Retrospective: Inoue Umetsugu
Shōri-sha
Dir. Inoue Umetsugu
Japan 1957, 97’
Subtitles: Polish & English
Inoue Umetsugu’s first film with Yujiro Ishihara, The Winner tells the story of a punk kid who tries boxing as a lark, gets the tar punched out of him and starts training for real. His manager is a former contender who sees the boy as way to realize a championship dream that he himself could never fulfill.
Inspired by the 1948 classic The Red Shoes, Inoue added a subplot about an up-and-coming ballerina who falls in love with the boxer. Her graceful solo dance, presented in a thirteen-minute cut, with a young Akira Kobayashi as a transfixed spectator is one of the film’s highlights.
Another high point is the climatic fight scene that Inoue filmed with more than two hundred cuts over four days. To save time and money, he shot the entire scene from one side, changing the colors of the two corners to create the illusion that the action was unfolding in 360 degrees. Ishihara’s opponent was a former champion boxer, but Ishihara, blessed with athletic ability and quick hands, gave as good as he got.
The Winner lived up to its name at the box office and proved, to Inoue’s satisfaction at least, that Ishihara could carry a film. (The studio bosses would need a bit more convincing.) It also established the template—action with musical interludes—for dozens of Nikkatsu films to come. – Adapted from Mark Schilling in Asia Sings! A Survey of Asian Musical Films.
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: Kino Tōru, Onoda Isamu, Masuda Toshio
Cinematography: Iwasa Kazumi
Music: Ōmori Seitarō
Cast: Mihashi Tatsuya, Ishihara Yūjirō, Minamida Yōko, Kitahara Mie, Shishido Jō, Tonoyama Taiji, Kobayashi Akira
Production: Nikkatsu
Language: Japanese
Colouration: Colour
