Zero Focus

For the 2009 film, see Zero Focus (2009 film).

Zero Focus
Theatrical poster
ゼロの焦点
Directed by	Yoshitaro Nomura
Written by	Shinobu Hashimoto Yoji Yamada
Based on	Zero no shōten by Seicho Matsumoto
Produced by	Ichinosuke Hozumi
Starring	Yoshiko Kuga
Cinematography	Takashi Kawamata
Edited by	Yoshiyasu Hamamura
Music by	Yasushi Akutagawa
Production company	Shochiku
Distributed by	Shochiku
Release date	19 March 1961 (1961-03-19) (Japan)[1]
Running time	95 minutes[1]
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

Zero Focus (ゼロの焦点, Zero no shōten) is a 1961 Japanese crime drama film directed by Yoshitarō Nomura, and co-written by Shinobu Hashimoto and Yoji Yamada. It is based on the novel of the same name by Seichō Matsumoto.[2][3] A remake of the film was released in 2009.

Plot

One week into newlywed Teiko Uhara's marriage, her husband, ad agency manager Kenichi, leaves on a short business trip to Kanazawa and doesn't return. With a pair of old photographs she found among his belongings, Teiko travels across Japan to search for him, first with the help of her husband's employer, later on her own. After a series of mysterious deaths, including a reception girl of the agency's Kanazawa branch, who turns out to be Kenichi's common law wife, and Kenichi's alleged suicide, all clues lead to Sachiko Murota, wife of a wealthy business partner of her husband. Teiko confronts Mrs. Murota and blames her for murdering Kenichi and everyone who knew of her past as a prostitute in the post-war era. Yet, as Mrs. Murota's confession reveals, the truth is even more complex than that.

Cast

• Yoshiko Kuga as Teiko Uhara
• Hizuru Takachiho as Sachiko Murota / Emmy
• Ineko Arima as Hisako Tanuma / Sally
• Koji Nambara as Kenichi Uhara / Masuzaburo Sone
• Kō Nishimura as Sōtarō Uhara
• Yoshi Katō as Gisaku Murota
• Sadako Sawamura as Sōtarō's wife
• Takanobu Hozumi as Mr. Honda

Awards

• 1961 Blue Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actress (Hizuru Takachiho)[4]

Legacy

Seicho Matsumoto's novel was again adapted in 2009 by Isshin Inudō with Ryōko Hirosue as Teiko Uhara.[2]

References

1. "Zero Focus". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 February 2021.
2. "ゼロの焦点とは (Zero Focus novel)". Kotobank デジタル辞典 (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 February 2021.
3. "ゼロの焦点 (101st anniversary of film director Yoshitaro Nomura)". Cinenouveau (in Japanese). Retrieved 1 February 2021.
4. "12th Blue Ribbon Awards" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 7 February 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2021.

External links

• Zero Focus at IMDb
• Zero Focus at Rotten Tomatoes