Sakura-tai Chiru

Sakura-tai Chiru (さくら隊散る, lit. "The cherry blossom team scattered") is a 1988 Japanese documentary film and docudrama[3] written and directed by Kaneto Shindō.[1][2][4] Based on a nonfictional story by Hagie Ezu, it depicts the fate of the Sakura ("cherry blossom") theatre troupe, several of whose members were killed in the atomic bombing of Hiroshima.[5]

Sakura-tai Chiru
さくら隊散る
Directed byKaneto Shindō
Written by
  • Kaneto Shindō (screenplay)
  • Hagie Ezu (story)
Produced by
  • Kiyoshi Mizogami
  • Jiro Shindō
Narrated byNobuko Otowa
CinematographyYoshiyuki Miyake
Edited byMitsuo Kondo
Production
companies
  • Kindai Eiga Kyokai
  • Gohyaku Rakanji Temple
Distributed byIndependent Film Center
Release date
  • 30 April 1988 (1988-04-30)[1][2]
Running time
110 minutes[1][2]
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Plot

In interviews with 30 associates and friends, and in reenactments of the events, director Shindō recounts the history of the Sakura theatre troupe, formed from remnants of left-leaning troupes that had been forced to disband by the militarist regime, and its end in Hiroshima. While five members died instantly, the survivors of the blast, including the troupe's leader Sadao Maruyama and actresses Keiko Sonoi and Midori Naka, died during the following weeks from their injuries. Only two members, who weren't present in Hiroshima at the time of the bombing, survived.

Cast

Interviewees

Reenactment actors
  • Masashi Furuta as Sadao Maruyama
  • Takako Miki as Keiko Sonoi
  • Yasuko Yagami as Midori Naka
  • Satoshi Kawashima as Shozo Takayama
  • Oikawa Izo as Kokichi Makimura

Theme

Shindō, who was born in Hiroshima Prefecture, repeatedly attempted to memorialise the bombing of his birthplace and its aftermath in films like Children of Hiroshima (1952), Mother (1963), Sakura-tai Chiru and Teacher and Three Children (2008).[6][7]

Release

Sakura-tai Chiru was released in Japanese cinemas on 30 April 1988.[1][2] It was later released as part of a DVD anthology box dedicated to director Shindō in 2002.[8]

Also in 1988, Shindō published the story of the Sakura troupe in book form along with notes on the film's production.[9]

Reception

In Kinema Junpo magazine's list of the 10 best Japanese films of the year, Sakura-tai Chiru reached #7 in 1988.[10]

Upon the film's home media release, film historian Donald Richie commented that Shindō created a picture that would have found the interest of Shindō's mentor Kenji Mizoguchi, looking at the disaster "with clear-eyed compassion".[8]

Comparing Sakura-tai Chiru with Shindō's earlier Children of Hiroshima, Lauri Kitsnik saw a "much more realist style" in the bombing montage sequence. At the same time, Shindō's emphasising of artificiality and mixing of styles and art forms point at "the inevitability of staging in cinema and the impossibility of non-fiction".[3]

References
  1. "さくら隊散る (Sakura-tai chiru)" (in Japanese). Kinema Junpo. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  2. "さくら隊散る (Sakura-tai chiru)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  3. Kitsnik, Lauri (2020). "Record. Reenact. Recycle. Notes on Shindō Kaneto's Documentary Styles". In Centeno, Marcos; Raine, Michael (eds.). Developments in the Japanese Documentary Mode. Basel: MDPI. pp. 99–101. ISBN 978-3-03943-913-3.
  4. "さくら隊散る (Sakura-tai chiru)" (in Japanese). Kotobank. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  5. Miyamoto, Yuki (2012). Beyond the Mushroom Cloud. Commemoration, Religion, and Responsibility After Hiroshima. New York: Fordham University Press. p. 215. ISBN 978-0-82324050-0.
  6. Sharp, Jasper (26 April 2019). "Where to begin with Kaneto Shindo". British Film Institute. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  7. Jacoby, Alexander (2008). Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors: From the Silent Era to the Present Day. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press. p. 275. ISBN 978-1-933330-53-2.
  8. Donald Richie (16 June 2002). "Tribute to a humanist". The Japan Times. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  9. Shindō, Kaneto (1988). さくら隊8月6日-広島で被爆した若き新劇人たち (Sakura troupe August 6th). Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. ISBN 978-4-00003054-0.
  10. Hammer, Tad Bentley (1991). International Film Prizes. An Encyclopedia. New York: Garland Publishing. p. 319. ISBN 9780824070991.
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