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Takekurabe (1955 film)
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Wikipedia article
(English titles include: 'Growing Up', 'Adolescence', 'Growing Up Twice', and 'Child's Play') is a 1955 Japanese drama film directed by Heinosuke Gosho. It is based on Higuchi Ichiy's 1895-1896 novella 'Takekurabe'.
Plot
In a downtown area of Meiji era Edo, in the Yoshiwara red light district, teenage boy Shinnyo, son of a buddhist priest, helplessly witnesses not only his sister Ohana being sold as a concubine by his money-loving father, but also the fate of Midori, a neighbourhood girl to whom he has an unspoken affection, who is destined to become a courtesan like her older sister Omaki.
Cast
* Hibari Misora as Midori
* Keiko Kishi as Omaki
* Mitsuko Yoshikawa as Orin, Midori's mother
* Zeko Nakamura as Gosuke, Midori's father
* Eijir Yanagi as owner of the Daikokuya
* Takashi Kitahara as Shinnyo
* Setsuko Shinobu as Shinnyo's mother
* Takamaru Sasaki as Shinnyo's father
* Kurayoshi Nakamura as Sangoro
* Yko Mochizuki as Sangoro's mother
* Takeshi Sakamoto as Sangoro's father
* Akira Hattori as Chokichi
* Ky Sazanka as Tatsugoro, Chokichi's father
* Matsumoto Kshir (credited Somegor Ichikawa) as Shtar
* Kikue Mouri as Shtar's grandmother
* Atsuko Ichinomiya as messenger
* Iida Chko as Baayaotoki
* Isuzu Yamada as Okichi
* Hatae Kishi
* Ky Sakamoto (uncredited)
Production and legacy
'Takekurabe' was independently produced by Tsjin Fukushima's company "New Art Productions", which resulted in budgetary constraints and compromises in the filming. It received mixed reviews during its initial run for being "overliterary" and the casting of pop star Hibari Misora. Film scholar Donald Richie and Gosho biographer Arthur Nolletti later called 'Takekurabe' an "outstanding example" (Nolletti) of the 'Meiji-mono' (Meiji period film) and "one of the finest due to its excellent sets" (by Kubo Kazuo), "its superb photography and the nearly perfect performances" (Richie).
Awards
*Blue Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actress Isuzu Yamada in 'Takekurabe' and 'Ishigassen'
References
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