is a 2000 Japanese
biographical film
A biographical film or biopic () is a film that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people. Such films show the life of a historical person and the central character's real name is used. They differ from docudra ...
directed by
Kaneto Shindo
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 ' ...
based on the life of actor
Taiji Tonoyama
was a Japanese character actor who made many appearances in films and on television from 1939 to 1989. He was a close friend of Kaneto Shindo and one of his regular cast members. He was also an essayist. In 1950 he helped form the film company Ki ...
.
The film is a series of
vignettes
Vignette may refer to:
* Vignette (entertainment), a sketch in a sketch comedy
* Vignette (graphic design), decorative designs in books (originally in the form of leaves and vines) to separate sections or chapters
* Vignette (literature), short, i ...
from Taiji Tonoyama's life and film clips, interspersed with a dialogue to camera by
Nobuko Otowa, addressing the camera as if she is addressing Tonoyama himself, recollecting events in his life. The film focuses on Tonoyama's
alcohol dependence
Alcohol dependence is a previous (DSM-IV and ICD-10) psychiatric diagnosis in which an individual is physically or psychologically dependent upon alcohol (also chemically known as ethanol).
In 2013, it was reclassified as alcohol use disorde ...
and his various sexual relationships, as well as his film work with Shindo.
Plot
The first part of the film shows Tonoyama talking to a waitress, Kimie (
Keiko Oginome
is a Japanese actress. She is affiliated with Come True Co., Ltd.
Biography
At the age of 12, Keiko Oginome joined the theater company Himawari. She made her acting debut in the 1977 film ''Gokumontō''. In 1979, she played the role of Helen ...
), in a coffee shop. He then meets her father and asks him for permission to marry Kimie. The father asks him to first divorce his existing wife, Asako (
Hideko Yoshida
is a Japanese actress. She won the award for best supporting actress at the 14th Hochi Film Award for ''Shaso''.
Filmography
* '' Neo Tokyo'' (1989)
* ''Shaso'' (1989)
* ''The Pillow Book'' (1996)
* ''Will to Live'' (1999)
* ''By Player'' (2000) ...
). In fact he is not married to Asako. To prevent him marrying Kimie, Asako then registers them as married.
The film moves through various episodes of Tonoyama making films with director Kaneto Shindo. At the time of ''
The Naked Island
''The Naked Island'' ( ja, text=裸の島, translit=Hadaka no Shima) is a Japanese black-and-white film from 1960, directed by Kaneto Shindō. The film is notable for having almost no spoken dialogue.
Plot
The film depicts a small family, a husba ...
'', Tonoyama is close to death from alcohol poisoning, and is saved only by there not being anywhere to buy drinks. During the filming of ''
Ningen'' and ''
Onibaba'', he repeatedly sneaks off to get drunk with actors
Kei Satō
was a Japanese character actor and narrator. He is known for his work with Japanese New Wave director Nagisa Oshima, and for several films with Kaneto Shindo, such as '' Onibaba'' and '' Kuroneko''. He won the best actor award from ''Kinema Ju ...
and
Kei Yamamoto
(born July 1, 1940 – March 31, 2022) was a Japanese actor.
Filmography Film
Television
References
External links
*
*
1940 births
2022 deaths
Japanese male actors
People from Ibaraki, Osaka
{{Japan-actor-stub ...
. Director Shindo (played by himself) is seen as a distant, lonely figure, doing odd things such as burning driftwood in the rain or trying to catch fish in a pond where no fish are present.
Tonoyama moves in with Kimie. He explains to Kimie that he cannot have children due to a venereal disease caught from a prostitute. She adopts a son, Yasuo, her brother's child. Tonoyama goes to visit the other woman, whom he refers to as "Kamakura no baba" (the old woman in Kamakura) who has also adopted a daughter.
Tonoyama has repeated episodes of drinking or sex. Tonoyama, in order to avoid neighbourhood gossips, pretends to be going to work.
Cast
Although the story goes from Tonoyama's thirties to his death in his seventies, he and his two "wives" are played by the same people from start to finish. The various children in the film are played by different actors as they age.
*
Naoto Takenaka
is a Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director from Kanazawa-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa Prefecture, affiliated with From First Production. He is married to idol singer and actress Midori Kinouchi. He is also known as the voice of Samuel L. Jac ...
as Taiji Tonoyama
*
Hideko Yoshida
is a Japanese actress. She won the award for best supporting actress at the 14th Hochi Film Award for ''Shaso''.
Filmography
* '' Neo Tokyo'' (1989)
* ''Shaso'' (1989)
* ''The Pillow Book'' (1996)
* ''Will to Live'' (1999)
* ''By Player'' (2000) ...
as Asako
*
Keiko Oginome
is a Japanese actress. She is affiliated with Come True Co., Ltd.
Biography
At the age of 12, Keiko Oginome joined the theater company Himawari. She made her acting debut in the 1977 film ''Gokumontō''. In 1979, she played the role of Helen ...
as Kimie
*
Nobuko Otowa as herself (addressing camera)
*
Kaneto Shindo
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 ' ...
as himself
*Yasuhito Hida as
Kei Satō
was a Japanese character actor and narrator. He is known for his work with Japanese New Wave director Nagisa Oshima, and for several films with Kaneto Shindo, such as '' Onibaba'' and '' Kuroneko''. He won the best actor award from ''Kinema Ju ...
*Kagetora Miura as
Kei Yamamoto
(born July 1, 1940 – March 31, 2022) was a Japanese actor.
Filmography Film
Television
References
External links
*
*
1940 births
2022 deaths
Japanese male actors
People from Ibaraki, Osaka
{{Japan-actor-stub ...
The title ''By Player''
The English title of the film, ''By Player'' (the Japanese pronunciation of which can be romanized as ''Bai Pureiyā''), is an
English-like Japanese term (wasei-eigo) meaning "
character actor
A character actor is a supporting actor who plays unusual, interesting, or eccentric characters.28 April 2013, The New York Acting SchoolTen Best Character Actors of All Time Retrieved 7 August 2014, "..a breed of actor who has the ability to b ...
."
Production
Nobuko Otowa's dialogue to camera was recorded six years before the rest of the film was made, before Otowa's death in 1994.
[
The film uses Tonoyama's life story to tell the story of Shindo's production company, ]Kindai Eiga Kyokai
Kindai may refer to:
* Kindai, Tanzania, an administrative ward
* Kindai High School, Higashiosaka, Osaka, Japan
* Kindai University, Osaka, Japan
* Kanazawa University
Kanazawa University ( ja, 金沢大学, Kanazawa Daigaku, abbreviated to ...
. Although it is based on Tonoyama's life, the dramatized scenes from Tonoyama's life are not based on witness accounts, but only on how Shindo imagined them.[ The film is based on Shindo's biography of Tonoyama.]
References
External links
*
*
{{Kaneto Shindo
Films directed by Kaneto Shindo