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Chieko Nakakita
was a Japanese actress. She appeared in the early films of Akira Kurosawa and later starred in many films by Mikio Naruse. Biography After graduating from Tokyo Film School (東京映画学校), Chieko Nakakita entered the Toho film studios and gave her debut in Yasujirō Shimazu's ''Nichijō no tatakai'' (1944). Her first film with Kurosawa was ''Those Who Make Tomorrow'' (1946), which he co-directed but disowned. Later films with Kurosawa include ''One Wonderful Sunday'' (1947), '' Drunken Angel'' (1948) and ''The Quiet Duel'' (1949). During the 1948 strike at Toho, Nakakita, like actresses Yoshiko Kuga and Setsuko Wakayama, sided with the unionists. Her first film with Naruse was the 1950 ''White Beast'', followed by regular supporting roles in the director's most important films, such as '' Repast'' (1951), ''Lightning'' (1952), for which she received the Blue Ribbon Award and the Mainichi Film Concours, ''Floating Clouds'' (1955) and '' Flowing'' (1956). Other direct ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mother (1952 Film)
is a 1952 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse, starring Kinuyo Tanaka in the title role. The screenplay by Yūko Mizuki is based on the prize-winning entry of a school essay-writing competition. Plot Told from the viewpoint of Toshiko, the second child of three of the Fukuhara family, the film depicts her mother Masako's struggles during the post-war years. First Masako loses her son, who fell ill from working in a velvet cloth shop, then her husband Ryosaku, who ruined his health from overworking during the war. Ryosaku's friend Kimura joins the family's laundry shop, showing Masako how to handle the business, watched warily by Toshiko who objects the idea that her mother might marry him. To reduce the Fukuhara's financial hardships, and because they are childless after losing their son in the war, Ryosaku's brother and his wife adopt the younger daughter Chako. Kimura finally leaves the business to open his own laundry shop in Chiba, and Toshiko and young baker Shin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Blue Ribbon Awards
The are film-specific prizes awarded solely by movie critics and writers in Tokyo, Japan. The awards were established in 1950 by which is composed of film correspondents from seven Tokyo-based sports newspapers. In 1961, the six major Japanese newspapers (Yomiuri Shimbun, Asahi Shimbun, Mainichi Shimbun, Sankei Shimbun, Tokyo Shimbun and Nihon Keizai Shinbun) as well as the Japanese Associated Press withdrew their support for the Blue Ribbon Awards and established the , (which were held a mere six times). In 1967, the awards were cancelled following a series of demoralizing national political scandals that became known as "The Black Mist" and eventually enveloped Japan's baseball industry.Johnston, Michael. "Influence Markets", ''Syndromes of Corruption: Wealth, Power, and Democracy'' (Cambridge University Press, 2005), , p. 79. In 1975, the awards were revived, and have continued until the present day. The annual award ceremony is held in a variety of places in Tokyo every ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anzukko
is a 1958 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. It is based on a novel by Saisei Murō. Plot Kyoko, daughter of successful writer Hirayama, rejects several marriage prospects before taking Ryokichi, owner of a small used book store, as her husband. A few years into the marriage, Kyoko has to start selling parts of the household, as the manuscripts of Ryokichi, who is ambitious to become a novelist, keep getting returned by publishers. Yagihara, a magazine editor and acquaintance of Hirayama, outspokenly tells Ryokichi that his work lacks originality and an elaborate style. Kyoko suggests that Ryokichi shows his manuscripts to her father, but he declines, arguing that it is Hirayama's overpowering presence which hinders him in his writing. Ryokichi's behaviour becomes increasingly erratic due to his drinking, and the couple's financial and emotional situation worsens. Kyoko repeatedly leaves her home to stay at her father's place, but insists that a divorce is the final ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Early Spring (1956 Film)
is a 1956 film by Yasujirō Ozu about a married salaryman ( Ryō Ikebe) who escapes the monotony of married life and his work at a fire brick manufacturing company by beginning an affair with a fellow office worker ( Keiko Kishi). The film also deals with the hardships of the salaryman lifestyle. "I wanted," Ozu said, "to portray what you might call the pathos of the white-collar life." With a runtime of 144 minutes, ''Early Spring'' is Ozu's longest surviving film, and his penultimate shot in black and white. Plot Office worker Shoji Sugiyama ( Ryō Ikebe) wakes and goes about his morning routine, attended by his wife, Masako ( Chikage Awashima), before commuting to his job in the Tokyo office of a fire brick manufacturing company. During a hiking trip with office friends, Shoji spends time alone with a fellow worker, a typist nicknamed "Goldfish" for her large eyes ( Keiko Kishi). After the trip Goldfish makes advances to Shoji and the two begin an affair. Masako suspects so ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sudden Rain (1956 Film)
is a 1956 Japanese comedy-drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. It is based on a play by Kunio Kishida. Plot The marriage of Fumiko and Ryōtarō Namiki has gone stale, with both of them constantly arguing about what to do on a day off, or her cutting out cooking recipes from the newspaper before he finished reading it. Their animosities are witnessed by Fumiko's niece Ayako, who pays a visit to complain about her own husband's inattentiveness, and their new neighbours, the Imasatos. When Ryōtarō's company announces the dismissal of some of their employees, a group of colleagues visits him at home and offers him to become their partner in a bar financed with their severance pay, with Fumiko serving the bar's guests. Ryōtarō throws them out and has an argument with Fumiko, declaring that he does not want his wife to take up a job. The couple contemplates a divorce and Ryōtarō's return to his hometown to work on his family's farm. The next morning, a children's balloon falls i ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
No Regrets For Our Youth
is a 1946 Japanese film written and directed by Akira Kurosawa. It is based on the 1933 Takigawa incident. The film stars Setsuko Hara, Susumu Fujita, Takashi Shimura and Denjirō Ōkōchi. Fujita's character was inspired by the real-life Hotsumi Ozaki, who assisted the famous Soviet spy Richard Sorge and so became the only Japanese citizen to suffer the death penalty for treason during World War II. The film is in black-and-white and runs 110 minutes. Plot The film begins in 1933. Students at Kyoto Imperial University protest the Japanese invasion of Manchuria. Prominent professor Yagihara (Denjiro Okochi) is relieved of his post because of his views against fascism. The professor's daughter Yukie (Setsuko Hara) is courted by two of her father's students: Ryukichi Noge (Susumu Fujita) and Itokawa (Akitake Kôno). Itokawa is equable and moderate while Noge is fiery and a radical leftist. Although she fights with him vigorously, Yukie is eventually drawn toward Noge. Noge disapp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kajirō Yamamoto
was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, and actor who was known for his war films and comedies and as the mentor of Akira Kurosawa. The combined list of his efforts as a director for documentaries, silent, and sound films includes over 90 film titles during his lifetime. Early life Born in Tokyo, Yamamoto attended Keio University, where he helped form a film appreciation society. He first appeared in film in 1921 as an actor opposite Yoshiko Okada, but that only earned the wrath of his family, who disowned him. Career He worked as an actor on the stage, joined Nikkatsu as an assistant director, and finally made his directorial debut in 1924 at Tōa Kinema. After working at Nikkatsu again, he was lured to Photo Chemical Laboratories (P. C. L.) in 1934, where he first made a name filming the comedies of Kenichi Enomoto. When P. C. L. became the Toho company, Yamamoto helmed realist dramas such as '' Tsuzurikata kyōshitsu'' and ''Uma'' (starring Hideko Takamine), and war ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hideo Sekigawa
was a Japanese film director known mainly for films with a left-wing agenda made in the late 1940s and early 1950s. His most noted works are the anti-war films '' Listen to the Voices of the Sea'' (1950) and '' Hiroshima'' (1953). Life Hideo Sekigawa joined the documentary branch of P.C.L. film studios (later Toho) in the 1930s where he worked on militarist propaganda films despite his Communist leanings. After the Second World War, Sekigawa debuted as co-director of the pro- unionist ''Those Who Make Tomorrow'' (1946) which was intended to illustrate the purpose of the workers' union at the Toho film studios. Having difficulties finding work due to his political leanings, he directed the anti-war film '' Listen to the Voices of the Sea'' for Mitsuo Makino's Toyoko Eiga company (later Toei Company). For the Japan Teachers Union, which had been unhappy with Kaneto Shindo's ''Children of Hiroshima'' for not being political enough, he directed '' Hiroshima'' (1953) in a semi-docu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tora-san's Song Of Love
''aka'' ''Torasan's Journey with a Lady'' is a 1983 Japanese comedy film directed by Yoji Yamada. It stars Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō Kuruma (Tora-san), and Harumi Miyako as his love interest or "Madonna". ''Tora-san's Song of Love'' is the thirty-first entry in the popular, long-running ''Otoko wa Tsurai yo'' series. Synopsis Tora-san returns to his family home to learn that his brother-in-law cannot go to Mitsuo's (Tora-san's nephew) athletic event. Tora-san volunteers to take his place, but gets into an argument with his brother-in-law's boss and returns to the road. He meets a young woman in Niigata who, unbeknownst to him, is a popular ''enka'' singer. Cast * Kiyoshi Atsumi as Torajirō * Chieko Baisho as Sakura * Harumi Miyako , born Harumi Kitamura (, ''Kitamura Harumi'') in Kyoto, is a Japanese ''enka'' singer. She made her debut in 1964. Her popularity has lasted: she makes frequent appearances in the annual television spectacular ''Kōhaku Uta Gassen'' and has ac ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Masaki Kobayashi
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, best known for the epic trilogy ''The Human Condition'' (1959–1961), the samurai films '' Harakiri'' (1962) and '' Samurai Rebellion'' (1967), and the horror anthology ''Kwaidan'' (1964). ''Senses of Cinema'' described him as "one of the finest depicters of Japanese society in the 1950s and 1960s." Biography Early life Kobayashi was born in Otaru, then a small port on the island of Hokkaido, the son of a company employee. He was a second cousin of the actress and director Kinuyo Tanaka. In 1933 he entered Waseda University in Tokyo where he studied East Asian art and philosophy. He embarked on a career in film in 1941 as an apprentice director at Shochiku Studios, but was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army in January 1942 and sent to Manchuria. Kobayashi regarded himself as a pacifist and a socialist, and resisted by refusing promotion to a rank higher than private. In 1944 he was transferred to Miyakojima in the Ryuku I ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shirō Toyoda
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed over 60 films during his career spanning 50 years. Career Born in Kyoto, Toyoda moved to Tokyo after finishing high school and studied scriptwriting under the pioneering film director Eizō Tanaka. He joined the Kamata section of the Shōchiku film studios and worked as an assistant director under Yasujirō Shimazu, before giving his directorial debut in 1929. After his move to the independent Tokyo Hassei Eiga Shisaku studio (later Toho), he directed the successful ''Young People'' (1937) and gained a reputation for directing literary adaptations with a humanistic touch, in particular ''Uguisu'' (1938) and ''Spring on Leper's Island'' (1940). After World War II, he achieved fame for his adaptations of writers like Yasunari Kawabata, Kafū Nagai, Naoya Shiga, Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Masuji Ibuse, and Ango Sakaguchi, distinguished by their visual imagination and superb acting. Noted works of this era include ''The ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Yasujirō Ozu
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in the 1930s. The most prominent themes of Ozu's work are marriage and family, especially the relationships between generations. His most widely beloved films include ''Late Spring'' (1949), '' Tokyo Story'' (1953), and ''An Autumn Afternoon'' (1962). Widely regarded as one of the world's greatest and most influential filmmakers, Ozu's work has continued to receive acclaim since his death. In the 2012 ''Sight & Sound'' poll, Ozu's ''Tokyo Story'' was voted the third-greatest film of all time by critics world-wide. In the same poll, ''Tokyo Story'' was voted the greatest film of all time by 358 directors and film-makers world-wide. Biography Early life Ozu was born in the Fukagawa, Tokyo, the second son of merchant Toranosuke Ozu and his wif ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
