This screening will be introduced by Assistant Professor Zhao Xinyi from the Department of Japanese Studies at the National University of Singapore.

Director: Kon Ichikawa
Runtime: 99 mins
Country: Japan
Language: Japanese with English subtitles
Rating: PG

Synopsis

In The Full-Up Train, fresh graduate Tamio Moroi works as a white-collar employee at a brewery in Osaka, where he is taught to do little more than pretend to be busy. After learning about his mother’s deteriorating mental condition, he struggles to send money to fund research into her condition. He becomes caught in a series of mishaps that stress and push him to the brink.

The film’s depiction of the rapidly changing rhythms of postwar life offers an almost clinical critique of the relentless march toward industrialisation. The film had an obvious influence on its assistant director, Yasuzō Masumura, whose own corporate comedies, including Giants and Toys (1958) and The Black Test Car (1962), owe much to its acerbic satire.

About the Speaker

Zhao Xinyi (Ch. 赵心怡) is an Assistant Professor jointly appointed in Japanese Studies and Chinese Studies at the National University of Singapore. She received her PhD in East Asian Languages and Cultures from Columbia University in 2025. Her teaching and research focus on the film and media histories of Japan and China. Her current book project, Cinema in Search of a Nation: Media Culture and the Making of Manchuria, examines how cinema participated in the formation of colonial Manchuria and its postwar afterlives. She has also published on Teshigahara Hiroshi’s film Woman in the Dunes (1964) and women pioneers in Japanese cinema.

This screening is part of the programme Twin Tales: Kon Ichikawa and Yasuzo Masumura. For more screenings, please click here.

Friends of AFA members, please read the membership guide on how to purchase your discounted tickets and redeem your complimentary tickets.

Oldham Theatre’s opening hours

For further assistance, please contact us at ticketing@asianfilmarchive.org 

Important Notice:

Do note that Oldham Theatre operates on a free seating arrangement. Doors will open 10 minutes before showtime so arrive early to choose a seat and avoid disrupting the screenings as AFA does not play ads and screenings will start promptly.

All patrons are encouraged to purchase your tickets online. If you choose to purchase tickets or merchandise at Oldham Theatre’s box office, cashless payment is preferred.

—

T&Cs

No food and drink is allowed in the hall. Recording of the films is strictly prohibited. If you are found to be violating any of the rules and disturbing other members of the audience, AFA reserves the right to ask you to leave the theatre hall.

Concession tickets apply to Students (Local & Overseas), Full-time National Servicemen (NSF), Senior Citizens (55 years and above) only.

Please check film ratings before purchase of tickets. Please note that you may be asked to present your ID at the door (this applies to concession tickets as well). Only physical photographic identification is allowed, digital copies of identification are not allowed. AFA reserves the right to turn away any members of the public without physical photographic identification.

Upon confirmation of your order for Tickets, no exchange of Tickets will be made under any circumstances and Tickets are not transferable. No refund on Tickets will be made under any circumstances except due to cancellation of the event. The resale of Tickets at any price is prohibited.