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Panorama of Japanese Cinema 1951 (part 8)
Repastaka A Married Life(Meshi) Director: Mikio NaruseScreenplay: Toshirō Ide, Sumie TanakaCinematography: Masao TamaiMusic: Fumio HayasakaAsst. director: Masayoshi KawanishiStudio: TohoGenre: Drama Cast: Setsuko Hara, Ken Uehara, Yukiko Shimazaki, Yōko Sugi, Akiko Kazami, Haruko Sugimura, Ranko Hanai, Hiroshi Nihon’yanagi, Keiju Kobayashi, Sō Yamamura, Eitarō Shindō and others. No. 2 in Kinema Junpo’s rankings. Michiyo is an unhappy…
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Panorama of Japanese Cinema: 1951 (Part 7)
Miki, The Swordman(Hirate Miki) Director: Kyōtarō NamikiScreenplay: Shinobu HashimotoCinematography: Kikusaburō KawasakiMusic: no infoAsst. director: no infoAction choreography: no infoStudios: Shintoho, SogeiGenre: Jidaigeki, chanbara Cast: Sō Yamamura, Ryūnosuke Tsukigata, Ranko Hanai, Eijirō Yanagi, Haruo Tanaka, Yōnosuke Toba, Unpei Yokoyama, Bokuzen Hidari The life story of the rōnin Miki Hirate, who, unable to attain a high-ranking position…
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Yakuza Eiga. Part II: Gangsters Without Honour
Welcome back to the world of Japanese gangsters. During our first visit, we learnt who the yakuza were, and when and how films about their exploits came to dominate cinemas in the Land of the Rising Sun. Today, however, we shall examine the people behind the success of ninkyō eiga, see what Toei’s competitors were…
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Panorama of Japanese Cinema: 1951 (Part 6)
The Lady of Musashino(Musashino fujin) Director: Kenji MizoguchiScreenplay: Yoshikata YodaCinematography: Masao TamaiMusic: Fumio HayasakaAsst. director: no infoStudio: TohoGenre: Drama Cast: Kinuyo Tanaka, Yukiko Todoroki, Masayuki Mori, Akihiko Katayama, Sō Yamamura, Eitarō Shindō, Kiyoko Hirai Set in post-war Japan, the story follows Michiko, an unhappily married woman with whom her young cousin falls in love. Commentary:…
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Panorama of Japanese Cinema: 1951 (Part 5)
Dancing Girl(Maihime) Direction: Mikio Naruse Screenplay: Kaneto Shindō Cinematography: Asakazu NakaiMusic: Ichirō SaitōAsst. director: no infoStudio: Toho Genre: drama Cast: Mieko Takamine, Sō Yamamura, Mariko Okada*, Isao Kimura, Heihachirō Ōkawa, Hiroshi Nihon’yanagi, Akihiko Katayama *Mariko Okada, who would go on to become one of the most widely recognized actresses in the country, made her debut…
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Panorama of Japanese Cinema: 1951 (Part 4)
We begin the fourth part of our 1951 survey with a brief historical note. As I mentioned in the 1950 year-end summary, chanbara had been making a steady return to Japanese cinemas from the late 1940s onwards as one of the most popular genres. Evidence of this includes, for example, the Shōchiku films about Heiji…
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Panorama of Japanese Cinema: 1951 (Part 3)
The Idiot (Hakuchi) Direction: Akira Kurosawa Screenplay: Akira Kurosawa, Eijirō Hisaita Cinematography: Toshio UbukataMusic: Fumio HayasakaAsst. director: Yoshitarō Nomura, Kō NakahiraStudio: Shochiku Genre: drama Cast: Setsuko Hara, Masayuki Mori, Toshirō Mifune, Yoshiko Kuga, Takashi Shimura, Chieko Higashiyama, Eijirō Yanagi, Minoru Chiaki, Noriko Sengoku, Kokuten Kōdō, Bokuzen Hidari A Second World War veteran arrives in Hokkaido,…
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Panorama of Japanese Cinema: 1951 (Part 2)
Carmen Comes Home(Karumen kokyo ni kaeru) Direction and screenplay: Keisuke Kinoshita Cinematography: Hiroyuki KusudaMusic: Chūji Kinoshita, Toshirō MayuzumiAsst. director: Yoshirō KawazuStudio: Shochiku Genre: comedy-drama Cast: Hideko Takamine, Shūji Sano, Chishū Ryū, Kuniko Igawa, Takeshi Sakamoto, Bontarō Miake, Keiji Sada, Toshiko Kobayashi, Kōji Mitsui, Yūko Mochizuki The first colour film in Japan. #4 on the Kinema…
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Panorama of Japanese Cinema: 1951 (Part 1)
Beyond Love and Hate(Ai to nikushimi no kanata e) Direction: Senkichi Taniguchi Screenplay: Akira Kurosawa, Senkichi Taniguchi Cinematography: Masao TamaiMusic: Akira IfukubeAsst. director: no infoStudio: Film Art Association Genre: drama, crime Cast: Toshirō Mifune, Mitsuko Mito, Ryō Ikebe, Takashi Shimura, Eitarō Ozawa, Kichijirō Ueda A young prisoner, Gorō Sakata, suspects his wife of infidelity and…
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Yakuza Eiga. Part I: The Gangster’s Honor
(BLOOD + HONOUR) × FAMILY = YAKUZA EIGA Japanese cinema is commonly associated with three types of hero—or antihero: the samurai or rōnin, the giant monster à la Godzilla and the yakuza. The last of these is a gangster with an elaborate tattoo covering his back and a highly specific understanding of honour, who has…
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Summary of the year 1950 (and a very brief overview of 1948-49)
Japanese Cinema Panorama: 1948–1950 Concluding — even if only temporarily — the overview of 1950 in Japanese cinema is a good moment to pause, take a breath, and look at the main trends and the evolution of their films. At least insofar as the limited availability of productions outside Japan allows. Before doing so, however,…
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Panorama of Japanese Cinema: 1950 (Part 1.)
Escape at Dawnaka Desertion at Dawn(Akatsuki no dasso) Direction: Senkichi TaniguchiScreenplay: Senkichi Taniguchi, Akira Kurosawa Cinematography: Akira MimuraMusic: Fumio HayasakaAsst. director: Ishirō HondaStudio: Shintoho Genre: drama, war Cast: Ryō Ikebe, Yoshiko Yamaguchi, Eitarō Ozawa, Hajime Izu, Haruo Tanaka, Setsuko Wakayama, Kan Yanagiya, Yuzaburo Shimada, Ko Yamamuro, Harue Tone, Mitsue Tachibana, Taizō Fukami. #3 on the…
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Panorama of Japanese Cinema: 1950 (Part 4.)
Fencing Master(Tateshi Danpei; lit.: Danpei, Master of Stage Combat) Direction: Masahiro Makino Screenplay: Akira KurosawaCinematography: Shigeto MikiMusic: Tokujiro ŌkuboAsst. director: no infoStudio: Toyoko Eiga Genre: drama Cast: Utaemon Ichikawa, Isuzu Yamada, Entatsu Yokoyama, Chiaki Tsukioka, Eitarō Shindō, Kyoji Sugi, Yoshi Katō, Kinnosuke Takamatsu, Reiko Hatsune, Shizuo Maeda, Kensaku Hara, Ryūnosuke Tsukigata Danpei, a choreographer of…
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Panorama of Japanese Cinema: 1950 (Part 2.)
Scandal(Sukyandaru, Shūbun) Direction: Akira Kurosawa Screenplay: Akira Kurosawa, Ryūzō KikushimaCinematography: Toshio UbukataMusic: Fumio HayasakaAsst. director: Yoshitarō NomuraStudio: Shochiku Genre: drama Cast: Toshirō Mifune, Yoshiko Yamaguchi, Yōko Katsuragi, Noriko Sengoku, Eitarō Ozawa, Takashi Shimura, Shinichi Himori, Kōji Mitsui, Ichirō Shimizu, Fumiko Okamura, Masao Shimizu, Tanie Kitabayashi, Sugisaku Aoyama, Kokuten Kōdō, Kichijirô Ueda, Bokuzen Hidari #6 on…
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Panorama of Japanese Cinema: 1950 (Part 3.)
A Mother’s Love(Bojō) Direction: Hiroshi Shimizu Screenplay: Hiroshi Shimizu, Matsuo KishiCinematography: Minoru YokoyamaMusic: Yūji KosekiAsst. director: Teruo IshiiStudio: Shintoho Genre: drama Cast: Nijiko Kiyokawa, Musei Tokugawa, Yataro Kurokawa, Yoshiko Tsubouchi, Reiko Miyagawa, Tamae Kiyokawa, Kumeko Urabe, Chōko Iida, Isuzu Yamada A woman working in a bar is unable to support her three children, each from…
