The Whole Family Works (1939)
"Hataraku ikka" (original title)

Father of nine children cannot find a job. Despite their aspirations, the children are encouraged by both parents to hold down menial jobs and contribute to the family expenses... See full synopsis »

Director:

Mikio Naruse

Writers:

Mikio Naruse, Nao Tokugawa (story)

Stars:

Musei Tokugawa, Noriko Honma, Akira Ubukata

Cast

Cast overview:
Musei Tokugawa	...	Ishimura
Noriko Honma	...	Ishimura's wife
Akira Ubukata	...	Kiichi, first son
Kaoru Itô	...	Genji, second son
Seikichi Minami	...	Noboru, third son
Takeshi Hirata	...	Eisaku, fourth son
Seiichiro Bando	...	Kokichi, fifth son
Kiyoko Wakaba	...	Hide, first daughter
Den Obinata	...	Ogawa - the teacher
Sumie Tsubaki	...	Mitsuko
Jun Maki	...	Kiichi's goroup leader
Kinji Fujiwa	...	Ishimura's fellow worker

Storyline

Father of nine children cannot find a job. Despite their aspirations, the children are encouraged by both parents to hold down menial jobs and contribute to the family expenses... See full synopsis »

Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

11 March 1939 (Japan)

Also Known As:

A Working Family

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Eiga (Tokyo)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

65 min

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Referenced in 100 Years of Japanese Cinema (1995)

User Reviews

Ordinary melodrama

Aptly titled melodrama, the plot is about one of five sons who wants to quit a dead-end job and go back to school, plan beyond day-to-day life. But if he does, the economics of the household tumble down. What might have been a wildly histrionic film, and Naruse has displayed a hand for such, is somewhat tempered by the fact that the strict father basically means well and is honestly troubled, on the other hand the son is a responsible youth who wants to be able to care for both aging parents and a wife.

The problem remains however, that Naruse had been on-again, off-again trying to address in other films; the film is about this situation and efforts to resolve it. It's one layer passionately acted, rather forcibly unpacked, and has no deeper insight.