A collection of films featuring the legendary Japanese actress Hideko Takamine directed by such masters as Yasujiro Ozu, Keisuke Kinoshita and Mikio Naruse. Unfortunately, none of the films carry English subtitles. As these films are very hard to come by, we recommend anyone with a listening comprenhension of the Japanese language to see this collection.

SCHEDULE for November 2011

Profile on Hideko Takamine
REVIEWS: Legendary Actress Hideko Takamine
■ Tsuzurikata Kyoshitsu ■Hideko No Oendancho■Munekata Kyodai ■Karumen Kyokoni Kaeru ■Karumen Junjyosu
■ Inazuma ■Gan ■Nijushi No Hitomi ■Onna No Sono ■Ukigumo■Yorokobimo Kanashimimo Ikutoshitsuki ■Fuefukigawa■Namonaku Mazushiku Utsukushiku

Munekata Kyodai Dir: Y. Ozu Cast: H. Takamine, K. Tanaka 1950 35mm BW 112min In Japanese No English subtitles

The father of two daughters has cancer and rests in Kyoto. His daughter Setsuko manages a bar in Ginza to make ends meet as her husband is unemployed. Single Mariko, the other daughter, can’t stand her sister serving a good-for-nothing husband.
Image (c) Toho Co., Ltd. All rights reserved.

Karumen Kokyo Ni Kaeru Dir: K. Kinoshita Cast: H. Takamine, T. Kobayashi 1951 35mm Color 86 min In Japanese No English subtitles

Karumen, a stripper in Tokyo, brings her friend along to her hometown, a village by the mountains. Their flashy behavior causes alarm in the village so much so that her father becomes bed-ridden. Japan’s first all color feature film.

Karumen Junjyosu Dir: K. Kinoshita Cast:H. Takamine, M. Wakahara 1952 35mm BW 103 min In Japanese No English subtitles

A girlfriend visits Karmen, the stripper, with her baby after being abandoned by her boyfriend. The two then try and raise the baby together,living across from an artist who just returned from Paris, who Karmen falls head over heels for…
Image: (Copyright) 1952 SHOCHIKU Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Inazuma Dir: M. Naruse Cast:H. Takamine, M. Miura 1952 35mm BW 87 min In Japanese No English subtitles

Kiyoko has a brother and two sisters who all have different fathers. Nuiko, the eldest sister, brings Kiyoko an offer of marriage but it is plain to see the arrangement is financially motivated. Then the husband of Mitsuko, the second sister, dies and his mistress arrives with a baby demanding support money.
Image: (C) 1952 Kadokawa Shoten Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Gan Dir: S. Toyoda Cast:H. Takamine, H. Akutagawa 1953 16mm BW 104 min In Japanese No English subtitles

Otama falls under the care of a kimono merchant, who she later finds out is a loan shark who forces Otama to become his mistress. Eventually Otama falls for a college student who passes by her residence every day.
Image: (C) 1953 Kadokawa Shoten Co. Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Nijushi No Hitomi Dir: K. Kinoshita Cast:H. Takamine, Y. Tsukioka 1954 35mm BW 155 min In Japanese No English subtitles

In 1928, Hisako is assigned to be a teacher on a remote island where she teaches 12 students in 1st grade. The film follows her 20 year career as a school teacher where her male students eventually become soldiers, many of whom die in battle.

Onna No Sono Dir: K. Kinoshita Cast:H. Takamine, M. Takamine 1954 35mm BW 137 min In Japanese No English subtitles

A college for women requires its students to live in dormitories and uphold strict rules to become good wives and wise mothers. Students voice their opposition to the rules but they look down upon weak-hearted Yoshie when the college starts to crack down on student resistance.
Image: (Copyright) 1954 SHOCHIKU Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Ukigumo Dir: M. Naruse Cast:H. Takamine, M. Mori 1955 35mm BW 123 min In Japanese No English subtitles

During the war, Yukiko falls in love with a Japanese engineer in Indo-China who promises to divorce his wife, but who ultimately doesn’t. The film follows the illicit relationship of the two who just can’t live apart from each other.
Image: (Copyright) Toho Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Yorokobimo Kanshimino Ikutoshitsuki Dir: K. Kinoshita Cast: H. Takamine, K. Sada, 1957 35mm Color 159 min In Japanese No English subtitles

Shiro, who works at a lighthouse, marries Kiyoko and the two start a hard and difficult life of managing light houses throughout Japan over a period of 25 years.
Image: (Copyright) 1957 SHOCHIKU Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Fuefukigawa Dir: K. Kinoshita Cast: H. Takamine, T. Tamura, 1960 35mm Color 117 min In Japanese subtitles No English subtitles

During Japan’s feudal warring era, a married couple has a family of three sons and one daughter. When the children grow up, the eldest son tries to become a samurai warrior and against his parents’ will, takes his younger brother with him.
Image: (Copyright) 1960 SHOCHIKU Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved

Namonaku Mazushiku Utsukushiku Dir: K. Kinoshita Cast: H. Takamine, K. Kobayashi, 1961 35mm BW 130 min In Japanese No English subtitles

When Akiko, who is deaf, loses her husband in death, she is cut off from his family. She returns home and eventual meets a man at a school reunion who proposes to her, and the two marry. The child they have dies from an accident. Shining shoes for a living, the couple have another child who is healthy but who starts to dislike his parents.
Image: (Copyright) Toho Co., Ltd. All Rights Reserved