[go: up one dir, main page]

    Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsEmmysSan Diego Comic-ConSummer Watch GuideToronto Int'l Film FestivalSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

Le traquenard

Original title: Otoshiana
  • 1962
  • Not Rated
  • 1h 37m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
4.5K
YOUR RATING
Le traquenard (1962)
CrimeDramaFantasy

A man wanders into a seemingly deserted town with his young son in search of work. But after a bit of bad luck, he joins the town's population of lost souls.A man wanders into a seemingly deserted town with his young son in search of work. But after a bit of bad luck, he joins the town's population of lost souls.A man wanders into a seemingly deserted town with his young son in search of work. But after a bit of bad luck, he joins the town's population of lost souls.

  • Director
    • Hiroshi Teshigahara
  • Writer
    • Kôbô Abe
  • Stars
    • Hisashi Igawa
    • Sumie Sasaki
    • Sen Yano
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    4.5K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Hiroshi Teshigahara
    • Writer
      • Kôbô Abe
    • Stars
      • Hisashi Igawa
      • Sumie Sasaki
      • Sen Yano
    • 18User reviews
    • 37Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 nomination total

    Videos1

    Trailer [OV]
    Trailer 3:13
    Trailer [OV]

    Photos22

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 16
    View Poster

    Top cast15

    Edit
    Hisashi Igawa
    Hisashi Igawa
    • Miner…
    Sumie Sasaki
    • Shopkeeper
    Sen Yano
    • Toyama
    Hideo Kanze
    Hideo Kanze
    • Policeman
    Kunie Tanaka
    Kunie Tanaka
    • Man in white suit
    Kei Satô
    Kei Satô
    • Reporter
    Kazuo Miyahara
    Kazuo Miyahara
    • The miner's son
    Akemi Nara
    Tadashi Fukuro
    • Second union member
    Kikuo Kaneuchi
    • Photographer
    Kanichi Ômiya
    • Second miner
    Shigeru Matsuo
    • Farmer
    Ton Shimada
    • Dead miner
    Sanpei Asakura
    Heiguro Matsumoto
    • Director
      • Hiroshi Teshigahara
    • Writer
      • Kôbô Abe
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews18

    7.54.4K
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    chaos-rampant

    Geometry of a discordant axis - an early Teshigahara masterpiece

    Although structurally and aesthetically experimental cinema, Teshigahara's debut proper already carries all the trademarks of an assured author and although a bit rough around the edges here and there it shows a director experimenting with his craft even as he perfects it. Japanese new-wave ferried to its logical conclusion even as it takes its first baby steps.

    Based on a story by Kôbô Abe, PITFALL explores the myriad possibilities that emerge from the space where life and death overlap, as a poor miner is murdered under mysterious circumstances in the marshes near an old ghost town. His murderer, an alluring white-clad figure, buys off the silence of the one witness, a woman operating a candy store in the ghost town district, and disappears as mysteriously as he appeared. In the mean time the murdered man wakes up next to his corpse only to discover he's now a ghost.

    While THE SIXTH SENSE milked a very similar idea for maximum mainstream appeal, shock twists and shallow thrills, Teshigahara is wise to allow his material to breathe. Even though a very pragmatic subplot about two rival labour unions introduced in the end of act two detracts from the existential nature of the story, like all great storytellers Teshigahara never settles for the convenient and tidy, refuses to explain what the viewer most needs explained. Personal interpretation is very important in any work and particularly in something as haunting as this. Who is the killer? Why is he doing it? Questions left open, the character cleverly typed as a seriocomic grim reaper of sorts riding around in his moped, a manifestation that invokes notions of fate by the very nature of his acts. Is there not meaning when one is not aware of it?

    Teshigahara pits the dead against the dead, the living against the living and everybody against each other, ghosts quizically examining their corpses and wondering the reason of their deaths, the living deaf to their protestations and too busy being suspicious of each other. A world revolving around a discordant axis, thrown off balance and left for us to explore its geometry.

    Teshigahara's direction reflecting the uncertainty and disorientation of the plot as much as Toru Takemitsu's dissonant score. A POV shot of a child introduced only for the child to walk inside its own POV shot. Jarring jump cuts that send characters jumping through space. Construction works photographed in all their derelict, abandonded glory, a ghost world for the dead to haunt. Notions of hell on earth. The ghost of the murdered man complaining he's hungry as winds rise in the soundtrack. A pack of dogs ascending a steep slope like other Sissyphi. Very precise, very geometric, the work of an assured visual director.
    xhari_nairx

    Interesting satire

    This film is very difficult to find in the West. It's not on video and you'd probably have to be lucky and find it at a film festival or a revival house. It's the first collaboration between director Teshigahara, writer Kodo Abe, and composer Toru Takemitsu, who went on to make the more widely available WOMAN IN THE DUNES and FACE OF ANOTHER. It's not quite as strong as WitD but is on par with FoA. This is a satire about a deserted town who's inhabitants are ghosts swallowed up by corruption. Teshigahara's direction is solid and Takemitsu comes up with another appropriately dissonant score balancing tension and humor. It's worth seeing for anyone interested in the three principal collaborators, particularly since opportunities to see it are rare. Takemitsu in particular could almost single handedly make a movie worth watching.
    7Angel_Peter

    Otoshiana

    From the start of the movie you follow two deserters that are mine workers. A guy dressed in white is spying on them unnoticed from a distance. Then The miners move on to new jobs but the man in white follows still unnoticed....

    This movie is much more about moods I think than the actual story. It is a slow moving movie especially the first half of it. But I was absorbed about wondering who was it following him and why. I did also like the boy as the silent observer where I wondered if he would interfere with the story at a time and in what way.

    I would not recommend this movie to everybody. I did enjoy it a lot but I would not consider it as a masterpiece. If you are are interested in slow but moody B&W pictures then it may be for you. If you want a bit more action then choose another movie.
    5Film-gourmet

    Anticlimax

    Most people watch this movie after 'Suna no Onna' (Woman In The Dunes). Well, if you compare these 2 movies, the result would be defeat for Pitfall.

    What is that? Story builds up, builds up, builds up and... Abruptly ends. There are question marks left over everything. No this is not a movie you can understand with watching it second time like 'Memento'.

    I give 5 stars out of respect to the dead/alive ghastly effects for 1960s.
    8gbill-74877

    An artistic, beautiful allegory

    An artistic film that defies simple analysis. There are ghosts, but it's not a ghost story. There is a crime scene investigation, but it's not a murder mystery. It's got surreal moments, but it's not strictly a fantasy.

    At the heart of this allegory is a very down to earth social criticism of Japan's mining industry. The film shows us the backbreaking work of miners in the Kyushu region, one that has been desolated by industry. Pay is meager and workers are sometimes hunted down for desertion. There are unions but they are weak, and industrialists use one of the many ploys at their disposal to keep them that way - they pit the leaders of different groups against one another. The mysterious man in the white suit to me is simply a symbol for big business. Without a trace of compassion, it leaves entire communities as ghost towns, raping the land, and leaving its workers eternally hungry.

    The visuals in the film are stark and brilliant. Teshigahara boldly puts images and sequences on the screen that make us wonder what's happening, and where he's going with this. The film may seem disjointed and odd, but bear with it, or watch it a couple of times (as I did).

    It's certainly not cheery though. There is so little hope against unseen forces that leave people in squalor, and have men fighting one another in the mud of life. A shop owner is raped by a cop and it's witnessed by a boy. It's very unfortunate that this seems to evolve into acceptance or consent on her part after a jump cut (the painful to watch trope that 'no' eventually means 'yes' with enough force or persistence). It's a small moment, but this woman sells candy bearing Disney characters, a clear (and sad for Japan) post-war reference. And what of the future? A little boy in a barren landscape who has seen several murders, a rape, and impassively rips apart a live frog? It's bleak.

    More like this

    Le Visage d'un autre
    7.8
    Le Visage d'un autre
    Rikyu
    7.1
    Rikyu
    La Femme du sable
    8.4
    La Femme du sable
    Moetsukita chizu
    6.6
    Moetsukita chizu
    Antonio Gaudí
    7.2
    Antonio Gaudí
    L'Île nue
    8.0
    L'Île nue
    Shinjû: Ten no Amijima
    7.6
    Shinjû: Ten no Amijima
    La Pendaison
    7.5
    La Pendaison
    Gô-hime
    6.8
    Gô-hime
    Les Vampires
    7.7
    Les Vampires
    Goyokin: La terreur des sabaï
    7.6
    Goyokin: La terreur des sabaï
    Samâ sorujâ
    6.3
    Samâ sorujâ

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This is the first of four film collaborations involving director Hiroshi Teshigahara, author Kôbô Abe, and scorer Tôru Takemitsu. Their other film collaborations were La Femme du sable (1964), Le Visage d'un autre (1966) and Moetsukita chizu (1968).
    • Connections
      Featured in Music for the Movies: Tôru Takemitsu (1994)

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ

    • How long is Pitfall?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • July 1, 1962 (Japan)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Language
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • Pitfall
    • Production companies
      • Teshigahara Productions
      • Toho
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross worldwide
      • $30,078
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 37 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb App
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.