is a 1940 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 Hiroshi Shimizu. It is based on the novel of the same name by

Bunroku Shishi Bunroku Shishi (a pen name for ''Toyoo Iwata''; b. July 1, 1893, Yokohama; d. Dec. 13, 1969) was a Japanese writer and director of the Bungakuza Theater in Tokyo. In 1922 he traveled to France to study modern French theater, and worked in the ate ...

Plot

Young teacher Nobuko starts her new job in a girls' school in

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 ...

, residing at the place of her aunt Okei, a

geisha {{Culture of Japan, Traditions, Geisha {{nihongo, Geisha, 芸者 ({{IPAc-en, ˈ, ɡ, eɪ, ʃ, ə; {{IPA-ja, ɡeːɕa, lang), also known as {{nihongo, , 芸子, geiko (in Kyoto and Kanazawa) or {{nihongo, , 芸妓, geigi, are a class of female ...

instructor. Not only is she admonished by the school principal for her heavy rural accent, but also for living in a geisha house which is regarded irreconcilable with the school's reputation. As a consequence, Nobuko moves into the school's dormitory as one of the boarding masters. Nobuko becomes the repeated target of pranks by rebellious pupil Eiko, and learns that neither the principals nor the teachers take measures against her, as her father is an important financier of the institute. She eventually gains respect and popularity among the students, but Eiko retains her disrespectful attitude. After repeated misbehavings, Nobuko exerts a collective punishment of the pupils, which leads to Eiko's social isolation and suicide attempt. While watching over her at her sickbed, Nobuko learns from Eiko that her behaviour was only a means of getting attention and affection which she didn't find at home. The schoolboard considers Nobuko's dismissal to appease Eiko's father, but is instead urged by him to keep Nobuko and treat his daughter like the other girls.

Cast

Mieko Takamine (2 December 1918 – 27 May 1990) was a Japanese actress and singer. Biography Mieko Takamine was born the eldest daughter of famous chikuzen biwa player and teacher Chikufu Takamine. She gave her acting debut in the 1936 film ''Kimi yo takarak ...

as Nobuko Komiyama *

Mitsuko Miura was a Japanese actress active from 1938 to 1964. She appeared in over 150 films under the direction of filmmakers like Mikio Naruse, Kenji Mizoguchi and Hiroshi Shimizu. Biography After graduating from Otsuma Girls' High School, Tokyo, Mitsuko ...

as Eiko Hosokawa * Chōko Iida as Okei, Nobuko's aunt * Fumiko Okamura as Mrs. Sekiguchi, school principal * Masami Morikawa as Mrs. Hosaka, vice principal * Eiko Takamatsu as Fusako Yoshioka, teacher * Setsuko Shinobu as Yasuko Tezuka, teacher * Misao Matsubara as Mrs. Matsubara, teacher * Sachiko Mitani as Chako, a geisha apprentice *

Mitsuko Yoshikawa was a Japanese actress who played in over 250 films, often under the direction of Yasujirō Ozu and Hiroshi Shimizu. She joined the Shochiku film studios in 1924 and gave her film debut in 1926 in ''Kujaku no hikari''. After the war, she becam ...

as Eiko's stepmother * Shin'yō Nara as Mr. Hosokawa, Eiko's father * Shin'ichi Himori as Burglar

Legacy

''Nobuko'' was released by

Shochiku () is a Japanese film and kabuki production and distribution company. It also produces and distributes anime films, in particular those produced by Bandai Namco Filmworks (which has a long-time partnership—the company released most, if not all ...

in 2008 as part of a Hiroshi Shimizu DVD box set, also containing his films ''Children in the Wind'', ''Introspection Tower'' and ''Four Seasons of Children'', and as a single DVD in 2013. A screening of the film was provided by the

Cinémathèque française The Cinémathèque Française (), founded in 1936, is a French non-profit film organization that holds one of the largest archives of film documents and film-related objects in the world. Based in Paris's 12th arrondissement, the archive offers ...

in 2020 and 2021. Shishi's novel was again adapted for Japanese television in later years, including versions in 1957, 1964 and 1965.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Nobuko 1940 films 1940 drama films Japanese drama films Japanese black-and-white films Films based on Japanese novels Films directed by Hiroshi Shimizu