Retrospective: Inoue Umetsugu
Arashi o yobu otoko
Dir. Inoue Umetsugu
Japan 1957, 101’
Subtitles: Polish & English
The film that made Yujiro Ishihara a star and the Nikkatsu studio solvent, The Stormy Man stars Ishihara as Shoichi Kokubu, a young drummer who employs both his hands and his fists in the Ginza jazz world. His younger brother Eiji supports his ambitions and helps find him a manager in Fukushima Miyako, who is as sassy and smart as she is gorgeous. Their mother, however, is stubbornly opposed to Shoichi’s choice of careers—a constant source of pain for him and of annoyance for the audience.
Miyako takes Shoichi into her spacious Western-style house, where he can practice without disturbance. She also begins to take a more than professional interest in him, while maintaining her all-business facade. He feels the same tug—but his first priority is to beat Charley Sakurada, the best drummer in the Ginza and an arrogant wit with gang connections.
Released in the peak New Year’s season, The Stormy Man became the third biggest box-office hit of 1957. It also solidified Inoue’s reputation as a maker of hit musicals. For its young audience, who clapped and cheered as Ishihara sang “Ore wa dorama, yakuza na dorama” (“I’m a drummer, a no-good drummer”), the film was an event, a generational marker, and a much-revived classic. Today it still packs musical excitement—and presents Japan’s premier movie star at his most charismatic. Inoue remade the film for Shaw Brothers in Hong Kong as King Drummer (1967). - Adapted from Mark Schilling in Asia Sings! A Survey of Asian Musical Films.
Awards and Festivals
Blue Ribbon Awards 1958 Winner Blue Ribbon Award
Inoue Umetsugu
Inoue Umetsugu (1923-2010) was a Japanese film director and scriptwriter. He directed 115 movies, wrote 101 screenplays, and is credited with the original story for five films. In addition, he worked with all six major Japanese film production companies.His film work extended to Hong Kong, and he did the technical guidance for movies there from 1966 to 1970. The Polish Retrospective is considered a prelude to other Inoue Umetsugu Retrospectives being programmed in order to celebrate the centenary of his birth.
Filmography
1955 Midori Harukani a.k.a The Green Music Box
1960 Shōri to Haiboku
1960 Six Suspects
1961 Gonin no Totsugeki Tai
1967 Hong Kong Nocturne
1967 King Drummer
1967 Operation Lipstick
1968 Hong Kong Rhapsody
1976 Ikare Doku Hebi: Moku Gekisha o Kese a.k.a Cobra
1983 Man Who Causes a Storm
Cast & Crew
Director: Inoue Umetsugu
Screenplay: Inoue Umetsugu, Nishijima Dai
Cinematography: Iwasa Kazumi
Editing: Suzuki Akira
Music: Ōmori Seitarō
Cast: Ishihara Yūjirō, Kitahara Mie, Ashikawa Izumi, Kaneko Nobuo, Fuji Tatsuya, Aoyama Kyōji, Takashina Kaku, Shiraki Mari, Okada Masumi
Producer: Koi Hideo
Production: Nikkatsu
Language: Japanese
Colouration: Colour
