Synopsis
Keisuke Kinoshita’s Twenty-Four Eyes (Nijushi no hitomi) is an elegant, emotional chronicle of a teacher’s unwavering commitment to her students, her profession, and her sense of morality. Set in a remote, rural island community and spanning decades of Japanese history, from 1928 through World War II and beyond, Kinoshita’s film takes a simultaneously sober and sentimental look at the epic themes of aging, war, and death, all from the lovingly intimate perspective of Hisako Oshi (Hideko Takamine), as she watches her pupils grow and deal with life’s harsh realities. Though little known in the United States, Twenty-Four Eyes is one of Japan’s most popular and enduring classics.
Cast
| Hisako | Hideko Takamine |
| Hisako's mother | Shizue Natsukawa |
| Male school teacher | Chishu Ryu |
| Male school teacher’s wife | Kumeko Urabe |
| Hisako's husband | Hideyo [Eisei] Amamoto |
Credits
| Director | Keisuke Kinoshita |
| Producer | Ryotaro Kuwata |
| Based on the novel by | Sakae Tsuboi |
| Screenplay | Keisuke Kinoshita |
| Cinematography | Hiroyuki Kusuda |
| Editing | Yoshi Sugiwara |
| Music | Chuji Kinoshita |
| Art direction | Kimihiko Nakamura |
Disc Features
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- New video interview with Japanese cinema historian and critic Tadao Sato about the film and its director
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay be renowned film scholar Audie Bock and excerpts from an interview with Kinoshita
From the Current
Twenty-Four Eyes: Growing Pains
by Aug 18, 2008One of the most awarded films in Japanese history, Twenty-Four Eyes was already a nostalgia piece when Keisuke Kinoshita directed it in 1954. For a Japanese audience just three years out of the...
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