The Snow Flurry (film)

The Snow Flurry
The Snow Flurry
Japanese	風花
Directed by	Keisuke Kinoshita
Written by	Keisuke Kinoshita
Produced by	Masaharu Kokaji
Starring	Keiko Kishi; Ineko Arima; Yoshiko Kuga;
Cinematography	Hiroshi Kusuda
Edited by	Yoshi Sugihara
Music by	Chuji Kinoshita
Production; company	Shochiku
Distributed by	Shochiku
Release date	January 3, 1959;
Running time	78
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

The Snow Flurry (風花, Kazabana) is a 1959 Japanese drama film written and directed by Keisuke Kinoshita.

Plot[]

Upon witnessing the bridal procession of Sakura, the granddaughter of the Nagura family, Suteo, a young man of about 18, runs to the river banks, followed by his mother Haruko, who fears for his life. In a series of flashbacks interspersed with the present, the viewer learns of the preceding events, starting during the Pacific War.

Expecting a child from Hideo, heir of the Naguras, and both knowing that his family of landlords will neither approve of their relationship nor Hideo's reluctance to going to war, Haruko agrees to commit double suicide with her lover. While Hideo dies, disavowed by his father for his "cowardness", Haruko survives and is taken in by the Naguras to silence the gossip about the affair. Haruko gives birth to a son, whom Hideo's father, without her consent, registers under the name of Suteo. Housed in a separate shack, Haruko and Suteo live as labourers, treated kindly only by Sakura, the youngest family member. When Sakura grows older, her grandmother Tomi prevents her from enrolling at a higher school out of the village, like her friends do. Instead, she is given private dance and music lessons, as Tomi is planning to marry her into a wealthy family. Suteo, now a young man, confesses his love to Sakura. Although she feels the same for him, Sakura decides that the only way to escape is in giving in to the prospected marriage.

Back in the present, Haruko has caught up with her son, afraid that he might try to commit suicide like once she and Hideo did. She promises, now that Suteo has grown up, to leave for the city together and begin a new life on their own.

Cast[]

Keiko Kishi as Haruko
Ineko Arima as Sachiko
Yoshiko Kuga as Sakura
Yūsuke Kawazu as Suteo
Chieko Higashiyama as Tomi
Yasushi Nagata as Hideo's father
Chishū Ryū as Yakichi
Kuniko Igawa
Masanao Kawakane as Hideo

Legacy[]

Film historian Donald Richie saw The Snow Flurry, due to its fragmented, nonlinear storytelling manner, as a predecessor of Shochiku's New Wave films.^[3]

References[]

^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "風花 (The Snow Flurry)". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 2 February 2021.
^ Jump up to: ^a ^b "風花 (The Snow Flurry)". Shochiku Cinema Classics (in Japanese). Retrieved 2 February 2021.
^ Richie, Donald (2005). A Hundred Years of Japanese Film (Revised ed.). Tokyo, New York, London: Kodansha International. p. 145. ISBN 978-4-7700-2995-9.

External links[]

The Snow Flurry at IMDb
The Snow Flurry at the Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese)
"The Snow Flurry". Shochiku Films. Retrieved 2 February 2021.

[jmdb-1] Jump up to: ^a ^b "風花 (The Snow Flurry)". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 2 February 2021.

[cinema_classics-2] Jump up to: ^a ^b "風花 (The Snow Flurry)". Shochiku Cinema Classics (in Japanese). Retrieved 2 February 2021.

[Richie145-3] Richie, Donald (2005). A Hundred Years of Japanese Film (Revised ed.). Tokyo, New York, London: Kodansha International. p. 145. ISBN 978-4-7700-2995-9.

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