Mother (1963 film)

1963 Japanese film

Mother

Directed by| Kaneto Shindō
Written by| Kaneto Shindō
Produced by|

* Hisao Itoya
* Setsuo Noto
* Tamotsu Minato
* Eisaku Matsuura

Starring|

* Nobuko Otowa
* Haruko Sugimura

Cinematography| Kiyomi Kuroda
Edited by| Toshio Enoki
Music by| Hikaru Hayashi

Release date

* 8 November 1963 (1963-11-8) (Japan)[1][2]

Running time

| 101 minutes[1][2]
Country| Japan
Language| Japanese

Mother (母, Haha) is a 1963 Japanese drama film written and directed by Kaneto Shindō.[1][2][3]

## Plot

[edit]

Tamiko is a single mother who has left her second husband. Her son Toshio is going blind and diagnosed with a brain tumour, an aftereffect of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima. As she does not have the money for surgery, she asks her mother Yoshie for help. Yoshie refuses, and instead arranges a marriage with another single parent, Tajima from Korea, on the condition that he pays for the surgery. Tamiko marries Tajima and works with him in his printing shop. Toshio is operated on and recovers, but the tumour returns. The surgeon refuses to operate again, saying that another operation would be fatal, and tells Tamiko to make Toshio's remaining lifetime as enjoyable as possible. Toshio starts learning braille in a school for the blind, and Tamiko's brother Haruo lends her money to buy an electric organ for Toshio. Haruo, a barman who is repeateadly involved in fights over women, is later killed by a rival. Toshio eventually dies of his illness. Tamiko discovers she is pregnant and is determined to have the baby, even if it is dangerous to her health.

## Cast

[edit]

* Nobuko Otowa as Tamiko
* Haruko Sugimura as Yoshie
* Taiji Tonoyama as Tajima
* Yoshitaka Zushi as Toshio
* Takeshi Katō as Toshiro
* Seiji Miyaguchi as Doctor
* Mayumi Ogawa as Madame
* Kei Satō as Dr. Koiguchi
* Kōji Takahashi as Haruo
* Tetsuji Takechi as Madame's boyfriend

## Theme

[edit]

Many scenes are filmed against the background of the Genbaku Dome in Hiroshima. 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, Sakura-tai Chiru (1988) and Teacher and Three Children (2008).[3][4]

## Legacy

[edit]

Mother was screened at a 2012 retrospective on Shindō and Kōzaburō Yoshimura in London, organised by the British Film Institute and the Japan Foundation.[5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "母 (Haha)" (in Japanese). Kinema Junpo. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
2. ^ a b c "母 (Haha)" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
3. ^ a b 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.
4. ^ Sharp, Jasper (26 April 2019). "Where to begin with Kaneto Shindo". British Film Institute. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
5. ^ "Two Masters of Japanese Cinema: Kaneto Shindo & Kozaburo Yoshimura at BFI Southbank in June and July 2012" (PDF). Japan Foundation. Retrieved 18 July 2023.

## External links

[edit]

* Mother at IMDb

* v
* t
* e

Films directed by Kaneto Shindo

* Story of a Beloved Wife (1951)
* Avalanche (1952)
* Children of Hiroshima (1952)
* Epitome (1953)
* Life of a Woman (1953)
* Dobu (1954)
* Wolf (1955)
* Shirogane Shinjū (1956)
* Ryūri no Kishi (1956)
* An Actress (1956)
* Umi no Yarōdomo (1957)
* Sorrow Is Only for Women (1958)
* Lucky Dragon No. 5 (1959)
* Hanayome-san wa sekai-ichi (1959)
* The Naked Island (1960)
* Ningen (1962)
* Mother (1963)
* Onibaba (1964)
* Akuto (1965)
* Lost Sex (1966)
* Kuroneko (1968)
* Heat Wave Island (1969)
* Live Today, Die Tomorrow! (1970)
* Sanka (1972)
* The Heart (1973)
* Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director (1975)
* The Life of Chikuzan (1977)
* The Strangling (1979)
* Edo Porn (1981)
* Burakkubōdo (1986)
* Tree Without Leaves (1986)
* Sakura-tai Chiru (1988)
* A Last Note (1995)
* Will to Live (1999)
* By Player (2000)
* Owl (2003)
* Postcard (2010)

*[v]: View this template
*[t]: Discuss this template
*[e]: Edit this template