Takeshi
Sakamoto, Choko Iida
One of Yasujiro Ozu's
early masterworks, it concerns an actor, Kihachi (Takeshi Sakomoto)
leading a struggling theater troupe who returns to the provincial
town where he fathered a child years before. He seeks out his son,
now a young man, and the woman who bore him, spending a great deal
of time with them. To avoid angering his mistress Otaka (Rieko Yagumo),
and to protect himself, he pretends to the young man that he is
his uncle. Nonetheless, Otaka eventually learns the truth and persuades
one of the company's ingénues to seduce the boy, hoping to hurt
him and his father indirectly. Her plan backfires when the two fall
in love, and the troupe, which is already on the brink of failure,
is forced to disband. At length, Kihachi realizes he must move on
and returns to Otaka.
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