is a 1955 Japanese film directed by

Ishirō Honda was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 46 feature films in a career spanning five decades. He is acknowledged as the most internationally successful Japanese filmmaker prior to Hayao Miyazaki and one of the founders of modern disaster film, wit ...

based on the story ''Fukeyo kawakaze'' by

Hidemi Kon was a literary critic and essayist active in Japan during the Shōwa period. Early life Born in Hakodate, Hokkaidō, Kon Hidemi was the younger brother of writer, politician and Buddhist priest Kon Tōkō. His father was a captain of a steam ...

. The film is set in a post-War Tokyo where two of its citizens are lovers who reunite after being separated by the war.

Production

''Lovetide'' was director

's follow-up to his film ''

Godzilla is a fictional monster, or ''kaiju'', that debuted in the eponymous 1954 film, directed and co-written by Ishirō Honda. The character has since become an international pop culture icon, appearing in various media: 33 Japanese films p ...

'' and was his first film specifically made for female audiences. The film was made with the studio promoting it as "a gorgeous love melodrama with Toho's best cast, meant for all the women-fans." The film is based on the story ''Fukeyo kawakaze'' by

. The film's story and cast (specifically

Mariko Okada is a Japanese stage and film actress who starred in films of directors Mikio Naruse, Yasujirō Ozu, Keisuke Kinoshita and others. She was married to film director Yoshishige Yoshida. Biography Okada was born the daughter of silent film actor To ...

and

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 an ...

, the wife of producer

Tomoyuki Tanaka was a Japanese film producer, best known as the creator of Godzilla. He produced most of the installments in the ''Godzilla'' series, beginning in 1954 with ''Godzilla'' and ending in 1995 with '' Godzilla vs. Destoroyah''. He was one of the mo ...

) have been described Honda authors Steve Rylfe and Ed Godziszewski as being similar to the film ''

Floating Clouds is a 1955 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. It is based on the novel ''Ukigumo'' by Japanese writer Fumiko Hayashi, published just before her death in 1951. The film received numerous national awards upon its release and remains on ...

'' that was directed by

Mikio Naruse was a Japanese filmmaker who directed 89 films spanning the period 1930 to 1967. Naruse is known for imbuing his films with a bleak and pessimistic outlook. He made primarily Shoshimin-eiga, shōshimin-eiga ("common people drama") films with f ...

and released a few weeks after ''Lovetide''. Tanaka had mentioned that if he had not steered Honda towards predominantly making science fiction films, Honda would have become "a director like Mikio Naruse."

Release

''Lovetide'' was distributed theatrically by

Toho is a Japanese entertainment company that primarily engages in producing and distributing films and exhibiting stage plays. It is headquartered in Chiyoda, Tokyo, and is one of the core companies of the Osaka-based Hankyu Hanshin Toho Group. ...

on 9 January 1955.

References

Bibliography

* *

External links

* 1955 films Films directed by Ishirō Honda Films produced by Tomoyuki Tanaka Toho films Japanese comedy films 1955 comedy films Japanese black-and-white films 1950s Japanese films {{1950s-Japan-film-stub

Production

Release

See also

References

Bibliography

External links