| A Distant Cry from Spring | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese name | |||
| Kanji | 遙かなる山の呼び声 | ||
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| Directed by | Yoji Yamada | ||
| Written by | Yoji Yamada Yoshitaka Asama | ||
| Starring | Ken Takakura Chieko Baisho Hidetaka Yoshioka | ||
Release date |
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| Country | Japan | ||
| Language | Japanese | ||
A Distant Cry from Spring (Japanese: 遙かなる山の呼び声, Hepburn: Harukanaru yama no Yobigoe) is a 1980 Japanese film directed by Yoji Yamada.[1]
The Japanese filmmaker Akira Kurosawa cited A Distant Cry from Spring as one of his 100 favorite films.
In the vast expanse of an unforgiving land, Kazami Tamiko, a widow who lives only with her young son, struggles to make a living by running a small diary farm. Life is harsh, yet pleasurable when she finds a congenial companion, Tajima Kosaku. When Kosaku's mysterious past is finally revealed, Kazami resolves on a radical change …
In ''A Distant Cry From Spring,'' a Japanese film at the Film Forum, a mysterious stranger appears at the door of a farmhouse on a stormy night and asks for shelter. The young widow who owns the farm puts him up in the barn. At dawn, he helps to deliver a calf and, just as mysteriously and distantly, disappears down the road. In the spring, he returns to stay as a farmhand, gains the respect of the widow and the devotion of her young son, and begins to end their feelings of loneliness.
When an intruder, in the person of a rich merchant, shows up and presses his attentions on the widow, the farmhand saves her from his attentions. But there is a mystery about where the stranger came from; and why, after winning the hearts of the widow and her son, he has to go away again.
Written and directed by less subtle talents, this could merely be a sentimental short story, with modern echoes of old-fashioned chivalry - a Victorian tale, a Middle European bintel brief or a conventional western. The film is in fact inspired by the American film ''Shane,''sharing that classic's photographic beauty, the relationship between the stranger and the boy, the efforts by homesteaders to hang onto their land and the intrusion of outside elements.
The main difference is not in the story but in the locale. ''A Distant Cry From Spring'' is set in the Western-looking area of Hokkaido, the northernmost island of Japan. Everything about this lovely film is underplayed and subtle. It is directed with great economy by Yoji Yamada, who also wrote the story with an obvious knowledge of past legends and films. Even the English subtitles, accompanying the sparse dialogue, have clarity and simplicity. The stranger is called ''Mister'' by the boy, in a mixture of friendship and respect. The three leading actors, Cheiko Baisho, the widow; Ken Takakura, the stranger, and Hidetaka Yoshioka, the boy, are all convincing.
According to a program note, the director, Mr. Yamada, is ''a member in good standing of Japan's Communist Party'' and usually tries to make some reference in his films to man's disaffection with society. In this case, the background of the plot includes an unseen moneylender - a parallel character to the visible gunslinger in ''Shane.'' But comparisons aren't necessary, and ''A Distant Cry From Spring'' isn't a political film. It stands on its own as a quietly moving story.
The Cast
A DISTANT CRY FROM SPRING (HARUKA- NARU YAMA NO YOBIGOE), directed by Yoji Yamada; screenplay by Yamada and Yoshitaka Asama; original story by Mr. Yamada; released by Shochiku Films of America. At the Film Forum 1, 57 Watts Street. Running time: 124 minutes. This film is not rated.
Kosaku Tajima . . . . . Ken Takakura
Tamiko Kazami . . . . . Chieko Baisho
Takeshi Kazami . . . . . Hidetaka Yoshioka