Yūzō Kawashima — Playwright (12)

Movie

Our Chief, Our Doctor (1952) WikiData IMDb TMDB
とんかつ大将
director: Yūzō Kawashima actor: Shūji Sano / Etsuko Miyama …
other title: とんかつ大将
It chronicles the experiences of a neighbourhood doctor, whose taste for tonkatsu (a popular Japanese dish, similar to a pork schnitzel) earns him the nickname ‘the pork cutlet prince’ (‘Tonkatsu Taisho’, the film’s Japanese title) from the affectionate residents of the tenement in which he lives. When a local hospital, run by a female doctor, plans to expand, the future of the tenement is called into question.

Movie

Woman Unveiled (1958) IMDb TMDB
女であること
director: Yūzō Kawashima actor: Setsuko Hara / Yoshiko Kuga …
other title: 女であること
A childless lawyer and his wife take in the quiet daughter of an imprisoned client, whose presence eventually creates romantic tension with the husband. The household dynamic is further disrupted by the arrival of a bold friend from Osaka and the wife's chance encounter with a former flame.

Movie

Room for Let (1959) IMDb TMDB
貸間あり
other title: 貸間あり
When Yumiko Tsuyama, a potter by profession, comes inquiring about a room for rent in an old mansion overlooking Osaka, she finds a bizarre collection of characters already living there. The unlikely leader of this menagerie is Yoda Goro, who speaks four languages fluently, is an expert in cabbage rolls, and has written how-to books encompassing every aspect of human existence.

Movie

The Temple of Wild Geese (1962) WikiData IMDb TMDB
雁の寺
director: Yūzō Kawashima actor: Ayako Wakao / Masao Mishima …
other title: Le Temple des Oies Sauvages / 雁の寺 …
Satoko is a mistress by trade or fate: when her master, the silkscreen artist of the Kohoan Temple in Kyoto, dies, she is given to the temple's lascivious head priest Kikuchi. She is drawn to a melancholy young acolyte, Jinen, who has observed the profligacy of his cruel master and Satoko's utter dependence on the man. Jinen is both fascinated and disturbed by Satoko's interest in him; he is similarly caught between loathing of Kikuchi and of the dark circumstances of his birth and his own moral weakness. The story unfolds in a dreamlike manner—a flashback inspired by a now-infamous image on a silkscreen in the souvenir shop at the so-called Temple of the Wild Geese.

Movie

Hungry Soul, Part II (1956) IMDb TMDB
続・飢える魂
other title: 続・飢える魂
A continuation of Hungry Soul, from the same year. Reiko, who tolerates abuse in her marriage to a man 23 years her senior, is friends with Mayumi, a beautiful widow. Reiko meets her husband’s business rival, a young, capable businessman, and falls for him. Meanwhile, Mayumi enters into a relationship with Shimotsuma, a friend of her late husband.

Movie

The Balloon (1956) WikiData IMDb TMDB
風船
other title: 風船 / Fūsen
Haruki Murakami is a successful family man and the head of a camera company. Unbeknownst to Murakami, his arrogant son oscillates between a mistress and a new lover who sings at a nightclub. When Murakami’s daughter befriends the mistress, the affair throws the family into turmoil.

Movie

Hungry Soul (1956) IMDb TMDB
飢える魂
other title: 飢える魂
Reiko, who tolerates abuse in her marriage to a man 23 years her senior, is friends with Mayumi, a beautiful widow. Reiko meets her husband’s business rival, a young, capable businessman, and falls for him. Meanwhile, Mayumi enters into a relationship with Shimotsuma, a friend of her late husband.

Movie

A Geisha's Diary (1961) WikiData IMDb TMDB
女は二度生まれる
director: Yūzō Kawashima actor: Ayako Wakao / Jun Fujimaki …
other title: Les femmes naissent deux fois / Onna wa nido umareru …
A young girl is rigorously trained in the feminine arts so that she can become a geisha. As she struggles through life, she learns to live not just as a woman but as a complete person.