is a 1962 color Japanese

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Kon Ichikawa was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. His work displays a vast range in genre and style, from the anti-war films '' The Burmese Harp'' (1956) and '' Fires on the Plain'' (1959), to the documentary '' Tokyo Olympiad'' (1965), which won t ...

. It was Japan's submission to the

35th Academy Awards The 35th Academy Awards, honoring the best in film for 1962, were held on April 8, 1963, at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, California, hosted by Frank Sinatra. The year's most successful film was David Lean's '' Lawrence ...

for the

Academy Award for Best Foreign Language 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 ...

, but was not accepted as a nominee.Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

Style

Ichikawa utilized the screen personas of popular stars

Fujiko Yamamoto (born 11 December 1931) is a Japanese stage, film and television actress. She was the winner of the first Miss Nippon Grand Prix in 1950, and appeared in over 100 films between 1953 and 1963, including works by directors Yasujirō Ozu, Kon Ichik ...

(glamorous, restrained) and

Eiji Funakoshi was a Japanese actor. He received the Kinema Junpo Award for Best Actor and the Mainichi Film Concours for Best Actor for his performance in '' Fires on the Plain''. Biography Born Eijirō Funakoshi on 17 March 1923, in Tokyo, Eiji Funakoshi ...

(hapless, self-conscious) to make the child's independence and frequent endangerment believable. The director contrasts Chiyo's well-coiffed, reactive approach to motherhood by shooting

Misako Watanabe is a Japanese stage, film and television actress. Career A graduate of the Haiyuza Theatre Company, Watanabe gave her film debut in Tadashi Imai's ''Tower of Lilies'' (1953) before becoming a contract player at the Nikkatsu film studios. She ...

as her sister-in-law in a sensuous, intimate manner as she bathes her own newborn.

Cast

* Hiro Suzuki as Taro, the baby *

as Goro, the father *

as Chiyo, the mother *

Kumeko Urabe Kumeko Urabe (), born , (October 5, 1902 – October 26, 1989) was a Japanese movie actress, one of the first in Empire of Japan, the country. She worked on stage and in film and television. Urabe was born in a rural part of Shizuoka Prefe ...

as Ino, grandmother *

as Setsuko, the aunt * Masako Kyôzuka as Chiyo's sister * Mantarō Ushio as Laundry Man *

Kyōko Kishida was a Japanese actress and voice actress. Biography Kishida was born in Tokyo in 1930 as the second daughter of playwright Kunio Kishida. Her older sister was the children's author and poet Eriko Kishida and she was cousins with actor Shin Ki ...

as Chiyo's Friend * Shirô Ôtsuji as Doctor *

Jun Hamamura was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 130 films between 1938 and 1995. Selected filmography * ''Wolf The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the grey wolf or gray wolf, is a Canis, canine native to Eurasia and Nor ...

as Older Doctor * Akira Natsuki as Doctor at Hospital

References

External links

* 1962 films 1962 comedy films 1960s Japanese-language films Films directed by Kon Ichikawa Daiei Film films Best Film Kinema Junpo Award winners Films with screenplays by Natto Wada Films scored by Yasushi Akutagawa 1960s Japanese films {{1960s-comedy-film-stub

Style

Cast

See also

References

External links