is a 1946 Japanese film

directed Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

Akira Kurosawa was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...

, Hideo Sekigawa and Kajiro Yamamoto (who was also co-writer). It was produced to illustrate the purpose of the workers' union at the

Toho is a Japanese film, theatre production and distribution company. It has its headquarters in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. Outside of Japan, it is best known as the producer ...

film studios, as the Allied Forces endorsed the formation of unions as part of the

democratisation Democratization, or democratisation, is the transition to a more democratic political regime, including substantive political changes moving in a democratic direction. It may be a hybrid regime in transition from an authoritarian regime to a full ...

process during the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Occupation of Japan. Kurosawa later denounced the film, calling it "a committee-made film" in which he had been involved only one week, and refused to mention it in his autobiography.

's studio stars Hideko Takamine and

Susumu Fujita Susumu Fujita () (8 January 1912 – 23 March 1991) was a Japanese film and television actor. He played the lead role in Akira Kurosawa's first feature, '' Sanshiro Sugata'', and appeared in other Kurosawa films including ''The Men Who Tread O ...

appear playing themselves.

Plot

The sisters Chieko, a script girl working at a big film studio, and Aiko, a revue dancer, are daughters to anti-unionist father Gintaro. When the workers at a railway company, including the family's subtenant Seizo, go on strike, Chieko and her co-workers demonstrate their solidarity and call for strike as well to achieve financial security for the film studio's staff. Meanwhile, Aiko and her dancing troupe decide to get organised in opposition to the theatre's mean stage manager. When Gintaro is fired together with a large group of employees at his company, he finally gives up his reluctance and joins the unionists, impressed by their earnestness.

Cast

- Fujita * Hideko Takamine - Takamine * Kenji Susukida - Gintaro Okamoto, Father * Masayuki Mori - Seizo Hori, Chauffeur * Chieko Takehisa - Kin Okamoto, Mother *

Takashi Shimura was a Japanese actor who appeared in over 200 films between 1934 and 1981. He appeared in 21 of Akira Kurosawa's 30 films (more than any other actor), including as a lead actor in '' Drunken Angel'' (1948), ''Rashomon'' (1950), ''Ikiru'' (1952) a ...

- Theatre manager * Yonosuke Toba - Okamoto's colleague * Masao Shimizu - Section chief * Hyo Kitazawa - Director * Chieko Nakakita

References

External links

* * * {{Akira Kurosawa 1946 films 1946 drama films Japanese drama films Japanese black-and-white films Films directed by Akira Kurosawa Films produced by Sōjirō Motoki Toho films Films directed by Kajiro Yamamoto