Yoji Yamada’s Kabei – Our Mother, which is based on the war time memoirs of Teruyo Nogami, got its first foreign screening at the Berling Film Festival on Wednesday. The film tells the story of a woman (Sayuri Yoshinaga) forced to look after her two young daughters and herself after her husband is imprisoned for harbouring “unpatriotic” ideas.
Nogami, of course, was Kurosawa’s script supervisor and close aide from the late 1940s all the way until the director’s death. Last year, her book Waiting on the Weather: Making Movies with Akira Kurosawa was published in English. For more information about the book, see the section on Kurosawa books.
I’ve been told the movie was well received in Japan, and grossed $30 million the first 2 weeks.
It was smartly marketed to the elderly, and as you may know, Japan is in no short supply of them.
I would really like to see this. It would of been really cool to see Nogami direct, there is no one with more direct influence from Kurosawa then her, I bet she knows a thing or two.
Vili, I been told the will be a “THE LEGACY OF AKIRA KUROSAWA” deal going on tomorrow (2-15) in Berlin. You know anything about this? Its only suppose to be a 1.5 hour deal, but I hear Nogami is to speak.
Its to celebrate(dont thing thats the best word) the 10th anniversary death of Kurosawa, but of course thats not really till Sept. 6th.
I am currently trying to arrange a recording of her speech if possible, along with the real time translation that will occur at the event.
I dont know too much about it, so if such a thing will even happpen- I dont know.