is a 1955 Japanese

romantic comedy Romantic comedy (also known as romcom or rom-com) is a subgenre of comedy and slice of life fiction, focusing on lighthearted, humorous plot lines centered on romantic ideas, such as how true love is able to surmount most obstacles. In a typica ...

film and the second film directed by

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 ...

Plot

Setsuko and her older sister Ayako live in their father's house in Nara. Ayako's aunt, who is worried about Ayako's marriage prospects as she grows older, tries to set Ayako up with a bank manager's son. Setsuko is determined not to see her sister enter into an unhappy marriage, and sets about trying to spark a love interest between Ayako and Amamiya, a visiting friend from Ayako's past. Setsuko bounces her ideas off of Yasui, a family friend, and enlists his help, ultimately aiming to get Ayako and Amamiya to go for a moonlit walk together.

Cast

Chishū Ryū was a Japanese actor who, in a career lasting 65 years, appeared in over 160 films and about 70 television productions. Early life Ryū was born in Tamamizu Village, Tamana County, a rural area of Kumamoto Prefecture in Kyushu, the most southe ...

as Mokichi Asai *

Shūji Sano was a Japanese actor active from 1936 to 1977. A popular star of the Shōchiku film studios, he is best known for his appearances in the films of Yasujirō Ozu, Keisuke Kinoshita, Heinosuke Gosho and Hiroshi Shimizu. Selected filmography * 19 ...

as Shunsuke Takasu * Hisako Yamane as Chizuru *

Yōko Sugi Yōko Sugi (杉葉子) (October 28, 1928 – May 15, 2019) was a Japanese actress who performed major roles in films like ''Aoi sanmyaku'' and '' Repast''. Early life Sugi was born on October 28, 1928 in what is now Bunkyo, Tokyo, Japan. ...

as Ayako *

Mie Kitahara is a Japanese actress. She appeared in more than 60 films between 1952 and 1960. She is best known for co-starring in a series of films with Yujiro Ishihara, one of postwar Japan's most famous stars, starting with ''Crazed Fruit'' in 1956. They ...

as Setsuko *

Shōji Yasui was a Japanese actor. He was best known for playing the central role of Private Mizushima in Kon Ichikawa's '' The Burmese Harp''. Career Born in Tokyo, Yasui first joined a troupe led by Kazuo Hasegawa. He entered the Nikkatsu studio in 1954 an ...

as Yasui * Ko Mishima as Amamiya *

as Yoneya *

as Shōji Yasui

Background

The screenplay was based on an unused script gifted to Tanaka by

Yasujirō Ozu was a Japanese film director and screenwriter. He began his career during the era of silent films, and his last films were made in colour in the early 1960s. Ozu first made a number of short comedies, before turning to more serious themes in t ...

. Contemporary critics noted resemblances to Ozu's films like the use of

low-angle shots In cinematography, a low-angle shot, is a shot (film), shot from a camera angle positioned low on the vertical axis, anywhere below the eye line, looking up.

or the casting of Chishū Ryū. ''The Moon Has Risen'' was the screen debut of Shōji Yasui (born Masao Yomo), who took his stage name from his character in this film.

Legacy

The 4K restored version of ''The Moon Has Risen'' was selected for screening at the Classics section at the

2021 Cannes Film Festival The 74th annual Cannes Film Festival took place from 6 to 17 July 2021, after having been originally scheduled from 11 to 22 May 2021. American director Spike Lee was invited to be the head of the jury for the festival for a second time, after t ...

References

External links