Takekurabe (1955 film)

Takekurabe (たけくらべ, Takekurabe, lit. "Comparing heights"), English titles Growing Up, Adolescence, or Daughters of Yoshiwara, is a 1955 Japanese drama film directed by Heinosuke Gosho. It is based on Higuchi Ichiyō's 1895-1896 novella Takekurabe.[1][2]

Takekurabe
Japanese movie poster
Directed byHeinosuke Gosho
Written by
Produced by
  • Tsūjin Fukushima
  • Sadao Sugihara
  • Ippei Hata
Starring
CinematographyJoji Ohara
Music byYasushi Akutagawa
Distributed byShintoho
Release date
  • 28 August 1955 (1955-08-28) (Japan)[1][2]
Running time
95 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Plot

Growing up in the Yoshiwara red light district of Meiji era Edo, teenage boy Shinnyo, son of a buddhist priest, helplessly witnesses not only his sister Ohana being sold as a concubine by his money-loving father, but also the fate of Midori, a neighbourhood girl to whom he has an unspoken affection, who is destined to become a courtesan like her older sister Omaki.

Cast

Production and reception

Takekurabe was independently produced by Tsūjin Fukushima's company New Art Productions (新芸術プロダクション, Shin Geijutsu Purodakushon), which resulted in budgetary constraints and compromises in the filming. It received mixed reviews during its initial run for being "overliterary" and the casting of pop star Hibari Misora.[3] Film scholar Donald Richie and Gosho biographer Arthur Nolletti later called Takekurabe an "outstanding example" (Nolletti)[3] of the Meiji-mono (Meiji period film) and "one of the finest due to its excellent sets" (by Kazuo Kubo), "its superb photography and the nearly perfect performances" (Richie).[4]

Awards

References
  1. "たけくらべ (Takekurabe)". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 18 January 2021.
  2. "たけくらべ (Takekurabe)" (in Japanese). Kinenote. Retrieved 27 December 2020.
  3. Nolletti Jr., Arthur (2008). The Cinema of Gosho Heinosuke: Laughter through Tears. Bloomington: Indiana University Press. pp. 214–225, 303. ISBN 978-0-253-34484-7.
  4. Anderson, Joseph L.; Richie, Donald (1959). The Japanese Film – Art & Industry. Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company.
  5. "6th Blue Ribbon Awards" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 30 November 2012. Retrieved 18 January 2021.
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