Jakoman and Tetsu (1964 film)

{{Infobox film

| name = Jakoman and Tetsu

| image = Jakoman and Tetsu.jpg

| caption = Theatrical release poster

| director = Kinji Fukasaku

| starring = Ken Takakura
Tetsurō Tamba

| producer =

| writer = Keizo Kajino
Akira Kurosawa
Senkichi Taniguchi

| screenplay = Akira Kurosawa
Senkichi Taniguchi

| based_on = Herring Fishery by Keizo Kajino

| music = Masaru Satō

| cinematography = Makoto Tsudoi

| editing = Yoshiki Nagasawa

| studio = Toei

| distributor = Toei

| released = {{Film date|1964|02|08}}

| runtime = 100 minutes

| country = Japan

| language = Japanese

| budget =

| gross =

}}

{{nihongo|Jakoman and Tetsu|ジャコ萬と鉄|Jakoman to Tetsu}}, also known as One-Eyed Captain and Tetsu{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6sAkzAEACAAJ|title=Outlaw Masters of Japanese Film - D. Chris - Google Books|date=27 May 2005|publisher=Bloomsbury Academic|isbn=9781845110864|access-date=2021-11-18}} is a 1964 Japanese film directed by Kinji Fukasaku based on an earlier screenplay by Akira Kurosawa{{Cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yQvRZwfnrKkC&pg=PA211|title=The Films of Akira Kurosawa|first=Donald|last=Richie|year=1965 |publisher=University of California Press|via=Google Books}} and Senkichi Taniguchi that was based on the novel Nishin gyogyo (English: Herring Fishery) by Keizo Kajino.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f7o8pq6G_dYC&pg=PA72|title=The Toho Studios Story|first=Stuart|last=Galbraith|date=16 May 2008|publisher=Scarecrow Press|isbn=9781461673743|via=Google Books}} The screenplay had previously been filmed by director Senkichi Taniguchi in 1949.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QfBkAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA103|title=Haven't I Seen You Somewhere Before? Remakes, Sequels, and Series in Motion Pictures and Television, 1896-1978|first=James L.|last=Limbacher|year=1979|publisher=Pierian Press|isbn=9780876501078|via=Google Books}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wW8-AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA27|title=Remakes, Series, and Sequels on Film and Television|first=James L.|last=Limbacher|year=1969|publisher=Audio-Visual Division, Dearborn Public Library|via=Google Books}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7_9ZDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA183|title=The Japanese Film|first1=Joseph L.|last1=Anderson|first2=Donald|last2=Richie|date=5 June 2018|publisher=Princeton University Press|isbn=9780691187464|via=Google Books}}{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fy2HsLdDn-YC&pg=PA100|title=Something Like an Autobiography|first=Akira|last=Kurosawa|date=27 July 2011|publisher=Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group|isbn=9780307803214|via=Google Books}}

Plot

In March 1947, the 21st year of the Shōwa era, aging fishery boss Kyubei is facing another year of financial uncertainty at the Shimamui fishing grounds on the Shakotan Peninsula in northern Hokkaido. Kyubei and his son-in-law Sōtarō borrow money to buy a herring net and hire a group of migrant workers as fisherman, but a one-eyed man named Jakoman arrives and throws Kyubei's fishing operation into disarray, terrorizing the other fishermen and vowing revenge on Kyubei for stealing his boat and leaving him stranded on Sakhalin three years earlier. Near the end of the fishing season, Kyubei's young and rowdy son Tetsu, believed to be lost at sea in the Philippines, miraculously returns and decides to confront Jakoman.

Cast

Ken Takakura as Tetsu (鉄)
Tetsurō Tamba as Jakoman (ジャコ萬)
Isao Yamagata as Kyubei (九兵衛), Tetsu's father
Yōko Minamida as Masa (マサ), Tetsu's older sister
Kumeko Urabe as Taka (タカ), Tetsu's mother
Wakaba Irie as Young farm girl (牧場の少女)
Hizuru Takachiho as Yuki (ユキ)
Shinjirō Ehara as Osaka (大阪)
Shirō Ōsaka as Sōtarō (宗太郎), Masa's husband and Tetsu's brother-in-law

Production

It was a very unusual project for Ken Takakura.{{Cite journal|author=由原木七朗|date=February 1964|title=スタァと共に血の通った人間を演りたいよ高倉健インタビュー|和書|journal=映画情報|publisher=国際情報社|pages=60}}{{Cite journal|author=由原木七朗(Tokyo Shimbun文化部)・小山耕二路(近代映画編集長)|date=April 1964|title=月間映画評『ジャコ萬と鉄』と『道場破り』は佳作|和書|journal=近代映画|publisher=近代映画社|pages=221}} Takakura had seen the 1949 Toho version when it was first released and was so excited that he couldn't sleep at night, so he asked Shigeru Okada, then the director of Toei's Tokyo Studio, to let him do it. Okada had declared that he would make Takakura a 100-million-yen star in 1964,{{Cite journal |author = 由原木七朗 |title = その日のスター(5) 高倉健|和書|journal = 近代映画 |issue = January 1964 |publisher = 近代映画社 |pages = 158 }} and decided to produce the film to make Takakura the definitive Toei star of 1964.{{Cite journal|author=|date=March 1964|title=寒風吹きすさぶ北海道積丹半島に現地ロケを敢行して、逞しい意欲を見せる映画人魂ジャコ萬と鉄撮影快調|和書|journal=映画情報|publisher=国際情報社|pages=35–36}}

When the decision was made to make the film, Takakura Ken went to the Toho Studios to greet Toshiro Mifune, the star of the earlier 1949 adaptation filmed by director Senkichi Taniguchi.{{cite journal |title = 人物リサーチナゼ離婚のうわさが出るのか高倉健の4つの断面|和書 |journal = 週刊平凡 |issue = Oct. 3, 1966 |publisher = Magazine House |pages = 91 }} Mifune, who happened to be alone in the room, stood up to welcome Takakura's visit and made him some tea. Takakura, who was originally a fan of Mifune, was completely thrilled and came to respect Mifune thereafter.

Takakura was just about to make his breakthrough, but he did not get along well with director Kinji Fukasaku.{{Cite news |title =～最後の銀幕スターが残した言葉～健さんを探して苦手だった『理詰め』深作監督|和書 |newspaper =Nikkan Sports連載 |publisher = 日刊スポーツ新聞社 |date = February 17, 2015 |pages = 22 }} After the shooting was complete, Fukasaku also said to those around him, "I will never use such a bad actor again." For this reason, Takakura and Fukasaku have only worked together on three films: Jakoman and Tetsu, Wolves, Pigs and Men, and Kamikaze Man: Duel at Noon, in which Takakura made a special appearance. Yasuo Furuhata has said that Ken Takakura was originally intended to play the lead role in Battles Without Honor and Humanity, but Shigeru Shundo advised Ken that he should not take the role. The other reason why Ken decided not to appear in the film was because he did not get along well with Fukasaku following the filming of Jakoman and Tetsu.

The film was shot on location on Shimamui Coast on the Shakotan Peninsula{{Cite journal |author = |title = 新作グラビアジャコ萬と鉄深作欣二作品|和書 |journal = Kinema Junpo |issue =February 1964 |publisher = キネマ旬報社 |pages = 60 }} from December 1 to December 20, 1963.{{Cite journal |title = 撮影所通信ジャコ萬と鉄深作欣二作品|和書 |journal = Kinema Junpo |issue =January 1964 |publisher = キネマ旬報社 |pages = 85 }} In the summer the area is crowded with fishermen and swimmers from Sapporo, but in the winter it becomes a lonely fishing village.{{Cite journal |author = 高倉健 |title = 東映作品『ジャコ萬と鉄』北海道ロケの記真冬の北海道で荒海にザブン!|和書 |journal = 近代映画 |issue = March 1964 |publisher = 近代映画社 |pages = 75–77 }} The town of Irashatomachi welcomed the 80 people from Toei's film crew with a banner reading "Welcome Toei Film crew". Every day the cast and crew were treated to a feast of seafood, including hockey pike, but Takakura hated fish and could only eat squid sashimi. The filming took place on the Shimamui Coast, over the rocky mountains from Irashatomachi. The unit of herring caught was called "one stone" or "two stones", but this area was once called "a thousand-stone fishing ground", and the wide coast was filled with herring. It was one of the best fishing grounds in Hokkaido, where tens of millions of yen were made overnight. 40 million yen were spent to renovate a dilapidated herring house and a tunnel dug to transport herring by trolley. The usual weather forecast is sunny, but this film was chosen to be shot when the waves of the Sea of Okhotsk were raging in order to bring out the desolate atmosphere of the extremely cold northern sea.

Toshiro Mifune, who played Tetsu in the earlier 1949 film adaptation, had worn a rubber pants on his lower body and had been naked on his upper body,{{Cite news |author = 松島利行 |title =〔用意、スタート〕戦後映画史・外伝風雲映画城／34 フンドシで海へ |date = February 10, 1992 |newspaper = Mainichi Shimbun 夕刊 |publisher = 毎日新聞社 |page = 5 }} but the night before the location shooting, Takakura claimed, "If it'll make a good movie, I'll do it in just a loincloth." Fishermen go into the sea with grease covering their bodies, but Takakura simply jumped into the sea at minus 16 degrees Celsius, with people around him warning him that he would die. He was immediately pulled out, regretting his decision. He slept for three days and almost died.