''Hunting Rifle'' ( ja, 猟銃, Ryōju) is a 1961 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
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 is based on the 1949
novella
A novella is a narrative prose fiction whose length is shorter than most novels, but longer than most short stories. The English word ''novella'' derives from the Italian ''novella'' meaning a short story related to true (or apparently so) facts ...
of the same name by
Yasushi Inoue
was a Japanese writer of novels, short stories, poetry and essays, noted for his historical and autobiographical fiction. His most acclaimed works include '' The Bullfight'' (''Tōgyū'', 1949), ''The Roof Tile of Tempyō'' (''Tenpyō no iraka' ...
.
Plot
In a short prologue, a hunter armed with a double-barreled gun, accompanied only by his dog, walks through a snowy landscape, while a narrator describes his appearance. The film then switches to a
flashback which takes up the rest of the film.
Misugi, the hunter of the opening sequence, and a company director and art collector, is newly married to the much younger and inexperienced Midori. Midori's older cousin Saiko has been married for a few years to successful physician Kadota. One day, a woman named Hamako shows up with her young child in Saiko's house, claiming that she is Kadota's former mistress and the child his extramarital daughter Shoko. When Hamako dies in an accident shortly after, Saiko agrees to adopt Shoko, but divorces her husband. Saiko visits Midori, making a great impression on Misugi with her sophistication and education. Misugi falls in love with her, and soon the two start a passionate affair. Saiko feels guilty for her betrayal of her younger cousin, referring to Misugi and herself as "criminals" and vowing that she will kill herself if Midori ever found out. Unknown to her, Midori finds out about the adultery but decides to keep calm about her discovery. She has short affairs with other men while her marriage with Misugi deterioates into coldness and loneliness. Years later, during a visit to the ill Saiko, Midori finally tells her that she knows all about her and Misugi's affair. Saiko, who also learned that her former husband Kadota has married again, asks Shoko to burn her diary for her and commits suicide with poison. Instead of destroying it as told, Shoko reads her mother's diary, shocked about its content, lamenting the "sad and terrible world of adults". The film closes with the prologue's image of Misugi in the snowy landscape.
Cast
*
Shin Saburi
was a Japanese film actor noted for his leading roles in a number of films by the director Yasujirō Ozu including ''Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family'' (1941), '' Tea Over Rice'' (1952), ''Equinox Flower'' (1958) and '' Late Autumn'' (196 ...
as Misugi
*
Mariko Okada
is a Japanese stage and film actress who starred in films of directors Mikio Naruse, Yasujirō Ozu, Keisuke Kinoshita and others. She was married to film director Yoshishige Yoshida.
Biography
Okada was born the daughter of silent film actor ...
as Midori, his wife
*
Fujiko Yamamoto
(born 11 December 1931) is a Japanese film and stage actress. She appeared in over 100 films between 1953 and 1963. She won the first Grand Prix of Miss Nippon in 1950.
Career
Yamamoto was born on 11 December 1931, in Nishi-ku, Osaka, to a cot ...
as Saiko, Midori's cousin
*
Keiji Sada
is the stage name for a Japanese cinema actor active from the late-1940s to the early 1960s. His real name was Kanichi Nakai. He won the award for best actor at the 7th Blue Ribbon Awards for and . He was the father of the actor Kiichi Nakai an ...
as Kadota, Saiko's husband
*Haruko Wanibuchi as Shoko, Saiko's adopted daughter
*
Nobuko Otowa as Hamako, Shoko's mother
*
Eijirō Yanagi
(16 September 1895 – 24 April 1984) was a Japanese actor. He appeared in more than 160 films from 1940 to 1975.
Career
Starting out in shingeki theater, Yanagi moved to shinpa
(also rendered ''shimpa'') is a form of theater in Japan, ...
as Uncle
*Yoshie Minami as Mrs. Takagi
*Masami Taura as Tsumura
*Toshiko Yabuki as Sadayo
Literary source
Other than the film, Inoue's book works with a de-linear narrative structure. In a prologue, a nameless poet, after publishing a poem depicting a lonely hunter whose sight impressed him, is contacted by Misugi who recognised himself as the described hunter. Misugi sends him three letters, one by his niece Shoko, the second by his wife Midori, and the third by his lover Saiko. These letters take up the major part of the book, with each woman describing the events from a different perspective, a technique similar to
Akira Kurosawa
was a Japanese filmmaker and painter who directed thirty films in a career spanning over five decades. He is widely regarded as one of the most important and influential filmmakers in the history of cinema. Kurosawa displayed a bold, dyna ...
's 1950 film ''
Rashomon
is a 1950 Jidaigeki psychological thriller/crime film directed and written by Akira Kurosawa, working in close collaboration with cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa. Starring Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyō, Masayuki Mori (actor), Masayuki Mori, and ...
''.
In a short epilogue, the poet reflects on Misugi's character.
While staying mostly close to the original story, Gosho and his scenarist Toshio Yasumi transferred the events, taking place between the mid 1930s and late 1940s in the book, completely into the post-war era for the film. Also, the character of Shoko, Saiko's natural daughter in Inoue's story, is instead presented as the daughter of Kadota's mistress, later adopted by Saiko.
Bibliography
*Jacoby, Alexander (2008). ''Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors: From the Silent Era to the Present Day''. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press.
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hunting Rifle
1961 films
1961 drama films
Japanese drama films
Films based on Japanese novels
Films directed by Heinosuke Gosho
1960s Japanese films