Where Chimneys Are Seen
Where Chimneys Are Seen (煙突の見える場所, Entotsu no mieru basho), also titled Four Chimneys, is a 1953 Japanese comedy-drama film directed by Heinosuke Gosho. It was entered into the 3rd Berlin International Film Festival.[1] Based on a novel by Rinzō Shiina, Where Chimneys Are Seen is regarded as one of Gosho's most important films and a typical example of the shomin-geki genre.[2]
| Where Chimneys Are Seen | |
|---|---|
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| Directed by | Heinosuke Gosho |
| Written by | Hideo Oguni Rinzō Shiina (novel) |
| Produced by | Yoshishige Uchiyama |
| Starring | Ken Uehara Kinuyo Tanaka Hideko Takamine |
| Cinematography | Mitsuo Miura |
| Edited by | Nobu Nagata |
| Music by | Yasushi Akutagawa |
| Distributed by | Shintoho |
Release date |
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Running time | 108 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Plot
Hiroko Ogata and her second husband Ryukichi (her first husband Tsukahara is believed to have died in a bombing in the Second World War) live in the lower-class outskirts of Tokyo. The upper floor of the Ogatas' flat is rented to Kenzo and Senko, a young man and a woman who show interest in each other, but are still not a couple. One day, the Ogatas find a baby in the house entrance with a note signed by Tsukahara, stating it was Hiroko's daughter. The marriage is engulfed in a crisis, with Hiroko nearly committing suicide. Kenzo searches the city for Tsukahara and finally finds him and his new wife, the actual mother of the abandoned child, who initially had wanted to abort it. Although the Ogatas have developed an affection for the baby, which fell seriously ill at one point, they agree to return it to Mrs. Tsukahara who, after some hesitation, accepts it as her own.
Cast
- Ken Uehara as Ryukichi Ogata
- Kinuyo Tanaka as Hiroko Ogata
- Hiroshi Akutagawa as Kenzo Kubo
- Hideko Takamine as Senko Azuma
- Chieko Seki as Yukiko Ikeda
- Haruo Tanaka as Chuji Tsukahara
- Ranko Hanai as Katsuko Ishibashi
- Kumeko Urabe as Kayo Nojima
- Takeshi Sakamoto as Tokuji Kawamura
- Eiko Miyoshi as Ranko
- Hikaru Hoshi
- Tadayoshi Nakamura
- Shigeru Ogura
- Eiko Ohara
- Noriko Honma as Ayako Honma
Production and release
Where Chimneys Are Seen is based on the novel Mujaki na hitobito by Japanese writer Rinzō Shiina.[3] It was produced by Gosho's own production company Studio Eight (1950–1954)[2][4] and distributed by Shintoho studios.
References
- "Programme of the 1953 Berlin International Film Festival". Retrieved 16 December 2020.
- Anderson, Joseph L.; Richie, Donald (1959). The Japanese Film – Art & Industry. Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company.
- "Entry for Heinosuke Gosho at worldcat.org". Retrieved 22 December 2020.
- Hirano, Kyoko (1992). Mr. Smith Goes to Tokyo: Japanese Cinema Under the American Occupation, 1945–1952. Washington and London: Smithsonian Institution Press. ISBN 1-56098-157-1.