Kisses (1957 film)

Kisses (くちづけ, Kuchizuke), also titled The Kiss, is a 1957 Japanese drama film directed by Yasuzō Masumura, based on a novel by Matsutarō Kawaguchi.[1][2] It was Masumura's debut as a director[3][4] and is regarded as a precursor of the Japanese New Wave.[4][5][6]

Kisses
Japanese name
Kanjiくちづけ
Directed byYasuzō Masumura
Written by
Produced byHidemasa Nagata
Starring
CinematographyJōji Ohara
Edited byTatsuji Nakashizuka
Music byTetsuo Tsukahara
Production
company
Release date
  • 21 July 1957 (1957-07-21) (Japan)
[1][2]
Running time
74 minutes[1][2]
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Plot

Kinichi and Akiko meet at a prison in Tokyo, where their fathers are detained. Taking a liking to each other, they spend the day together, driving around on a borrowed motorcycle. Unable to pay both the bail bond for her father and her mother's hospital bill, Akiko gives in to the persistent courting of Osawa, asking him to loan her the needed money in return.

Cast

Release

Kisses was released in Japan on 21 July 1957.[1][2] It was first shown in New York as part of a Masumura retrospective on 18 April 1997.[7]

In more recent years, it has been shown at film museums such as the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive in 1997,[8] the Cinémathèque Française in 2007,[9] and the Austrian Film Museum in 2008.[5]

Reception

After the film's initial release, critic (and future director) Nagisa Ōshima, admiring it for its mobile camera and amoral plot,[10] noted that "a powerful irresistible force has arrived in Japanese Cinema."[3]

References
  1. "くちづけ". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  2. "くちづけ(1957)". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  3. "Kisses". Independent Cinema Offices. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  4. "Kuchizuke". Japanisches Kulturinstitut (in German). Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  5. "Masumura Yasuzô". Österreichisches Filmmuseum (in German). 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  6. Jackson, Earl (2020). "Fellini in Japan". In Burke, Frank; Waller, Marguerite; Gubareva, Marita (eds.). A Companion to Federico Fellini. John Wiley and Sons. p. 441. ISBN 9781119431534.
  7. "Yasuzo Masumura Retrospective". Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive.
  8. "Kisses". BAMPFA. Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  9. "Les Baisers". Cinémathèque Française (in French). Retrieved 2 July 2023.
  10. Jacoby, Alexander (2008). A Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors: From the Silent Era to the Present Day. Stone Bridge Press. p. 163. ISBN 9781933330532.
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