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The Garden of Women

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1954 film by Keisuke Kinoshita

The Garden of Women
Theatrical release poster
Japanese name
Kanji女の園
Directed byKeisuke Kinoshita
Written byKeisuke Kinoshita
Tomoji Abe (novel)
Produced byTakeshi Yamamoto
StarringMieko Takamine
Hideko Takamine
Keiko Kishi
Yoshiko Kuga
CinematographyHiroshi Kusuda
Edited byYoshi Sugihara
Music byChūji Kinoshita
Production
company		Shochiku
Distributed byShochiku
Release date
  • 16 March 1954 (1954-03-16) (Japan)
Running time141 mins.
CountryJapan
LanguageJapanese

The Garden of Women (女の園, Onna no sono) is a 1954 Japanese drama film written and directed by Keisuke Kinoshita. It is based on the novel Jinkō Teien (人工庭園, lit. Artificial Garden) by Tomoji Abe.

Plot

After the opening sequence, documenting the uprise of students at a women's boarding school following the death of one of their fellow students, the preceding events are told in a flashback narration: Among a number of young female students, opposition is growing against the conservative-authoritarian school administration and its strict doctrines. The opposing students are divided into fractions themselves, left-wing like Akiko versus unpolitical like Tomiko, and ones who call for action now versus those who urge not to act prematurely. The latter is a repeated cause for debate between Akiko, an overt socialist of upper-class descent, and Toshiko, who acts as sort of a leading figure and ideologue. Catalyst of the events is student Yoshie, who is behind in her studies, but not allowed to work late at night according to the rules. Yoshie enrolled in the school in an attempt to escape her rigid father, who also rejects her wish to marry her friend Shimoda once both have their degrees. Picked on by teacher Mayumi and suffering from social distancing by the other girls, Yoshie finally commits suicide. While she is mourned by Tomiko and Shimoda, with Tomiko, Akiko and Mayumi blaming each other for her death, the other students block the auditorium under Toshiko's guidance and sing their unofficial student's hymn which the administration had banned.

Cast

Reception

Film historians Keiko McDonald and Donald Richie have noted the film's contrast between the traditional, feudalistic Japan represented by the educational establishment, and the emerging, more democratic post-war values seen in the pupils. Richie also commented favourably on Kinoshita's treatment of adolescent girls' emotional problems in this context, drawing comparisons to Mädchen in Uniform. Nagisa Ōshima named The Garden of Women as the film which led to his decision to become a filmmaker himself in his 1995 documentary 100 Years of Japanese Cinema.

Awards

The Garden of Women received the 1954 Mainichi Film Awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay, Best Supporting Actress (Yoshiko Kuga), Best Music and Best Sound Recording, as well as the Blue Ribbon Award for Best Screenplay.

References

  1. ^ "Entry for The Garden of Women at the Shochiku Cinema Classics site". Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  2. ^ McDonald, Keiko (2000). From Book to Screen: Modern Japanese Literature in Films. M.E. Sharpe. p. 50. ISBN 9780765603883. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  3. Anderson, Joseph L.; Richie, Donald (1982). The Japanese Film: Art and Industry (Expanded ed.). Princeton University Press. p. 293. ISBN 0691007926. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  4. "100 Years of Japanese Cinema online at the BFI site". Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  5. "女の園 (The Garden of Women)" (in Japanese). Kotobank. Retrieved 22 February 2021.

External links

Films directed by Keisuke Kinoshita
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