Where Chimneys Are Seen
{{short description|1953 Japanese film}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2020}}
{{Infobox film
| name = Where Chimneys Are Seen
| image = Entotsu no mieru basho (1953).jpg
| caption =
| director = Heinosuke Gosho
| producer = Yoshishige Uchiyama
| writer = Hideo Oguni (screenplay)
Rinzō Shiina (novel)
| starring = Ken Uehara
Kinuyo Tanaka
Hideko Takamine
| music = Yasushi Akutagawa
| cinematography = Mitsuo Miura
| editing = Nobu Nagata
| distributor = Shintoho
| released = {{film date|1953|3|5|Japan|df=yes}}{{cite web|url=http://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=23651 |title=煙突の見える場所 |website=Kinenote |language=ja |access-date=5 July 2023}}
| runtime = 108 minutes
| country = Japan
| language = Japanese
}}
{{nihongo|Where Chimneys Are Seen|煙突の見える場所|Entotsu no mieru basho}}, also titled Four Chimneys, is a 1953 Japanese comedy-drama film directed by Heinosuke Gosho. Based on the novel Mujaki na hitobito by Rinzō Shiina, Where Chimneys Are Seen is regarded as one of Gosho's most important and well-known films{{cite book |last=Jacoby |first=Alexander |date=2008 |title=Critical Handbook of Japanese Film Directors: From the Silent Era to the Present Day |location=Berkeley |publisher=Stone Bridge Press |isbn=978-1-933330-53-2}}{{cite web|url=https://bampfa.org/event/where-chimneys-are-seen |title=Where Chimneys Are Seen |website=Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive |date=4 May 2023 |access-date=5 July 2023}} and a typical example of the shōshimin-eiga genre.{{cite book |last1=Anderson |first1=Joseph L. |last2=Richie |first2=Donald |date=1959 |title=The Japanese Film – Art & Industry |location=Rutland, Vermont and Tokyo |publisher=Charles E. Tuttle Company }}
Plot
Hiroko Ogata and her second husband Ryukichi (her first husband Tsukahara is believed to have died in a bombing in the Second World War) live in the lower-class outskirts of Tokyo. The upper floor of the Ogatas' flat is rented to Kenzō and Senko, a young man and a woman who show interest in each other, but are not a couple. One day, the Ogatas find a baby in the house entrance with a note signed by Tsukahara, stating it was Hiroko's daughter. The marriage is engulfed in a crisis, with Hiroko nearly committing suicide. Kenzō searches the city for Tsukahara and finally finds him and his new wife, the actual mother of the abandoned child, who initially had wanted to abort it. Although the Ogatas have developed an affection for the baby, which fell seriously ill at one point, they agree to return it to Mrs. Tsukahara who, after some hesitation, accepts it as her own.
Cast
- Ken Uehara as Ryukichi Ogata
- Kinuyo Tanaka as Hiroko Ogata
- Hiroshi Akutagawa as Kenzō Kubo
- Hideko Takamine as Senko Azuma
- Chieko Seki as Yukiko Ikeda
- Haruo Tanaka as Chūji Tsukahara
- Ranko Hanai as Katsuko Ishibashi
- Kumeko Urabe as Kayo Nojima
- Takeshi Sakamoto as Tokuji Kawamura
- Eiko Miyoshi as Ranko
- Hikaru Hoshi
- Tadayoshi Nakamura
- Shigeru Ogura
- Eiko Ohara
- Noriko Honma as Ayako Honma
Production and release
Where Chimneys Are Seen was produced by Gosho's own production company Studio Eight (1950–1954){{cite book |last=Hirano |first=Kyoko |date=1992 |title=Mr. Smith Goes to Tokyo: Japanese Cinema Under the American Occupation, 1945–1952 |location=Washington and London |publisher=Smithsonian Institution Press |isbn=1-56098-157-1}} and distributed by Shintoho studios. The film was shown in competition at the 3rd Berlin International Film Festival.{{cite web|url=https://www.berlinale.de/en/archive/jahresarchive/1953/02_programm_1953/02_programm_1953.html |title=Programme of the 1953 Berlin International Film Festival |access-date=16 December 2020 |website=Berlinale.de}}
Reception
Awards
- Blue Ribbon Award for Best Cinematography (Mitsuo Miura, also for The Wild Geese and Aijō ni tsuite) and Best Music (Yasushi Akutagawa, also for Beyond the Clouds and Yoru no owari){{cite web|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090207075508mp_/http://cinemahochi.yomiuri.co.jp/b_award/1953/ |url=http://cinemahochi.yomiuri.co.jp/b_award/1953/ |title=ブルーリボン賞ヒストリー |archive-date=7 February 2009 |access-date=5 July 2023 |website=Cinema Hochi |language=ja}}
- Mainichi Film Award for Best Supporting Actor (Hiroshi Akutagawa) and Best Film Score (Yasushi Akutagawa){{cite web|url=http://mainichi.jp/mfa/history/008.html |title=毎日映画コンクール 第8回（1953年） |website=Mainichi |language=ja |access-date=5 July 2023}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDb title|id=0045731}}
{{Heinosuke Gosho}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Where Chimneys Are Seen}}
Category:1953 comedy-drama films
Category:1950s Japanese-language films
Category:Japanese black-and-white films
Category:Films based on Japanese novels
Category:Films with screenplays by Hideo Oguni
Category:Films scored by Yasushi Akutagawa
Category:Films directed by Heinosuke Gosho