Doro no kawa (1981)

Director:

Kôhei Oguri

Writers:

Teru Miyamoto (novel)
Takako Shigemori (writer)

Release Date:

30 January 1981 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Two boys, whose parents ply their trade by the mouth of a muddy river in Osaka, become close friends...

Plot Keywords:

Prostitution | River | Death | Restaurant | Post WWII

Awards:

Nominated for Oscar. Another 15 wins & 5 nominations

Cast

Takahiro Tamura	...	Shinpei Itakura
Mariko Kaga	...	Shoko Matsumoto, Kiichi and Ginko's mother
Nobutaka Asahara	...	Nobuo Itakura
Makiko Shibata	...	Ginko Matsumoto
Minoru Sakurai	...	Kiichi Matsumoto
Yumiko Fujita	...	Sadako Itakura, Nobuo's mother
Gannosuke Ashiya	...	Shinoda, the horse cart man
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Reiko Hatsune	...	Tabacco shop woman
Keizô Kani'e	...	Policeman
Yoshitaka Nishiyama	...	Warehouse guard
Taiji Tonoyama	...	Man on festival boat
Masako Yagi	...	Shinpei's first wife

Also Known As:

Muddy River (USA)

Runtime:

105 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | Finland:K-12

Filming Locations:

Kyoto, Japan

Company:

Kimura Productions

Deeply moving

This flawless movie, directed by Japan's Kohei Oguri, is one of the half dozen best films ever made about childhood -- the others are FORBIDDEN GAMES (Fr), 400 BLOWS (Fr), THE NIGHT OF GTHE HUNTER, SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE (Fr), PIXOTE (Brazil), RUNNER (Ir), THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL (Czech) and THE CROW (Czech).

An intensely moving and naturalistic study of a poor family living on a permanent river barge, its central focus is the friendship of two children.

The atmosphere Oguri conjures is nothing less than amazing and all performances are peerless.

See this before you die.