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| Festival Year |
Festival Section |
| 2001 |
|
| Film Title |
HOTOTOGISU |
| Alternative Title 1 |
[CUCKOO, THE] |
| Alternative Title 2 |
[CUCULO, IL] |
| Alternative Title 3 |
|
| Country |
Japan |
| Release Date |
1922 |
| Production Co. |
Shochiku |
| Director |
Ikeda, Yoshinobu |
| Format |
|
Speed (fps) |
| 35mm |
|
20 |
| |
|
|
| Footage |
|
Time |
| 1389 ft. |
|
19' |
| Archive Source |
National Film Center |
| |
|
| Print Notes |
Didascalie in giapponese / Japanese intertitles. |
| Cast |
Yukichi Iwata
Sumiko Kurishima
Tappatsu Sekine
Yoshie Nakagawa
Nobuko Satsuki |
| |
| Other Credits |
| Mizutani, Bunjiro (ph.) |
| |
| Other Information |
Phil Carli, pianoforte.
prima proiezione / released 9.3.1922 |
| |
| Program Notes |
Hototogisu (The Cuckoo) was a popular novel by Roka which first appeared in serial form in a newspaper in 1898. This family drama became even more popular when the novel was adapted for Shinpa films.
The film explores the tragic love story between Namiko, the daughter of General Kataoka, and a naval officer, Takeo Kawashima. Namiko is happily married to Takeo, but when she contracts tuberculosis her mother-in-law forces her to divorce him. Deep in despair, she dies a tragic death. Considering this in the context of Japanese literary history, the novel attempts to dramatize the social conflicts between the conservative family system and the modern spirit. For this reason, the novel was quite an attractive property for Shinpa, then just attaining its first wave of maturity.
The scene set on Zushi beach, in which Namiko and Takeo meet, is one of the best-known highlights of Shinpa cinema. Although several of Roka's novels have been adapted by various Japanese film companies over the years, on many occasions, this film was the first produced by Shochiku Kinema, which was founded in 1920.
Sumiko Kurishima and Yukichi Iwata, the film's hero and heroine, were one of the most celebrated Japanese screen couples of the period. This version of the print preserved by the National Film Center contains both the famous scenes filmed at Zushi beach and those at the Aoyama cemetery. - TS
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