Hideko Takamine

  • Zenzô Matsuyama – Sanga ari AKA Mother Country AKA The Bridge Between (1962)

    1961-1970DramaJapanZenzô Matsuyama
    Sanga ari (1962)
    Sanga ari (1962)

    In 1919, a group of Japanese immigrants arrives in Hawaii. Among them Yoshio Inoue and his wife Kishimo and Sumi, a young woman ready to get married soon. With the soil that is hard to work and the subtroipical climate, the immigrants have to cope with a hard life. But after years of hard work, Yoshio finds work as a teacher while his wife manages to open a small grocery store. But with the war around the corner, life becomes more and more complicated for the Japanese immigrants in a foreign country.

    Zenzo Matsuyama’s second feature film, starring Takahiro Tamura and Matsuyama’s wife Hideko Takamine.Read More »

  • Noboru Nakamura – Waga ya wa tanoshi AKA Home Sweet Home (1951)

    Noboru Nakamura1951-1960AsianClassicsJapan

    There’s no place like home:even with four children,the Uemura family is able to live
    a modest but happy life in their cramped, rented flat. The parents support the two elder daughters’ artistic ambitions to the best of their ability, using all the means at their disposal to make it possible for Tomoko to paint and Nobuko to sing in a choir.
    There is much rejoicing when the father is honoured for 25 years of service at his
    company and awarded a cash prize to boot. Yet the family must make the painful discovery that joy and sorrow are often not far apart: not only does recognition as a painter continue to elude Tomoko, the Uemuras also learn that they will have to leave their home.
    One of Tomoko’s paintings finally restores their lost happiness.Read More »

  • Shirô Toyoda – Kôkotsu no hito AKA The Twilight Years (1973)

    1971-1980ClassicsDramaJapanShirô Toyoda

    Story about a woman who looks after her father in law.Read More »

  • Kiyoshi Saeki – Kita no san-nin AKA Three Women of the North (1945)

    1941-1950DramaJapanKiyoshi SaekiWar

    Japan’s Last World War Propaganda Film
    The last film produced under the national film policy before Japan’s capitulation in August 1945. “Kita no san-nin” stars an impressive cast of Japanese stars such as Setsuko Hara, Hideko Takamine, Susumu Fujita and Takashi Shimura in a last attempt to boost the public’s support for the war. The film is set at a little airport in the North of the country, where three young women are part of the military radiocommunication unit, supporting the local pilots and airport staff. Their joined effort and their private hardships bring these women together, such as the death of Yoshie’s brother who also used to be Sumiko’s fiancé. By showing the young woman’s efforts as pure and good, the film delivers its propaganda message: endure your hardships for the greater cause. Read More »

  • Masahiro Makino – Hanako-san AKA Miss Hanako (1943)

    1941-1950JapanMasahiro MakinoMusical

    Masahiro Makino’s attempt at a Busby Berkeley-style musical. Quality is mediocre (much better than the older version we had though), but the film is a true revelation! It combines the elaborate kaleidoscopic choreography of Berkeley musicals with a charming down-to-earth comedy narrative.Read More »

  • Hiroshi Inagaki – Muhomatsu no issho AKA The Rickshaw Man (1958)

    Hiroshi Inagaki1951-1960ClassicsDramaJapan

    In the turn of the Twentieth Century, the rickshaw driver Matsugoro “Matsu” is a happy man and a troublemaker well-known by everyone in his village. One day, Matsu sees an injured boy, Toshio, and brings him home. His mother Yoshiko Yoshioka asks Matsuo to take the boy to the doctor and then her husband Capt. Kotaro Yoshioka asks her to reward Matsu. However the rickshaw man refuses the money and becomes a friend of the family. When Kotaro unexpectedly dies, Matsuo helps Yoshiko to raise her son. Soon he falls in love with her, but he does not dare to open his heart to Yoshiko since they belong to different social classes.Read More »

  • Mikio Naruse – Arakure aka Untamed (1957)

    Mikio Naruse1951-1960AsianDramaJapan

    A woman marries, gives birth to a stillborn child, and divorces, falls in love with a hotel-keeper, only to find herself subordinated to his drive for success, takes up with a tailor who cannot console himself with her strong personality.Read More »

  • Mikio Naruse – Hourou-ki aka Her Lonely Lane (1962)

    Mikio Naruse1961-1970AsianDramaJapan

    A dramatized biography of Fumiko Hayashi, the noted Japanese writer. Born to improverished parents Fumiko does all she can to earn money enough to support herself. Along the way she gets invovled with various men, good and bad.Read More »

  • Mikio Naruse – Onna no za AKA A Woman’s Place (1962)

    Mikio Naruse1961-1970ClassicsDramaJapan

    Synopsis:
    A Women’s Place follows the daily lives of the Ishikawa family who own a general goods store in Tokyo. The film’s opening sees the Ishikawa children rush to the bedside of their father after hearing that he collapsed. As all is well, they go on with their hurried lives. A mystery son later appears out of nowhere to upend the family order and stability.Read More »

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