is a 1959 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 ...

directed by

Satsuo Yamamoto was a Japanese film director. Yamamoto was born in Kagoshima City. After leaving Waseda University, where he had become affiliated with left-wing groups, he joined the Shochiku film studios in 1933, where he worked as an assistant director to ...

. It was written by

Yoshikata Yoda (14 April 1909 – 14 November 1991) was a Japanese screenwriter. He wrote for more than 130 films between 1931 and 1989. He is most famous for his work with Kenji Mizoguchi. He wrote for the film ''Bushido, Samurai Saga'', which won the Go ...

, based on a novel by activist Tomoe Yamashiro.

Plot

In Hiroshima Prefecture during the Meiji era, simple housemaid Seki accepts the proposal of Moichi, an educated mail carrier, who has decided to quit his job and save money for a warehouse by transporting goods with his wooden cart. Seki's parents disown her for not asking for their approval, and also Moichi's mother, a widow, does not accept her as her daughter-in-law, treating her disdainfully. The couple borrows money for a second cart, and Seki joins her husband in his hard labour life. The film follows Seki through familial and financial difficulties and her raising five children over the next 50 years, and ends with the post-war

agrarian reform Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly, to government-initiated or government-backed redistribution of agricultural land (see land reform) or, broadly, to an overall redirection of the agrarian system of the country, which often includes land ...

Cast

Yūko Mochizuki was a Japanese film and theatre actress who already had long stage experience, first with light comedies, later with dramatic roles, before making her film debut. Mochizuki often appeared in the films of Keisuke Kinoshita, but also worked for pr ...

as Seki *

Rentarō Mikuni (also sometimes credited as 三国連太郎) (January 20, 1923 – April 14, 2013) was a Japanese film actor from Gunma Prefecture. He appeared in over 150 films since making his screen debut in 1951, and won three Japanese Academy Awards for ...

as Moichi * Teruko Kishi as Moichi's mother *

Sachiko Hidari was a Japanese actress and film director. Life Hidari was born in Asahi, Toyama, as the eldest of 8 children. She graduated from Tokyo Women's College of Physical Education and gave her film debut in 1952 in ''Wakaki hi no ayamachi''. Betw ...

as Otoyo *

Mitsuko Mito was a Japanese actress. She appeared in more than 150 films between 1935 and 1973 under the direction of filmmakers like Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujirō Ozu and Kaneto Shindō. Selected filmography * ''Wakadanna haru ranman'' (1935) – Girl stude ...

as Natsuno *

Kō Nishimura was a Japanese actor who appeared in supporting roles in such films as Akira Kurosawa's ''The Bad Sleep Well'' and '' Yojimbo'', Kihachi Okamoto's ''Sword of Doom'', Yoshitaro Nomura's ''Zero Focus'', and Kon Ichikawa's '' The Burmese Harp'' ( ...

as Hatsuzo *

Yoshio Inaba was a Japanese actor best known for his role as Gorobei in Akira Kurosawa's ''Seven Samurai''. In addition to his career in film, Inaba was also a prolific theater actor and a member of the prestigious Haiyuza Theatre Company. He died of a heart ...

as Fujitaro *

Eitarō Ozawa , also credited as Sakae Ozawa (小沢栄), was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1935 and 1988, directed by notable filmmakers such as Kenji Mizoguchi, Mikio Naruse, Keisuke Kinoshita and Kaneto Shindō. Selected fi ...

as Seki's employer *

Kumeko Urabe Kumeko Urabe ( ja, link=no, 浦辺粂子) (October 5, 1902 – October 26, 1989) was a Japanese movie actress, and one of the first in the country. Born Kimura Kume, she also adopted the stage names Kumeko Ichijo, Toyama Midori, Chidori Sh ...

as Ohina

Production

The production of ''Ballad of the Cart'' was funded with the help of Japan's National Association of Women Farmers and produced by the National Rural Film Association. Screenwriter Yoshikata Yoda, a frequent collaborator of director

Kenji Mizoguchi was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, who directed about one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include ''The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), '' The Life of Oharu'' (1952), ''Ugets ...

, adapted Tomoe Yamashiro's 1956 novel of the same name, a notable post-war example of Japanese "peasant literature".

Release

The film was released cinematically in Japan on February 11, 1959 by

Shintoho was a Japanese movie studio. It was one of the big six film studios (which also included Daiei, Nikkatsu, Shochiku, Toei Company, and Toho) during the Golden Age of Japanese cinema. It was founded by defectors from the original Toho company fol ...

. It was later released on DVD in 2004.

Awards

''Ballad of the Cart'' received awards for Best Director (Yamamoto) and Best Film Score (

Hikaru Hayashi was a Japanese composer, pianist and conductor. Hayashi is considered to be one of the most renowned and accomplished Japanese composers of the postwar period. In particular, Hayashi was noted for his choral suite ''Scenes from Hiroshima'' (195 ...

) at the 1960

Mainichi Film Awards 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 193 ...

. In

Kinema Junpo , 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 ...

magazine's list of the 10 best Japanese films of the year, ''Ballad of the Cart'' reached #4 in 1959.

Reception

Film scholar Alexander Jacoby pointed out the film's depth of characterisation and intelligent script, calling it "exceptionally moving" and "probably Yamamoto's masterpiece".

References

External links

* {{Satsuo Yamamoto 1959 films 1959 drama films Japanese drama films Japanese black-and-white films Films based on Japanese novels Social realism in film Films set in Hiroshima Prefecture Films directed by Satsuo Yamamoto 1950s Japanese films