, also titled ''Four Chimneys'', is a 1953 Japanese

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film directed by

Heinosuke Gosho was a Japanese film director and screenwriter who directed Japan's first sound film, '' The Neighbor's Wife and Mine'', in 1931. His films are mostly associated with the shomin-geki (lit. "common people drama") genre. Among his most noted works ...

. It was entered into the 3rd Berlin International Film Festival. Based on a novel by

Rinzō Shiina Rinzō Shiina (椎名麟三 ''Shiina Rinzō''; born 大坪昇 ''Noboru Ōtsuka''; 1 October 1911 – 28 March 1973) was a Japanese writer, novelist, short story writer and playwright. Shiina's best known works were written after 1950. His writ ...

, ''Where Chimneys Are Seen'' is regarded as one of Gosho's most important films and a typical example of the

shomin-geki , literally ''common people drama'', is a pseudo-Japanese word invented by Western film scholars. It describes a genre of Japanese realist films which focus on the everyday lives of ordinary people. In Japanese the correct word for this genre is ...

genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other for ...

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 World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

) live in the lower-class outskirts of

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.468 ...

. 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 was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than 200 films between 1935 and 1990. He starred in ''Entotsu no mieru basho'', which was entered in the 3rd Berlin International Film Festival. His son is the singer and actor Yūzō Kayama. Sel ...

as Ryukichi Ogata *

Kinuyo Tanaka was a Japanese actress and film director. She had a career lasting over 50 years with more than 250 acting credits, but was best known for her 15 films with director Kenji Mizoguchi, such as ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952) and ''Ugetsu'' (1953). W ...

as Hiroko Ogata * Hiroshi Akutagawa as Kenzo Kubo *

Hideko Takamine was a Japanese actress who began as a child actress and maintained her fame in a career that spanned 50 years. She is particularly known for her collaborations with directors Mikio Naruse and Keisuke Kinoshita, with ''Twenty-Four Eyes'' (1954) ...

as Senko Azuma * Chieko Seki as Yukiko Ikeda *

Haruo Tanaka was a Japanese film actor noted for his supporting roles in a career that spanned seven decades. Career Tanaka was born in Kyoto and quit school in order to become a film actor, joining the Nikkatsu studio in 1925. He eventually moved up to seco ...

as Chuji Tsukahara *

Ranko Hanai was a Japanese actress. Her birth name was Shimizu Yoshiko. She appeared in more than 190 films between 1931 and 1961. She died of a cerebral hemorrhage in 1961 at the age of 42. Selected filmography * ''The Million Ryo Pot'' (1935) * ''Fallen ...

as Katsuko Ishibashi *

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 Kayo Nojima *

Takeshi Sakamoto was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 100 films from 1926 to 1965. Selected filmography External links * 1899 births 1974 deaths Japanese male film actors Actors from Hyōgo Prefecture {{Japan-film-actor-stub ...

as Tokuji Kawamura * Eiko Miyoshi as Ranko * Hikaru Hoshi * Tadayoshi Nakamura * Shigeru Ogura * Eiko Ohara *

Noriko Honma Noriko Honma (本間文子 ''Honma Noriko'') (29 November 1911 – 12 April 2009) was a Japanese actress whose film work occurred primarily during the 1950s. She was born in Hokkaido. She worked in many of Akira Kurosawa's films, first appearin ...

as Ayako Honma

Production and release

''Where Chimneys Are Seen'' is based on the novel ''Mujaki na hitobito'' by Japanese writer Rinzō Shiina. It was produced by Gosho's own production company Studio Eight (1950–1954) and distributed 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 ...

studios.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Where Chimneys Are Seen 1953 films 1953 comedy-drama films 1950s Japanese-language films Japanese black-and-white films Films based on Japanese novels Films shot in Tokyo Films with screenplays by Hideo Oguni Films scored by Yasushi Akutagawa Films directed by Heinosuke Gosho Japanese comedy-drama films 1950s Japanese films