Keisuke Kinoshita

Twenty-Four Eyes

Twenty-Four Eyes

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.

Film Info

  • Japan
  • 1954
  • 156 minutes
  • Black & White
  • 1.33:1
  • Japanese
  • Spine #442

Special 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 new essay by renowned film scholar Audie Bock and excerpts from an interview with Kinoshita

    New cover by Michael Boland

Purchase Options

Special 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 new essay by renowned film scholar Audie Bock and excerpts from an interview with Kinoshita

    New cover by Michael Boland
Twenty-Four Eyes
Cast
Hideko Takamine
Hisako
Shizue Natsukawa
Hisako's mother
Chishu Ryu
Male school teacher
Kumeko Urabe
Male school teacher’s wife
Hideyo [Eisei] Amamoto
Hisako's husband
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

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