is a 1947 Japanese

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super-g ...

directed by

Kōzaburō Yoshimura was a Japanese film director. Biography Born in Shiga Prefecture, he joined the Shōchiku studio in 1929. He debuted as director in 1934, but continued working as an assistant director for such filmmakers as Yasujirō Ozu and Yasujirō Shimazu ...

. The film won the 1947

Kinema Junpo Award , commonly called , is Japan's oldest film magazine and began publication in July 1919. It was first published three times a month, using the Japanese ''Jun'' (旬) system of dividing months into three parts, but the postwar ''Kinema Junpō'' ha ...

for

Best Film This is a list of categories of awards commonly awarded through organizations that bestow film awards, including those presented by various film, festivals, and people's awards. Best Actor/Best Actress *See Best Actor#Film awards, Best Actress#F ...

Plot

After Japan's defeat in the

Pacific War The Pacific War, sometimes called the Asia–Pacific War, was the theater of World War II that was fought in Asia, the Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, and Oceania. It was geographically the largest theater of the war, including the vast ...

, the wealthy Anjō family have to give up their mansion and their way of life in the wake of the post-war agrarian reform. While the widowed father Tadahiko grieves for the lost social status, and both the cynical son Masahiko and the older sister show only contempt for their lower-class ex-lovers who they dropped, the younger daughter Atsuko accepts the new circumstances and tries to find her own place in the new Japan. Tadahiko decides to hold one last ball at the house before leaving, which results in numerous confrontations, including Tadahiko and ruthless businessman Shinkawa, to whom he is indebted, and Masahiko and his fiancée Yōko, Shinkawa's daughter. Towards the end of the festivity, Tadahiko officially presents his geisha mistress as his life partner to the noble guests. After the ball has ended, he tries to commit suicide, but is held back by Atsuko.

Cast

Setsuko Hara Setsuko (written: or in hiragana) is a feminine Japanese given name. Notable people with the name include: *, later of Japan *, actress *, Japanese volleyball player *, Japanese actress and model *Setsuko Klossowska de Rola (born 1942), Japane ...

as Atsuko Anjō *

Osamu Takizawa was a Japanese actor. He was born in Ushigome, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Starting at the Tsukiji Little Theater, Takizawa participated in a number of theatrical troupes before forming Gekidan Mingei with Jūkichi Uno. His was praised for his performan ...

as Tadahiko Anjō * Masayuki Mori as Masahiko Anjō *

Yumeko Aizome is a Japanese former film and stage actress. She was active from 1930 until 1965 and appeared in more than 115 films. Early life Aizome was born as in Inawashiro, Fukushima. Aizome's father died when she was 6 months old, and her mother die ...

as Akiko Anjō *

Masao Shimizu was a Japanese actor. His wife was actress Yumi Takano. His first starring role in the film was in ''Momoiro no Yuwaku'' in 1931. In 1947, he formed the Mingei Theatre Company. Shimizu often work with Akira Kurosawa. He appeared in more than 2 ...

as Ryūzaburō Shinkawa *

Keiko Tsushima was a Japanese actress, whose real name was . She was notable for her prominent role in Akira Kurosawa's 1954 film ''Seven Samurai''. She also starred in Japanese television series such as ''Sakura'' and ''Kimi ga Jinsei no Toki''. Born in Nag ...

as Yōko Shinkawa * Chieko Murata as Chiyo

Legacy

The

British Film Institute The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...

included ''The Ball at the Anjo House'' in its "Best Japanese film of every year" list, pointing out the film's "inventive camerawork" and "superb performances", in particular those by Setsuko Hara and Masayuki Mori, and calling it "stylish", "moving" and "intelligent". Film historian

Donald Richie Donald Richie (17 April 1924 – 19 February 2013) was an American-born author who wrote about the Japanese people, the culture of Japan, and especially Japanese cinema. Although he considered himself primarily a film historian, Richie also dir ...

drew parallels between

Kaneto Shindō was a Japanese film director, screenwriter, film producer, and writer, who directed 48 films and wrote scripts for 238. His best known films as a director include ''Children of Hiroshima'', ''The Naked Island'', '' Onibaba'', ''Kuroneko'' and ' ...

's script and

Anton Chekhov Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (; 29 January 1860 Old Style date 17 January. – 15 July 1904 Old Style date 2 July.) was a Russian playwright and short-story writer who is considered to be one of the greatest writers of all time. His career ...

's ''

The Cherry Orchard ''The Cherry Orchard'' (russian: Вишнёвый сад, translit=Vishnyovyi sad) is the last play by Russian playwright Anton Chekhov. Written in 1903, it was first published by ''Znaniye'' (Book Two, 1904), and came out as a separate edition ...

'' in his book ''A Hundred Years of Japanese Film''. ''The Ball at the Anjo House'' was screened at a 2012 retrospective on Kaneto Shindō and Kōzaburō Yoshimura in London, organised by the

and the

Japan Foundation The was established in 1972 by an Act of the National Diet as a special legal entity to undertake international dissemination of Japanese culture, and became an Independent Administrative Institution under the jurisdiction of the Ministry o ...

Awards

* 1948: Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film of the Year * 1948:

Mainichi Film Award The are a series of annual film awards, sponsored by Mainichi Shinbun (毎日新聞), one of the largest newspaper companies in Japan, since 1946. It is the first film festival in Japan. History The origins of the contest date back to 1935, ...

for Best Actor Masayuki Mori

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ball at the Anjo House, The 1947 films 1940s Japanese-language films 1947 drama films Japanese black-and-white films Best Film Kinema Junpo Award winners Shochiku films Japanese drama films