Expanding Overseas, Avant-Garde, The Left, Haiyuza Training School
The 1960’s saw an uptick in student movements as counterculture became prevalent worldwide. Even in the Japanese film industry, anti-establishment-minded directors were producing one movie after the other, and for major companies at that. Nakadai himself appeared in many such works.
In this chapter, we asked Nakadai about the connections between those people and Haiyuza, of which Nakadai was himself a member.
春景色
Scenes of Spring
Waiting for you on the platform, I can see the distant ocean
I’m enticed by a tranquil spring breeze on the Kobe Line
In your navy blue collared jacket, you look a little shy
It’s making me nervous — you’re usually so brazen
Sounds of the train; hurried confusion
“Guess we got a bit carried away,” you say
Me not answering, you worriedly glance at me
After the graduation ceremony, once spring break ends
From April, I’ll be a year above you
It’s not that I’m angry, me falling silent like this
I was only thinking about the passing of the seasons
Going up the hill and looking down, see the reflections of those ships?
This town, always enveloping me in its kind embrace
Even as we eat our gelatos you still seem down
You’re thinking, “she just doesn’t like me”
Being the fool that you are
“Island Cafe”
That starry highway
The party we had together
It’s not like the memories are just going to disappear
Saying goodbye to my school uniform, I’ll get off at a different train station
From April, I’ll be a year above you
One of these days it might not be like this anymore
But for now I just want to be spoiled by this gentle sunlight
It’s not that I’m angry, me falling silent like this
I was only thinking about the passing of the seasons
Naruse Mikio, Kinoshita Keisuke,
and the Actresses
No matter whether it’s contemporary or historical drama, people often tend to associate Nakadai Tatsuya with roles that are somehow eccentric or extreme in personality. One director who always utilized Nakadai in portraying very ordinary people, however, was Naruse Mikio. Best known for his art films such as Floating Clouds and Repast, he is one of Toho’s representative directors.
Focusing especially on his works with Naruse, in this chapter we asked Nakadai to tell us his stories of some of the actresses he has co-starred with.
Kihachi the Buddha
“The Sword of Doom,” “The Age of Assassins,” “Battle of Okinawa”
Okamoto Kihachi was one of the representative Toho directors of the Golden Age of Japanese Film. But while his films cover a wide range of genres, they are a rarity in that whereas the rest of Japan’s cinema had always placed importance on emotion, the majority of his works instead draw influence from American westerns, following a lighthearted tempo.
Many of his films starred Nakadai in a leading role, and the two shared a special friendship.
Kyoto Film Studios and Period Drama
“Conflagration,” “Odd Obsession,” “Three Yakuza,” “Harakiri”
When the world of Japanese cinema was in its “Golden Age,” three companies — Daiei, Shochiku, and Toei — operated their own film studios in Kyoto where the majority of the works produced were period dramas.
In this chapter we trace Nakadai’s footsteps in Kyoto, focusing especially on all those period dramas.