Black rain (film)
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Black Rain |
| Original title | Kuroi ame |
| Country of production | Japan |
| original language | Japanese |
| Publishing year | 1989 |
| length | 118 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 12 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Shōhei Imamura |
| script | Shōhei Imamura Toshirō Ishido |
| production | Hisao Iino |
| music | Tōru Takemitsu |
| camera | Takashi Kawamata |
| cut | Hajime Okayasu |
| occupation | |
| |
Black Rain ( Japanese 黒 い 雨 Kuroi ame ) is a black and white Japanese film from 1989 based on the novel of the same name by Masuji Ibuse . Directed by Shōhei Imamura , who also wrote the script with Toshirō Ishido . The main role was played by Yoshiko Tanaka .
The film deals with the aftermath of the atomic bombing on Hiroshima .
action
When the atomic bomb falls on Hiroshima, twenty-year-old Yasuko is on the way to see her uncle Shigematsu, who owns a house in the city. Yasuko does not get directly into the explosion of the bomb, but is hit by the "black rain", which is radioactive. Some flashbacks tell how Yasuko wandered through the ruined city with her uncle and aunt to get to safety.
The main part of the film takes place five years later. Yasuko is supposed to get married, but cannot find a husband because it is feared that she is radiation-sick and will not have healthy children. So her uncle Shigematsu has Yasuko issued a health certificate and also copied his August 1945 diary to prove that his niece was not in town at the time of the explosion. After a while, the son of a factory owner woos Yasuko, but he has no real intentions to marry her, but only wants to use this maneuver to get another family to agree to his marriage to another woman. Yasuko tells her supposed bridegroom that she has been to Hiroshima and that she may be suffering from radiation sickness. At the same time, three men from the village who were in Hiroshima in August 1945 become sick and die within a month. These deaths shock Yasuko's uncle Shigematsu, who now fears that he will also die, which is why he desperately wants to marry Yasuko.
Meanwhile, Yasuko meets the boy next door, Yuichi, who had to throw himself in front of the American tanks with a hand grenade during the war and has since suffered from a mental illness. Yuichi is artistically gifted and forms sculptures out of stone. While the other villagers mock Yuichi because he is considered crazy, Yasuko feels a deep sense of security around him, as she can talk to him openly about her experiences in Hiroshima and does not have to make a secret of it. Yuichi's mother asks Shigematsu to allow her son to marry Yasuko, but now Yasuko actually has radiation sickness. She physically disintegrates and becomes very sick. The film ends with her being rushed to the hospital with very little hope that she will survive the illness. At the same time, although only a few weeks have passed, her uncle has aged years out of grief and turned gray.
Publications
The film premiered at the Cannes International Film Festival in May 1989 and was released in Japanese cinemas on May 13, 1989.
reception
Critics were mostly positive about black rain , particularly praising Imamura's ability to handle black and white images.
The renowned American critic Roger Ebert said in the Chicago Sun-Times , Imamura turn in "beautiful textured black and white, to tell the story of the survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bomb by the fallout were harmed." ( [ ...] in beautifully textured black and white to tell the story of survivors of the Hiroshima atomic bomb who were contaminated by the fallout. ) He gave the film three and a half out of four points.
Cinema magazine wrote about the film: "In impressive, award-winning black and white images, director Imamura tells about atomic madness."
The Lexicon of International Films writes: "A deliberately sober, documentary-looking film that evokes the horror of the Hiroshima disaster through excellent camera work and equipment."
Awards
The film won the Great Technology Prize and the Ecumenical Jury Prize at the Cannes International Film Festival in 1989 and was nominated for the Palme d' Or. The screenplay of the film received an award at the Asia-Pacific Film Festival . At the presentation of the Independent Spirit Awards in 1991, the film was nominated for Best Foreign Film , but had to admit defeat to the Australian Jane Campion's film Sweetie . The film won the same category at the Spanish Sant Jordi Awards .
Black Rain was very successful at Japanese film awards . The film won the Japanese Academy Award in the categories of Best Film , Best Director , Best Screenplay , Best Actress (Yoshiko Tanaka), Best Supporting Actress ( Etsuko Ichihara ), Best Cinematography , Best Music , Best Light and Best Editing . The film was also nominated in the categories of Best Production Design and Best Sound . In addition to the Japanese Academy Award, Yoshiko Tanaka also won the Blue Ribbon Award , the Hochi Film Award and the Kinema Junpo Award . The film also received the Kinema Junpo Award in the categories of Best Film and Best Director .
Web links
- Black Rain in the Internet Movie Database (English)