A Brother and His Younger Sister

A Brother and His Younger Sister (兄とその妹, Ani to sono imoto), also titled An Older Brother and His Younger Sister, is a 1939 Japanese comedy-drama film written and directed by Yasujirō Shimazu.[1][2][3] Together with Our Neighbor, Miss Yae (1934), it is regarded as one of Shimazu's major films,[4][5][6] and a representative of the shōshimin-eiga genre.[7]

Not to be confused with Older Brother, Younger Sister.
A Brother and His Younger Sister
兄とその妹
Directed byYasujirō Shimazu
Written byYasujirō Shimazu
Starring
CinematographyToshio Ubukata
Music byHikaru Saotome
Production
company
Distributed byShochiku
Release date
  • 1 April 1939 (1939-04-01) (Japan)[1][2]
Running time
104 minutes[3]
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Plot

Office worker Mamiya regularly returns home late from playing go with his employer Mr. Arita. Not only do his wife Akiko and his younger sister Fumiko, who lives with them, comment on this, his habit is also the talk of his colleagues. Mamiya's envious colleague Yukita schemes against him behind his back by alleging that Mamiya is an informer for Arita.

Arita asks Mamiya to negotiate between his nephew Michio and Fumiko, whom Michio wants to propose to. When the self-confident Fumiko refuses the proposal, Mamiya accepts her decision, but Yukita spreads the rumour that Mamiya uses his sister to appease Arita.

On the day of his promotion as head of the department, Mamiya is attacked by former accountant Hayashi, whom Yurita made believe that he lost his position due to Mamiya's informings. When Yukita's scheme is revealed, Mamiya slaps him and resigns from his job. Mamiya, uncertain how to deliver the bad news to Akiko, visits his former colleague Utsumi, who now runs his own company. Utsumi offers Mamiya to work for him in Manchuria, as his company is expanding. Mamiya accepts and resettles to Manchuria with Akiko and Fumiko.

Cast

Release and reception

A Brother and His Younger Sister was released in Japan on 1 April 1939.[1][2][3] It ranked #4 in Kinema Junpo's list of the ten best Japanese films of 1939.[8]

Legacy

In later years, A Brother and His Younger Sister has been shown at film museums and institutions such as the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in 1985[9] and the Museum of Modern Art in 2022.[10]

References
  1. "兄とその妹". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  2. "兄とその妹(1939)". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  3. "兄とその妹". Shochiku (in Japanese). Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  4. Jacoby, Alexander (2008). Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors: From the Silent Era to the Present Day. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press. p. 265. ISBN 978-1-933330-53-2.
  5. Anderson, Joseph L.; Richie, Donald (1959). The Japanese Film – Art & Industry. Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company. p. 97.
  6. "島津保次郎". Kotobank (in Japanese). Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  7. Russell, Catherine (2007). "Women's Stories in Post-War Japan: Naruse Mikio's Late Chrysanthemums (1954)". In Phillips, Alastair; Stringer, Julian (eds.). Japanese Cinema: Texts and Contexts. Routledge. ISBN 9780415328487.
  8. "キネマ旬報ベスト・テン 1939年・第16回". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 7 July 2023.
  9. "A Brother and His Younger Sister (Ani to Sono Imoto)". BAMPFA. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
  10. "Ani to sono imoto (An Older Brother and His Younger Sister). 1939. Written and directed by Yasujirō Shimazu". Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 4 July 2023.
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