is a 1968 Japanese film by director Shohei Imamura. The culmination of the director's examinations of the fringes of Japanese society throughout the 1960s, the film was an 18-month super-production which failed to make an impression at the time of its release, but has since risen in stature.

Plot

Presenting a vast chronicle of life on the remote Kurage Island, the film centres on the disgraced, superstitious, interbred Futori family and the

Tokyo Tokyo, officially the Tokyo Metropolis, is the capital of Japan, capital and List of cities in Japan, most populous city in Japan. With a population of over 14 million in the city proper in 2023, it is List of largest cities, one of the most ...

engineer sent to supervise the creation of a new well for a sugar mill on the island – an encounter which leads to both conflict and complicity in strange and powerful ways.

Cast

Source: *

Kazuo Kitamura was a Japanese actor. His son is actor Yukiya Kitamura. Kitamura met Shōhei Imamura when he was a student of Waseda University and became a close friend so often worked with Imamura. Kitamura joined Bungakuza theatre company and started his act ...

as Engineer Kariya, a modern-day married man from Tokyo who gets entangled in the Futori family. Kariya is sent to Kurage Island by his boss at the sugar cane corporation to find a water source for a sugar mill on the island. Eventually he is seduced by Toriko. *

Kanjūrō Arashi was a Japanese film actor. His nickname was "Arakan." He is famous for playing the role of '' Kurama Tengu'' series. He entered the film industry in 1927 and came to fame playing Kurama Tengu, a character in the Bakumatsu era created by Jirō ...

as Yamamori Futori, the patriarch of the Futori family. *

Rentarō Mikuni was a Japanese actor, writer and director, who starred in films of Keisuke Kinoshita, Mikio Naruse, Tadashi Imai, Shōhei Imamura, Tomu Uchida and many others. He received numerous prizes for his performances and was awarded the Jury Prize at t ...

as Nekichi Futori, Yamamori's son conceived through an incestuous relationship between Yamamori and a deceased older sister. He lusts after his sister Uma. Disfavored and condemned, his punishment is being chained in a pit beneath a boulder and tasked to loosen it in order to appease the island gods. Once the boulder is loosened, it can unblock a freshwater stream for the island's rice fields. * Yasuko Matsui as Uma Futori, the ''

noro Noro may refer to: People * Japanese politician * , Japanese economic historian * Francesco Noro (1871–1947), Italian painter * , Japanese jazz fusion guitarist * , Japanese metallurgist * , Japanese singer and entertainer * Line Noro (1900–1 ...

'' (shaman) daughter of Yamamori who works at a nearby sacred shrine with the only source of good water. Uma is in love with her brother Nekichi, but is hesitant to consummate their relationship because she does not want a taboo relationship to make Nekichi even more hated by the other islanders. *

Hideko Okiyama Hideko (written: , , or ) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, Japanese writer *, Japanese swimmer *, Japanese manga artist *, Japanese fencer *, Japanese cross-country skier *Hideko Takahashi, Japanese illu ...

as Toriko Futori, the mentally disabled daughter of Nekichi. She is known for her sexual promiscuity and volatile behavior. * Chōichirō Kawarazaki as Kametaro Futori, the son of Nekichi. Kametaro dreams of the day he can leave behind the island and his complicated family. Kariya encourages Kametaro's ambition to get him to help drill a well for the sugar mill. *

Yoshi Katō was a Japanese stage and film actor who appeared in nearly 180 films between 1948 and 1988. Biography After leaving Keiō Gijuku High School prematurely, Katō gave his stage debut in 1934. He later joined the Shinkyo Theatre Company, which was ...

as Ritsugen Ryu, one of the leaders of the island and manager of the sugar mill. He serves as the island's representative when dealing with the sugar cane corporation. He has a sexual relationship with Uma, and often abuses her physically and sexually. Manipulative, corrupted, and greedy, Ryu hypocritically positions himself as a defender of his people's traditional ways of life, but secretly works to exploit them for his own advantage. He uses his position as the shaman's lover to make himself untouchable, forcing Uma to falsify prophecies that will benefit him. * Hôsei Komatsu * Chikako Hosokawa *

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 ...

Chikage Oogi , real name (born ; 10 May 1933 – 9 March 2023), was a Japanese actress and politician. During her 30-year-long political career, she served in various important governmental posts, and became the first female President of the House of Council ...

(special appearance)

Awards

The film was Japan's submission to the

42nd Academy Awards The 42nd Academy Awards were presented April 7, 1970, at the Dorothy Chandler Pavilion in Los Angeles, California. For the second year in a row, there was no official host. This was the first Academy Awards ceremony to be broadcast via satelli ...

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. * Kinema Junpo Award (1969): Best Director * Best Film; Mainichi Film Concours (1969): Best Film, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actor (

)

References

External links

* * 1968 films 1968 drama films Japanese drama films 1960s Japanese-language films Films set on islands Best Film Kinema Junpo Award winners Nikkatsu films Films directed by Shohei Imamura Films set in Okinawa Prefecture Films about incest 1960s Japanese films Films scored by Toshiro Mayuzumi {{1960s-Japan-film-stub

Plot

Cast

Awards

See also

References

External links