“Phaedra” / 「死んでもいい」, Original Japanese Movie Poster 1962, B2 Size (51.5 × 72.8 cm) G256

This is an original Japanese B2 theatrical poster printed for the original Japanese release of Phaedra / 「死んでもいい」, Jules Dassin’s 1962 romantic psychological drama starring Melina Mercouri, Anthony Perkins, and Raf Vallone.

A modern reworking of the ancient Greek myth of Phaedra, the film combines classical tragedy, European art-house style, emotional intensity, and doomed erotic obsession. This striking Japanese poster presents the film through a bold, highly dramatic design tailored specifically for the Japanese market.

Film background

Set within the world of immense wealth and emotional isolation, the film follows Phaedra, the second wife of a powerful Greek shipping magnate.

Although married to Thanos, a wealthy and commanding older man, Phaedra becomes drawn into a dangerous and forbidden relationship with his son Alexis, a troubled young man adrift between privilege, alienation, and self-destruction.

Their affair develops into an all-consuming emotional and physical attachment, set against glamorous European surroundings yet shadowed by guilt, secrecy, and inevitability.

As the relationship intensifies, the consequences become catastrophic, exposing the destructive force of desire and the impossibility of escaping fate.

Directed and produced by Jules Dassin, the screenplay was written by Jules Dassin and Margarita Liberaki.

The music was composed by Mikis Theodorakis.

The principal cast includes Melina Mercouri, Anthony Perkins, and Raf Vallone.

The film reunited Dassin and Mercouri following the major international success of Never on Sunday, and gave Mercouri another of her most memorable tragic screen roles.

Anthony Perkins, already internationally famous after Psycho, brought a tense, vulnerable, and emotionally unstable quality to Alexis, helping to make the central relationship especially unsettling and compelling.

Poster design

The poster uses a dramatic split composition built around sensuality, emotional danger, and tragedy.

The upper two-thirds are dominated by a large, warm-toned image of Melina Mercouri and Anthony Perkins in an intense embrace. Mercouri’s blonde hair and upward gaze contrast with Perkins’ tilted profile, while their intertwined bodies create an image of overwhelming desire and emotional surrender.

The scene is rendered in a hazy, glowing palette of amber, gold, flesh tones, and shadow, giving the image a dreamlike and feverish quality.

Across the top margin, the green Japanese tagline reads:

「生命をかけて 切なく、身も心もしびれる愛の情感／ただ…燃える 燃える」

“A painful, life-risking emotion of love that numbs both body and soul / Simply… burning, burning.”

This line perfectly captures the mood of doomed passion at the centre of the film.

Below the embrace appears a smaller line of text introducing the picture as:

「太陽の国ギリシャの恋の物語 魅力溢れる不朽の名作」

“A love story from Greece, the land of the sun — an immortal masterpiece overflowing with charm.”

The middle section carries the principal cast names in green katakana:

「メリナ・メルクーリ
アソソニー・パーキンス
〔ラフ・バローネ〕」

followed by the credit:

「ジュールス・ダッシン製作／監督」

“Produced and directed by Jules Dassin.”

The lower-middle section is dominated by the enormous Japanese title:

「死んでもいい」

The title is rendered in a large, elegant orange brush-style script, giving the design a distinctly Japanese theatrical feeling while also reinforcing the film’s emotional extremity.

Beneath it appears the original English title:

Phaedra

in a flowing white script.

The bottom section shifts abruptly in tone. A dense field of upright lit matches forms a threatening visual barrier, from which emerges a stern portrait of Raf Vallone. He faces directly forward with a blood-stained hand raised near his chest, introducing a note of reckoning, violence, and tragic consequence.

This contrast between the sensual upper composition and the severe lower imagery gives the poster a powerful sense of escalation—from desire to destruction.

At the bottom right, the poster notes Japanese distribution by United Artists of Japan:

「日本ユナイテッド・アーチスツ映画会社提供」

Design note

The poster’s individual designer is uncredited, as was common with Japanese theatrical advertising for imported films during this period.

The layout combines photographic source imagery with a highly stylised Japanese title treatment and a carefully constructed emotional contrast between passion and tragedy.

The upper embrace, smoky shadows, and glowing colours present the film as intensely erotic and emotionally overwhelming, while the lower field of burning matches and the severe portrait of Vallone introduce a darker sense of judgment and ruin.

The Japanese title 「死んでもいい」 — literally “I Don’t Care If I Die” or “Even If I Die” — is especially powerful, transforming the film’s tragic mood into a direct and emotionally charged statement.

Its unusual visual structure, expressive typography, and dramatic use of colour make it a particularly memorable example of Japanese poster design for a European literary melodrama of the early 1960s.

Release note

Phaedra was produced and released theatrically in 1962.

It was released in Japan under the title:

「死んでもいい」

This poster was printed for the film’s original 1962 Japanese theatrical release.

It is a standard Japanese B2-size theatrical poster, measuring approximately:

51.5 × 72.8 cm / 20.3 × 28.7 inches

It is an original period Japanese cinema poster, not a later reproduction or commercial reprint.

Condition

Excellent condition. A highly attractive example with rich colour, striking photographic imagery, clear typography, and excellent overall display impact.

There are light signs of age and handling consistent with an original Japanese theatrical poster from 1962, including gentle fold wear, minor surface creasing, slight edge and corner wear, and age-related toning visible from the reverse. A few small spots of foxing are also present on the reverse.

These signs are entirely consistent with the poster’s age and do not significantly detract from its appearance. The front presents extremely well.

Reference: G256.

Please review the photographs carefully, as they show the exact poster for sale.

This is an original 1962 Japanese theatrical poster.
It is not a reproduction or a reprint.

It is now over 60 years old.

Certificate of Authenticity included.