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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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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…
