Category 1950s

17th Century, 1950s, 1960s, Ainu, Allegory, Bar, Cinema, Communists, Domestic drama, Drama, Feudalism, Film History, Foxes, Japan, Japanese Cinema, Koreans, Maoism, Mining, Politics, Poverty, Prostitution, Race, Samurai, Satire, Social justice, Tragedy, War

Uchida the Sellout?

An old Japanese man wearing a cap, sitting outdoors on a chair and holding a cigarette in his hand

Photo above: Uchida Tomu directing a film, probably Swords of Death (Shinken shōbu, 1971) Note: As I’ve already done several times for this blog, I am interrupting my series of reviews of the films of Uchida Tomu to post my…

RebelJack
July 1, 2023
2 Comments

1940s, 1950s, Buddhism, Capitalism, Cinema, Colonization, Drama, Film History, Japan, Japanese Cinema, Maoism, masterpiece, Police, Poverty, Prostitution, Serial killer, Social justice, Tokyo, Tragedy, Violence

A Fugitive from the Past (Kiga Kaikyō;飢餓海峡), 1965

A middle-aged Japanese man with a mustache is looking towards the camera with a distressed expression

Other titles: The Hunger Straits, Straits of Hunger (literal English titles); Starvation Straits (alternative English title) Le détroit de la faim (literal French title); Szökevény a múltból [A Fugitive from the Past] (alternate Hungarian title) Production Company Toei (Tokyo) Scenarist…

RebelJack
April 30, 2023
1 Comment

1950s, Ainu, Cinema, Community, Drama, Folklore, Japan, Japanese Cinema, Politics, Race, Social justice, Uncategorized

The Outsiders (Mori to mizuumi no matsuri; 森と湖のまつり), 1958

A young Japanese man in modern clothes carrying a rifle crouches behind some shrubbery and looks into the distance, with a lake in the far distance behind him

Other titles: Festival of Lakes and Forests (literal English title) Production Company Tōei (Tokyo) Scenarist Uekusa Keinosuke Source Festival of Lakes and Forests (Mori to mizuumi no matsuri) [novel] by Takeda Taijun Producer Ōkawa Hiroshi Cinematographer Nishikawa Shōei Art Director…

RebelJack
December 30, 2022

1930s, 1950s, 1960s, Cinema, Farmers, Film History, Folklore, Japan, Japanese Cinema, Uncategorized

Uchida Tomu and the Phantom Thread

A woman and a man in traditional Japanese dress are standing and seated, respectively, in a boat against a backdrop that looks like a theatrical set

Photo above: Zhang Ziyi and Odagiri Joe in the 2005 Japanese musical Princess Raccoon (Operetta tanuki goten), the final film directed by Suzuki Seijun (1923-2017). Note: As I’ve already done several times in this blog, I am interrupting my series…

RebelJack
April 24, 2022

1950s, Buddhism, Cinema, Class, Drama, Japan, Koreans, Mining, Race, Uncategorized

The Eleventh Hour (Dotanba;どたんば), 1957

A group of men, most with bicyles, gather around their leader in a field, while a mine is visible in the background

Other titles: The Scaffold, They Are Buried Alive (alternate English titles) Production Company Tōei (Tokyo) Scenarists Hashimoto Shinobu and Uchida Tomu Source Kikushima Ryūzō (book) and television film Dotanba (1956) Cinematographer Fujii Shizuka Art Director Mori Mikio Music Kosugi Taiichirō…

RebelJack
December 3, 2021
1 Comment

1950s, Cinema, Colonization, Domestic drama, Japan, Music, Politics

A Hole of My Own Making (Jibun no ana no nakade; 自分の穴の中で), 1955

A black-and-white photo of a Japanese girl in a low-cut gown, looked anxiously off to one side

Alternative titles: In My Hole (alternate English title); Inside My Own Hole (literal English title); Chacun dans sa coquille [Each in his shell] (alternate French title); Önhibámból [Through my own fault] (alternate Hungarian title) Production Company Nikkatsu Scenarist Yagi Yasutarō…

RebelJack
September 20, 2021
6 Comments

1950s, Bar, Japan, Music, Musical, Opera, Politics, Uncategorized

Twilight Saloon (Tasogare Sakaba; たそがれ酒場), 1955

A man onstage in a white shirt with his back to us sings in a crowded Japanese beer hall

Alternate title: Twilight Beer Hall (literal English title) Production Company Shintoho Scenarist Nada Senzo Producer Sakaeda Seiichiro Cinematographer Nishigaki Rokurō Art Director Itō Toshikazu Music Akutagawa Yasushi Editing Kasama Hideo Performers Kosugi Isamu (Umeda Moichirō, a painter); Miyahara Takuya (Kenichi,…