The Rickshaw Man (1958)

A poor rickshaw driver finds himself helping a young woman and her son after the woman's husband dies suddenly.

Director:

Hiroshi Inagaki

Writers:

Hiroshi Inagaki, Mansaku Itami

Stars:

Toshirô Mifune, Hideko Takamine, Hiroshi Akutagawa

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Toshirô Mifune	...	Matsugoro
Hideko Takamine	...	Yoshiko Yoshioka
Hiroshi Akutagawa	...	Capt. Kotaro Yoshioka
Chishû Ryû	...	Shigezo Yuki
Chôko Iida	...	Otora (innkeeper)
Haruo Tanaka	...	Kumakichi
Jun Tatara	...	Theatre employee
Kenji Kasahara	...	Toshio Yoshioka
Kaoru Matsumoto	...	Young Toshio
Nobuo Nakamura	...	Yoshiko's brother
Ichirô Arishima	...	Medicine peddler
Chieko Nakakita	...	Yoshiko's sister-in-law
Seiji Miyaguchi	...	Fencing master
Bokuzen Hidari
Kokuten Kôdô

Storyline

In the turn of the Twentieth Century, the rickshaw driver Matsugoro "Matsu" is a happy man and a troublemaker well-known by everyone in his village. One day, Matsu sees an injured boy, Toshio, and brings him home. His mother Yoshiko Yoshioka asks Matsuo to take the boy to the doctor and then her husband Capt. Kotaro Yoshioka asks her to reward Matsu. However the rickshaw man refuses the money and becomes a friend of the family. When Kotaro unexpectedly dies, Matsuo helps Yoshiko to raise her son. Soon he falls in love with her, but he does not dare to open his heart to Yoshiko since they belong to different social classes.

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Plot Keywords:

rickshaw | magistrate | drunken singing | singing | head wound | 

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Taglines:

Awarded the Golden Lion of St. Mark at the Venice Film Festival. A tender love story, scorching characterizations, deeply human qualities, and a wonderous and colorful background of Japan's festivals.

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama

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Details

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Release Date:

3 May 1960 (USA)

Also Known As:

The Rickshaw Man

Filming Locations:

Kokura, Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan

Company Credits

Production Co:

Toho Company

Technical Specs

Runtime:

103 min

Sound Mix:

Stereo (Perspecta Sterophonic Sound)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Connections

Remake of Muhomatsu no issho (1943)

User Reviews

An excellent film!

Why on earth its so hard to get this film on video? Only an extreme bad English subtitled VHS, a good Chinese subtitle, but no German subtitle or German synchronized. I saw this film 40 years ago in German cinema, and except a Japanese VHS or DVD (see above)there's nothing to receive. This film is so good, that I even can understand the meaning of the Japanese Video. (With the help of my Japanese woman) The tragedy of a Rikshaman is shown in an excellent way, how he helps a young boy, when his father died, and that he cant marry the mother of that boy, because he is from a "lower Kaste". I hope one day I will get a German - or at least an English copy, to understand all the words, they say.