Sachiko Hidari

Tamiko, a Japanese mail-order bride, arrives in Peru to meet her new husband, a Japanese archeologist working on Inca ruins and Tamiko tries to adjust to her new lifestyle and routine.Read More »

In a sterile building complex, a woman gains a sense of altruism after encountering a street beggar and his blind orphan, much to her husband’s disapproval.Read More »

PLOT: Three robbers escape with loot from a heist before one of them shoots the others. Their corpses wash up near the aftermath of a maritime calamity, provoking a policeman’s interest.Read More »

Twenty six years after the execution of her soldier husband on the dying days of World War II the widow is still searching for the truth by meeting with, questioning and interviewing the dead man’s comrades, companions and executioner. The stories retold are one part of the reason why war is as bad as has been said. The state and existence of the survivors is another witness to the dangers of war and warmongers.Read More »

Synopsis:
Set in the last few years of the shogun’s rule, this period/ensemble movie depicts the lives of the young and the restless at a whorehouse. The protagonist is Saheiji, a resourceful, witty free spirit. It’s 1862, 6 years before the Shogun turned his political power over to the Emperor. Penniless Saheiji splashes out at a famous Shinagawa whorehouse. He’s forced to stay on at the whorehouse to repay his debt. At first Saheiji is regarded as an unwelcome guest who never leaves but it turns out he is not just a poor grifter. None of the whorehouse’s guests, hosts, servants and attending ladies are innocent but they are pragmatic schemers. Saheiji soon endears himself to them all and solves many whorehouse disputes with his wit. But it is slowly revealed that the seemingly perfect Saheiji is suffering from tuberculosis and his future is uncertain…Read More »

A landmark in Japanese cinema, The Far Road is the first feature film planned, produced, and directed as well as starred in by a woman, Sachiko Hidari. Inspired by her many years of work as an actress in the films of such illustrious directors as Heinosuke Gosho and Yasuzo Masumura (also represented in the current series), she uses a spare cinematic style to tell the story of a fight for human dignity: a living wage and job security in the face of mechanization of the railroads. The film was financed by the National Railways Workers Union, whose members, because they work for a “public corporation,” do not have the right to strike.
– BAMPFA (1979)Read More »

Remake of Yoshimura Kozaburo’s 1939 film of the same title, originally adapted from a novel by Kishida Kunio. Together with scenarist Shirasaka Yoshio, Masumura re-imagines a traditional melodrama as a fast-paced comedy of manners. Includes a cameo appearance by the singer Miwa Akihiro.

The story revolves around a young man appointed to rescue a troubled hospital, and who must choose between two women, a dedicated nurse or a spoiled rich girl.Read More »

Quote:
One of Hani’s recurring themes was the status of women in modern society. His first attempt at the subject was this Antonioniesque melodrama set in a sterile high rise complex. A woman resident becomes discontent with the empty life she and her husband are leading. They encounter a street beggar who lives in poverty with his dog and a blind orphan. The woman becomes fascinated by the beggar’s world and pursues a friendship which leads to terrible discord and a tragedy.Read More »

Synopsis:
In Song of the Cart-Pullers (Niguruma no uta, 1959) one of his most visually captivating works, Satsuo Yamamoto resurrected, through the struggles of three-generation family in rural Hiroshima Prefacture, an intimate history of Japanese peasant life, from the harsh late Meiji years to the Taisho Rice Riots and the tragedies of the pacific war.Read More »