In 1937 the success of sake brewery employee Ryukichi (Shoichi Ozawa) leads to jealousy and resentment from workmate and fellow Echigo villager Gonsuke (Rentaro Mikuni). When Gonsuke encounters Ryukichi’s wife Oshin (Yoshiko Sakuma) on the path home he rapes her and then torments the good-natured Ryukichi with rumours of Oshin having an affair. As these rumours gnaw at Ryukichi a … Read the rest
Tag: Rentaro Mikuni
Devotion to Railway (Minoru Yamada, Japan, 1960)
After four years of work youthful train attendant Yajima (Katsuo Nakamura) sees no value in his job and wants to quit so he can marry girlfriend Kimie (Yoshiko Sakuma). She, however, thinks that job security is more important than a hasty marriage. So Kimie boards the Sakura – the Nagasaki bound express Yajima’s been assigned to – in order to … Read the rest
The Rendezvous (Koichi Saito, Japan, 1972)
To the accompaniment of an instantly memorable score an attractive middle-aged woman (Keiko Kishi) sits alone on a park bench watching the world go by – children at play, couples arm in arm strolling past. At the end of the film we’ll come back to this scene and understand its significance but after this intriguing opening we’re on a train … Read the rest
