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| Festival Year |
Festival Section |
| 2005 |
Light from the East: Celebrating Japanese Cinema
Shochiku 110 - Naruse 100 -- Prog. 10 |
| Film Title |
CHIKYODAI |
| Alternative Title 1 |
[SORELLE DI LATTE] |
| Alternative Title 2 |
[FOSTER SISTERS] |
| Alternative Title 3 |
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| Country |
Japan |
| Release Date |
13 May 1932 |
| Production Co. |
Shochiku |
| Director |
Hotei Nomura |
| Format |
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Speed (fps) |
| 35mm |
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24 |
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| Footage |
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Time |
| 12.208 ft. |
|
136' |
| Archive Source |
National Film Center, Tokyo |
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| Print Notes |
Didascalie in giapponese sottotitolate in inglese / Japanese intertitles, English subtitles. |
| Cast |
| Yukichi Iwata, Hiroko Kawasaki, Yoshiko Okada, Hikaru Yamanouchi, Joji Oka, Haruo Takeda, Shunsaku Kashima, Mitsuko Yoshikawa |
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| Other Credits |
| sogg./story: dal romanzo di/from the novel by Yuho Kikuchi; adatt./adapt: Karyo Kawamura, Yoshitaro Kume; f./ph: Shinichi Nagai |
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| Program Notes |
Fusae and Kimie were raised as foster sisters. The younger one, Fusae, turns out to be the marquis’ real daughter. The older sister, Kimie, disguises herself as Fusae, goes to the marquis’ household as their daughter, and manages to marry the heir, who actually loves Fusae. However, Kimie’s former lover, with whom Kimie had once made a vow to spend their life together, destroys Kimie’s marriage and life out of jealousy.
This film is based on a novel that was serialized in the newspaper Osaka Mainichi in 1903. The genre is known as a “family novel”, as it is set in the household of an aristocratic family. Its story, full of ups and downs, won phenomenal popularity among female readers. In fact, by the time this film was made, the same story had been adapted to film more than ten times. This was the third screen version of this story at Shochiku, and the second one directed by Hotei Nomura. Hotei Nomura (1880-1934) started his filmmaking career literally at the very beginning of the history of Japanese cinema, as his first film-related job was assisting Katsutaro Inahata with projection when the Lumière cinématographe was first brought to Japan. Nomura continued to be involved in making films and related performances by making backdrops, lighting, managing a theatre, and distributing films. He joined Shochiku Kinema from its beginnings as an executive, and continued to work as a director in the company’s front line.
The only surviving material of this film within Japan is a 16mm master positive. The print to be shown at the Giornate was restored from a 35mm nitrate print discovered at the Pacific Film Archive. – FUMIKO TSUNEISHI
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