Home Sweet Home (1951 film)

Home Sweet Home
我が家は楽し
Directed byNoboru Nakamura
Written by
  • Takao Yanai
  • (screenplay)
  • Sumie Tanaka
  • (screenplay)
  • Sumie Tanaka
  • (original story)
Produced byTakashi Koide
Starring
CinematographyYūharu Atsuta
Music byToshiro Mayuzumi
Production
company
Distributed byShochiku
Release date
  • 21 March 1951 (1951-03-21) (Japan)[1][2]
Running time
91 minutes
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

Home Sweet Home (Japanese: 我が家は楽し, Hepburn: Wagaya wa tanoshi) is a 1951 Japanese drama film directed by Noboru Nakamura, starring Chishū Ryū, Isuzu Yamada and Hideko Takamine.[1][2]

Plot

The Uemura family, parents and four children, live in a cramped rented flat and are constantly facing financial difficulties. Still, father Kosaku and mother Namiko try to support their children and help fulfill their dreams wherever they can: Tomoko, the eldest daughter, with her ambition to become a painter, Nobuko, the second daughter, with her singing in a choir. When Tomoko's work is rejected, her boyfriend Saburo dies, and the house the Uemuras live in is sold by the landlord, the family's happiness is at stake, but after one of Tomoko's paintings is sold and another accepted into an exhibition, the harmony is reinstated again.

Cast

Background

Nakamura, who had given his directorial debut in 1941, received artistic recognition with this film,[3][4] which was also the debut of actress Keiko Kishi.[5]

Awards

Legacy

To celebrate director Nakamura's 100th birthday, Home Sweet Home was screened together with Doshaburi (1957) and The Shape of Night (1964) at the Tokyo Filmex in 2013, all three in new subtitled prints.[7][8] It was also screened together with Doshaburi in the Forum section of the 2014 Berlin International Film Festival.[4][9]

References

  1. ^ a b "我が家は楽し (Wagaya wa tanoshi)". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  2. ^ a b "我が家は楽し (Wagaya wa tanoshi)". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  3. ^ "中村登 (Nakamura Noboru)". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  4. ^ a b "Wa ga ya ha tanoshi – Home Sweet Home" (PDF). Berlinale. 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  5. ^ "岸惠子 (Keiko Kishi)". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 28 June 2022.
  6. ^ "1951 Blue Ribbon Awards" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  7. ^ "Noboru Nakamura born 100 years ago" (PDF). Tokyo Filmex (in Japanese). 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  8. ^ "Special Program (1). Filmmaker in Focus: Nakamura Noboru centennial anniversary". Tokyo Filmex (in Japanese). 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  9. ^ "Doshaburi – When It Rains, It Pours" (PDF). Berlinale. 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2024.