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The Life of Chikuzan
A 1977 Japanese biographical film directed by Kaneto Shindo based on the life of shamisen player Takahashi Chikuzan.
| Release : | 1977 |
| Rating : | 7 |
| Studio : | Kindai Eiga Kyokai, |
| Crew : | Director of Photography, Director, |
| Cast : | Ryūzō Hayashi Nobuko Otowa Mitsuko Baisho Hiroko Isayama Hideo Kanze |
| Genre : | Drama History |
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A Masterpiece!
There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.
The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.
A musical biopic of the blind shamisen (a Japanese string instrument) player Chikuzan Takahashi. Narratively, it's pretty standard - one might call it the Japanese Ray and not be too far off. But it's well acted and well shot, with a lot of interesting settings and period detail (the setting is early 20th Century rural Japan, up to WWII). Ryuzo Hayashi stars as Chikuzan. Kaneto Shindo's wife and frequent star Nobuko Otowa co-stars as Chikuzan's mother. Well worth checking out if you can find it. This was nominated for the Japanese Academy award for Best Picture in the first year of its existence, but lost to Yoji Yamada's The Yellow Handkerchief.
