is a 1962 Japanese

satirical Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of shaming or e ...

comedy film directed by

Yūzō Kawashima was a Japanese film director, most famous for making tragi-comic films and satires. Career Kawashima was born in Mutsu, Aomori in the Shimokita Peninsula. From his youth, he suffered from a paralysis that affected his right leg and arm. He was ...

and written by

Kaneto Shindō 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 ' ...

Plot

The family of ex-naval officer Tokizo Maeda lives in a small urban concrete block apartment, always quick at hiding their belongings when the situation asks for a humble appearance. While daughter Tomoko, mistress (at her father's instruction) of a famous bestselling writer, won't stop borrowing money from her patron for the family, son Minoru, signed to a music talent agency, constantly embezzles the company's assets. Father and son both have their very own plans for the money: Tokizo invests in one military project after another, Minoru, to his father's consternation, spends it on his lover Yukie, none other than his agency's bookkeeper. When Yukie quits her job, using the occasion to end the liaison with Minoru, it turns out that she also had affairs with the company boss and the tax officer in charge, using the donations she received to finance her own hotel.

Cast

Ayako Wakao is a Japanese actress who was one of the country's biggest stars of the 20th century. Biography Wakao began her career contracted to Daiei Studios in 1951 as part of the fifth "New Face" group. She has gone on to appear in over 100 feature films ...

as Yukie Mitani *

Yūnosuke Itō was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than ninety films from 1947 to 1979. Career Itō made his film debut at Toho in 1946, and although mostly a prominent supporting actor—playing memorable figures such as the novelist in Akira Ku ...

as Tokizo Maeda * Hisano Yamaoka as Yoshino, Tokizo's wife * Yūko Hamada as Tomoko, Tokizo's daughter * Hideo Takamatsu as Ichiro Katori * Eiji Funakoshi as Eisaku Kamiya, the tax collector * Manamitsu Kawabata as Minoru, Tokizo's son * Shōichi Ozawa as Pinosaku, the singer * Kyū Sazanka as Shuntaro Yoshizawa, the writer

Reception

Film scholar Alexander Jacoby called ''The Graceful Brute'' Kawashima's (who died the following year) last noteworthy film, stating that its "theatrical artificiality" and use of one single

set Set, The Set, SET or SETS may refer to: Science, technology, and mathematics Mathematics *Set (mathematics), a collection of elements *Category of sets, the category whose objects and morphisms are sets and total functions, respectively Electro ...

mirrored director Nagisa Ōshima's techniques.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Graceful Brute, The 1962 films 1962 comedy films Japanese comedy films Films directed by Yuzo Kawashima Films with screenplays by Kaneto Shindo 1960s Japanese films