ZAMEK Culture Centre

Five days in the lives of pupils at a Tokyo school. As a typhoon approaches the city’s suburbs, some of the youngsters remain in the school building to wait out the storm. But with the first gusts of wind, a sexual energy awakens in them – one that no one can stop! After the typhoon passes, nothing will ever be the same again.

Shinji Sōmai’s masterpiece can be read as a Japanese variation on “The Breakfast Club”, except here the raging typhoon outside mirrors the chaos and unpredictability of adolescent sexuality. In “Typhoon Club”, the motif of staying “after hours” becomes a formative experience, as school corridors turn into a stage of transgression and initiation. Widely regarded as one of the greatest Japanese films, adored by Kiyoshi Kurosawa and Ryūsuke Hamaguchi, “Typhoon Club” is an unbridled coming-of-age tale – a manifesto of youth that deconstructs the genre and redefines its power.

The film will be screened in a restored 4K version.

TYPHOON CLUB, dir. Shinji Sômai, Japan 1985, 114’