is a 1967 Japanese
drama film
In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super- ...
directed by
Noboru Nakamura. It is based both on the poetry collection ''Chieko-shō'' by Japanese poet and sculptor
Kōtarō Takamura, which reminisces about his wife
Chieko, and on the novel ''Shōsetsu Chieko-shō'' by
Haruo Satō.
The film was nominated for the
Academy Award for Best International Feature Film
The Academy Award for Best International Feature Film (known as Best Foreign Language Film prior to 2020) is one of the Academy Awards handed out annually by the U.S.-based Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS). It is given to a ...
.
Cast
*
Shima Iwashita as Chieko Takamura
*
Tetsurō Tanba as Kōtarō Takamura
* Jin Nakayama as Toyochika Takamura
*
Yōko Minamida as Kazuko Tsubaki
*
Eiji Okada as Tsubaki
*
Mikijirō Hira
was a Japanese actor. Starting as a stage actor in the 1950s, he also worked in film and television and was active until the time of his death. From the 1970s he starred in several of Yukio Ninagawa's productions, including an acclaimed role as ...
as Ishii
*
Kaori Shima
(born March 11, 1972), simply known by the stage name Ua (), is a Japanese singer. She made her debut under Speedstar Records in 1995 with the single "Horizon".
Biography
Ua was born Kaori Shima and grew up in Suita, Osaka. After graduating ...
as Fumiko
* Takamaru Sasaki as
Takamura Kōun
* Tetsuo Ishidate as Tarō
* Kinuko Obata as Osato Sawada
*
Yoshi Katō
was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than 175 films between 1949 and 1988. He won the award for Best Actor at the 13th Moscow International Film Festival for his role in '' Hometown''. He married the actress Isuzu Yamada in 1950, but ...
as Sōkichi Naganuma
* Poems read by Hiroshi Akutagawa
Reception
In a contemporary review, "Whit." of ''
Variety
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
'' described ''Portrait of Chieko'' as an "Exquisitely beautiful Japanese film", noting that Shima Iwashita "delivers a finely restrained performance of Oscar proportions, catching every nuance of character with consummate acting skill". The review went on to praise the cinematography by Hiroshi Takemura, Tatsuo Homada's art direction and Masaru Satō's score.
Other adaptations
Takamura's poems had already been adapted for film in 1957. The film, also titled ''Chieko-shō'', had been directed by
Hisatora Kumagai and starred
Sō Yamamura
was a Japanese actor and film director. He was also known by the name Satoshi Yamamura, while his actual birth name is Koga Hirosada. Yamamura graduated from University of Tokyo. In 1942, Yamamura and Isao Yamagata formed the ''Bunkaza Theatre ...
and
Setsuko Hara.
See also
*
*
List of Japanese submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
External links
*
1967 films
1967 drama films
Japanese films
Films directed by Noboru Nakamura
Films based on poems
1960s Japanese films
{{1960s-Japan-film-stub