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THERE WAS A FATHER (CHICHI ARIKI)
SALES All rights, World DISTR Theatrical, TV, DVD-video, VOD, Airline, JAPAN PROD
 
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Completed - JAPANESE - Drama - 94 minutes

Log Line

The only Ozu film during WWII. The story follows a single father who must live separately from his son. Later, the son follows his father’s footsteps and becomes a teacher. The profound joys and sorrows in this father-son relationship make this one of the pinnacles of Ozu’s works. The repeated fishing scenes between father and son highlight the deep bond between the two.

Previous markets

  • Berlin EFM 2024 (Line up)
Full history

Year of production : 1942

Director(s) : Yasujiro OZU
Cast : Chishû RYÛ

Synopsis

Ever since his wife died, Horikawa (Chishu Ryu) has been single-handedly raising his son Ryohei (Haruhiko Tsuda) while working as a middle school teacher in Kanazawa. But when an accident occurs on a school trip, Horikawa takes responsibility and resigns, moving back to his hometown in Nagano to work at a municipal office. When Ryohei enters middle school, he starts living in a dorm and Horikawa announces that he will work in Tokyo so that he has enough money to send Ryohei to college. Eventually, Ryohei (Shuji Sano) gets into the Imperial University in Sendai and is hired as a teacher in Akita. Horikawa asks Ryohei to consider marrying Fumi (Mitsuko Mito), the daughter of Hirata (Takeshi Sakamoto), his former colleague in Kanazawa. Ryohei bashfully tells his father that it’s up to him, but a few days later, Horikawa suddenly collapses and passes away. In the end, Ryohei and Fumi head to Akita together.

Production

Country(ies) : JAPAN

Festivals and Awards

Venice - Biennale 2023 (Classics)
Tokyo 2023


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