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Anzukko
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Wikipedia article
is a 1958 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse. It is based on a novel by Saisei Mur.
Plot
Shortly after the war in rural Japan, Kyoko, daughter of successful writer Hirayama, rejects several marriage prospects before taking Ryokichi, a local resident who runs a small used book store, as her husband. A few years into the marriage, Kyoko has to start selling parts of the household, as the manuscripts of Ryokichi, who is ambitious to become a novelist, keep getting returned by publishers. Yagihara, a magazine editor and acquaintance of Hirayama, outspokenly tells Ryokichi that his work lacks originality and an elaborate style. Kyoko suggests that Ryokichi shows his manuscripts to her father, but he declines, arguing that it is Hirayama's overpowering presence which hinders him in his writing. Ryokichi's behaviour becomes increasingly erratic due to his drinking, and the couple's financial and emotional situation worsens. Kyoko repeatedly leaves her home to stay at her father's place, but insists that a divorce is the final resort. When Kyoko again returns to Ryokichi, the mother asks Hirayama if they shouldn't split up. Hirayama replies, only when Kyoko comes home exhausted and can't go on anymore, the time to split up has come.
Cast
* S Yamamura as Heishiro Hirayama
* Kyko Kagawa as Kyoko
* Isao Kimura as Ryokichi, Kyoko's husband
* Shizue Natsukawa as Rieko, Hirayama's wife
* Hiroshi Tachikawa as Heinosuke, Hirayama's son
* Chieko Nakakita as Sumiko Urushiyama
* Mina Mitsui as Risako Yamamoto
* Nobuo Nakamura as Toshio Yagihara
* Keiju Kobayashi as Tayama
* Daisuke Kat as Suga, the poet
* Natsuko Kahara as Enko Murai
* Sadako Sawamura as Mrs. Hatoi
* Kenji Sahara as Mrs. Hatoi's son
* Hiroshi Hayashi as Dr. Sato
* Minoru Chiaki as Saburo Yoshida
* Teruko Mita as Sachiko Yoshida
* Yoshio Tsuchiya as Ishima
* Y Fujiki as Okada
Reception
'Slant Magazine' calls the film "a loving portrait of a woman tragically caught between her wants and her responsibilities, fated to tread a potentially never-ending path between the trials of her marriage and the refuge of her past."
References
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