Osugi’s problems continue to be ours. Osugi is very well known in Japan – one could say almost legendary: he is someone who spoke of free love. He was assassinated in 1923 by an official of the state, massacred by the power of the state. This is what all Japanese historians believe; but this historical estimation only enlightens the past, and not the future. In making this film, I wanted to transform the legend of Osugi by means of the imaginary. Sure enough, Osugi was oppressed by the power of the state in his political activities. But most of all, he spoke of free love, which has the power to destroy the monogamous structure, then the family, and finally the state. And it was this very escalation that the state could not allow. It was because of this crime of the imaginary (or "imaginary crime") that the state massacred Osugi. Osugi was someone who envisioned a future. Style The two time periods are filmed in different styles. The 1920s scenes are slow, talky, with elements of kabuki theatre. They are accompanied by dramatic orchestral music, while Yoshida uses architectural elements to portray alienation and distant relations between the characters by filming their faces and bodies separated by windows, doors, and so on. On the other hand, the 1960s scenes are more avant-garde in terms of free-form visual approach and their psychedelic rock soundtrack. The film, however, does not use flashbacks, and instead deliberately complicates the distinction between past and present, allowing characters to cross these boundaries. He stated in an interview: "I adopted a style that brings Osugi back into the contemporary period. Therefore, when Noe Itō at age 18 comes to Tokyo for the second time having been called by [the feminist activist] Raicho Hitatsuka, she arrives at the contemporary Shinbashi Station