Hero of the Red-Light District (妖刀物語 花の吉原百人斬り, Yoto monogatari: Hana no Yoshiwara hyakunin giri), also titled Yoshiwara: The Pleasure Quarter or Killing in Yoshiwara, is a 1960 Japanese jidaigeki and drama film by Tomu Uchida.[1][2]
| Hero of the Red-Light District | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Tomu Uchida |
| Written by | Yoshikata Yoda |
| Produced by | Jun'ichirō Tamaki |
| Starring |
|
| Cinematography | Sadaji Yoshida |
| Edited by | Shintarō Miyamoto |
| Music by | Toshio Nakamura |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Toei Company |
Release date | |
Running time | 109 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Plot edit
Jirozaemon, a successful textile merchant from the provinces, cannot find a wife because of his disfiguring birthmark. Even the courtesans in Yoshiwara refuse to entertain him. When he meets enslaved street prostitute Tamatsuru, who treats him with kindness, he falls in love with her, intent to free and marry her, which leads to his downfall.
Cast edit
- Chiezō Kataoka as Jirozaemon
- Yaeko Mizutani as Tamatsuru (credited as Yoshie Mizutani)
- Isao Kimura as Einojo
- Minoru Chiaki as Josuke
- Shinobu Chihara as Yaegaki
Legacy edit
In his Story of Cinema, David Shipman declared Uchida "the equal of Mizoguchi and Kinugasa" for this film, while film historian Alexander Jacoby rated it as "ultimately one of his [Uchiwara's] most conventional" works and "academic".[3]
Hero of the Red-Light District was screened in the Museum of Modern Art as part of a retrospective on Tomu Uchida in 2016.[4]
References edit
- ^ a b "妖刀物語 花の吉原百人斬り". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 July 2023.
- ^ a b "妖刀物語 花の吉原百人斬り". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 12 July 2023.
- ^ Jacoby, Alexander (July 2005). "Uchida, Tomu". Senses of Cinema. No. 36. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
- ^ "Yoto monogatari: Hana no Yoshiwara hyakunin giri (Killing in Yoshiwara). 1960. Directed by Tomu Uchida". Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved 12 July 2023.
External links edit
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