, also known as ''Tragedy of Japan'', is a 1953 Japanese drama film written and directed by

Keisuke Kinoshita was a Japanese film director and screenwriter.Ronald Berganbr>"A satirical eye on Japan: Keisuke Kinoshita" ''The Guardian'', 5 January 1999. While lesser-known internationally than contemporaries such as Akira Kurosawa, Kenji Mizoguchi and Yasu ...

. The film tells the story of a mother who has to raise two children during and after World War II, but whose children reject her. Kinoshita interspersed newsreel footage within the film in an attempt to relate the story of the film to the wider context of Japan's post-war difficulties.

Plot

War widow Haruke, mother of two children, gets involved in prostitution during and after the Second World War to raise money for the family and secure the children a proper education. Her son Seiichi and daughter Utako, sharing a flat of their own, are embarrassed by their mother's activities and reluctant to her visits. Eager to cut ties with his past and poor upbringing, Seiichi, a medical student, aims at being adopted by an upper-class family. His sister Utako studies dressmaking and attends an English language school, engaging with her married teacher. Eventually, Seiichi's plan fulfils, while Utako, who claims that she can't lead a normal relationship after being raped by a cousin as a child, evokes a marital crisis. When Haruke finally realises that she has lost both her children, she commits suicide.

Cast

Yūko Mochizuki was a Japanese film and theatre actress who already had long stage experience, first with light comedies, later with dramatic roles, before making her film debut. Mochizuki often appeared in the films of Keisuke Kinoshita, but also worked for pro ...

as Haruko Inoue *

Yōko Katsuragi was a Japanese actress active from 1948 to 1963. She appeared mostly in films of the Shochiku film studios, often under the direction of Keisuke Kinoshita. Selected filmography *1948: ''The Portrait'' (肖像 ''Shōzō'') – dir. Keisuke Kinosh ...

as Utako, Haruko's daughter * Masumi Taura as Seiichi, Haruko's son *

Teiji Takahashi was a Japanese film actor. He appeared in more than twenty films from 1950 to 1959. Takahashi died in a traffic accident. Career Born in Tokyo, Takahashi graduated from the Japanese Film School (Nihon Eiga Gakkō) and joined the Shochiku studi ...

as Sato * Keiji Sada as Tatsuya, a street musician * Ken Uehara as Masayuki Akazawa, the English teacher *

Sanae Takasugi was a Japanese film and television actress. She starred in over 80 films, directed by notable filmmakers like Kenji Mizoguchi, Yasujirō Ozu, Mikio Naruse, and Keisuke Kinoshita. Career Born in Asakusa, Tokyo, Takasugi graduated at Rissho High Sc ...

as Mrs. Akazawa * Keiko Awaji as Wakamaru, a geisha

Reception

Alexander Jacoby regarded the personal conflict between the mother and her selfish children to be more "vivid" than the wider context provided by the newsreels.

Isolde Standish Isolde Standish is an Australian and British academic film theorist who specialises on East Asia (mainly Japan and South Korea). Mostly known for her works on Japanese Cinema, she is currently an ''Emerita Reader'' (Professor Emeritus) at the Sc ...

points out that the newsreels give credence to the "subjective memories" of the characters that are shown in the film's flashback scenes. For example, newsreel footage of American soldiers cavorting with Japanese women foreshadow a flashback scene depicting Haruko's decision to become a prostitute. The flashbacks also provide contexts for the family's present day misunderstandings, when Haruko gets involved in the black market to provide food for the family, but her son Seiichi only knows that the activity causes him embarrassment at school, or when the children's cruel uncle tells them that their mother is enjoying herself at the Atami hot springs, while she is working as a prostitute to raise money for the family. According to film critic Donald Richie, ''A Japanese Tragedy'' was one of the first post-war films to focus on Japanese mothers, as Mikio Naruse's '' Repast'' was one of the first to focus on the plight of Japanese wives.

Awards

Kinoshita won both the Mainichi Film Award and Blue Ribbon Award for best screenplay in 1953. Yūko Mochizuki won the 1953 Mainichi Film Award for best actress.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Japanese Tragedy, A 1953 films 1953 drama films 1950s Japanese-language films Japanese black-and-white films Films directed by Keisuke Kinoshita Films with screenplays by Keisuke Kinoshita Shochiku films Japanese drama films 1950s Japanese films