A Woman’s Life
(“Onna no issho”)
1949 / B&W / 16mm / 101 min
Director: Kamei Fumio
Script: Mizuki Yoko, Yasumi Toshio
Based on the novel by Tokunaga Sunao’s Hitoridachi
Photography: Miyajima Yoshio
Editing: Nagasawa Yoshiki
Sound: Hosaka Tomoaki
Music: Iida Nobuo
Art Director: Abe Teruaki
Producers: Ito Takeo, Ide Toshiro
Cast: Kishi Hatae, Numazaki Isao, Shimura Takashi
Production Companies: Toho, Fujimoto Productions
Source: National Film Center
This film was to be produced right after War and Peace but was shelved when the turbulent third Toho dispute began. It was the first film to be made after the third Toho dispute, with filming resumed in November 1948. According to an agreement with the management, 15 million yen from the profits of the film were to go to the union’s strike settlement fund, so the goal was to make a hit entertainment film. In the film, a woman, a worker at a printing company, must work after marriage to send money to her family. Abused by her mother-in-law, even after becoming pregnant she could not take a day off work. The film depicts brutal anger at the unreasonable social system and at the traditional family structure. In those days, the inclusion of a bold daytime kiss scene or a shot of a naked body became a controversial issue. After this film Kamei retired from Toho and turned to independent production so that he could make pro-democracy films.