There Was a Father: Duty Calls
By July 13, 2010
At the author’s request, Japanese names are given here in their traditional form: surname first. Ozu Yasujiro’s personal feelings about Japanese militarism in the 1930s and 1940s are not Read more »
- Japan
- 1942
- 87 minutes
- Black and White
- 1.33:1
- Japanese
- Spine #526
SYNOPSIS: Yasujiro Ozu’s frequent leading man Chishu Ryu is riveting as Shuhei, a widowed high school teacher who finds that the more he tries to do what is best for his son’s future, the more they are separated. Though primarily a delicately wrought story of parental love, There Was a Father offers themes of sacrifice that were deemed appropriately patriotic by Japanese censors at the time of its release during World War II, making it a uniquely political film in Ozu’s body of work.
Cast & CreditsOpen
Cast
| Shuhei Horikawa | Chishu Ryu |
| Ryohei (adult) | Shuji Sano |
| Ryohei (child) | Haruhiko Tsugawa |
| Yasutaro Kurokawa | Shin Saburi |
| Makoto Hirata | Takeshi Sakamoto |
| Fumi | Mitsuko Mito |
| Seiichi | Masayoshi Otsuka |
| Minoru Uchida | Shinichi Himori |
Credits
| Director | Yasujiro Ozu |
| Screenplay | Yasujiro Ozu, Tadao Ikeda and Takao Yanai |
| Cinematography | Yuharu Atsuta |
| Editing | Yoshiyasu Hamamura |
| Music | Kyoichi Saiki |
| Art director | Tatsuo Hamada |
Disc Features
- New high-definition digital transfer
- New video interview with film scholars David Bordwell and Kristin Thompson
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic and historian Tony Rayns, an appreciation of actor Chishu Ryu by Japanese film scholar Donald Richie, and comments by Ryu on director Yasujiro Ozu
