Machiko Kyô

Joji Kawai was an engineer at an electric company. He was a serious and well-behaved man by nature, and was nicknamed “Kimiko” at work. He had one ideal in mind when it came to women. In order to fulfill this ideal, he took in a beautiful young woman named Naomi, who was working at a café in the middle of nowhere, and took care of her as if she were his sister or daughter. However, his unbalanced love and education resulted in Naomi growing up to be an arrogant woman. By the time Joji realized this, it was already too late…Read More »

Synopsis:
One historical yakuza boss was Jirocho of Shimizu (1820-1893), born of the merchant class. One of the earliest versions of his life to make it to the screen was in the silent era, & which still survives, was the Shimizu no Jirocho Trilogy (1927) directed by Tsuji Kichiro, & starring Kawabe Goro as Jirocho.Read More »

This is the second of three major film adaptation of Junichiro Tanizaki’s famous novel from the 1940s, the first one being the 1950 version directed by Yutaka Abe, the latter one being Kon Ichikawa’s The Makioka Sisters from 1983. Shima’s version stars Machiko Kyo, Fujiko Yamamoto, Junko Kano and Yukiko Todoroki in the roles of the sisters. The novel (and the films) follow the lives of the wealthy Makioka family of Osaka from the autumn of 1936 to April 1941, focusing on the family’s attempts to find a husband for the third sister, Yukiko. It depicts the decline of the family’s upper-middle-class, suburban lifestyle as the specter of World War II and Allied Occupation hangs over the novel.Read More »

Synopsis:
In adapting Kawabata’s famous novel about the entangled relations between the son of a seductive tea-ceremony teacher and the women in his father’s life, Masumura subverts the literary genre so beloved of Japanese cinema. Kikuji (Mikijiro Hira) attends of a tea ceremony held by his late father’s one-time mistress, Chikako, and there embarks on an affair with the real love of his father’s life, Mrs. Ota. Mrs. Ota’s grief is palpable, but Kikuji’s motives are more mysterious-perhaps, like her, to know his father through the sexual experience. A complex transference is played out in such relationships, and through objects, such as tea cups, that are infused with human spirit. Masumura takes these suggested relationships to extremes in the film: Ayako Wakao plays Mrs. Ota with breathless despair, while Machiko Kyo’s Chikako, the gracious manipulator, is a veritable specter.Read More »

Synopsis:
Kei, a house servant, is kicked out after an altercation and is then adopted by a nearby family.
One of many adaptations of “Onna no isshō”, this time by Yasuzo Masumura as a starring vehicle for famed actress Machiko Kyo.Read More »

Story about the fall of an accountant enthralled by the sexual charms of a cabaret dancer.Read More »

An ambitious young woman manipulates everyone around her to become a famous choreographer in the world of traditional Japanese dancing.Read More »

Quote:
This film by Toyoda depicts the hard life of an unmarried mother in Tokyo. Umeko (Machiko Kyo), at 36, is working in a bar, struggling valiantly to keep her family together. Her 17-year-old daughter Takeko becomes increasingly upset by her mother’s constant drinking and yakuza boyfriend, and runs away from ho…Read More »

Quote:
This film by Toyoda depicts the hard life of an unmarried mother in Tokyo. Umeko (Machiko Kyo), at 36, is working in a bar, struggling valiantly to keep her family together. Her 17-year-old daughter Takeko becomes increasingly upset by her mother’s constant drinking and yakuza boyfriend, and runs away from ho…Read More »