Wolf (1955 film): Difference between revisions

The Wolves
The Wolves
Japanese name
Kanji	狼
Directed by	Kaneto Shindō
Written by	Kaneto Shindō
Produced by	Toshio Itoya; Tengo Yamada; Setsuo Noto
Starring	Nobuko Otowa; Jun Hamamura; Ichirō Sugai; Sanae Takasugi; Taiji Tonoyama
Cinematography	Takeo Itō
Edited by	Zenju Imaizumi
Music by	Akira Ifukube
Release date	3 July 1955 (Japan);
Running time	127 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

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The Wolves (or Wolf) (狼, Okami) is a 1955 Japanese crime drama film written and directed by Kaneto Shindō.^[1]^[2]

Plot

After an opening sequence showing a group of people hijacking a post office truck, a montage of press coverage and police investigations, and the arrest of Akiko, one of the gang members, the film switches to a flashback narration covering the preceding events: A group of 5 insurance salesmen and -women are facing dismissal for not accomplishing the company's sales plan, with all of them already living under precarious social conditions. War widows Akika and Fujibayashi have to raise their children on their own, Yoshikawa and Mikawa, one a hapless screenwriter, one a former car factory worker who lost his job after an accident, can hardly feed their families, and Harashima, a bank clerk fired for his union activities, lives in an unhappy marriage with a wife who refuses to divorce him without severance. Out of desperation, they decide to rob a post office money transport on its daily route. The coup is successful, but later the members of the group, titled "wolves" in the press, are caught one after another. The last to be arrested is Akiko, who needed the money for an operation on her disfigured son, and is already being expected by the police at the hospital where her son is treated.

Cast

Nobuko Otowa as Akiko Yano
Jun Hamamura as Harashima
Ichirō Sugai as Fusajirō Yoshikawa
Sanae Takasugi as Tomie Fujibayashi
Taiji Tonoyama as Yoshiyuki Mikawa
Bokuzen Hidari
Tanie Kitabayashi
Masao Mishima
Tomoko Naraoka
Eitarō Ozawa
Sumie Sasaki
Masami Shimojō
Tsutomu Shimomoto
Kinzō Shin as Hideo Yamamoto
Kin Sugai
Yoshiko Tsubouchi
Eijirō Tōno
Jūkichi Uno

Production

Shindō had based his screenplay on an actual event, the robbing of a truck by a group of five insurance agents, including two women, who had no previous criminal records and acted out of sheer poverty. The film was produced by Shindō's and actor Taiji Tonoyama's own production company Kindai Eiga Kyōkai after Nikkatsu studios backed out of the project shortly before shooting began. Instead, Itō Takerō of the independent company Dokuritsu Eiga helped in funding the production. Wolf was shown in only a few independent cinemas and was a failure with the audience.^[3] Tonoyama, who appeared in many of Shindō's films, later stated that this was his favourite role of all of the director's films.^[4]

References

^ ^a ^b "狼". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 30 December 2020.
^ ^a ^b "狼". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 30 December 2020.
^ "Kaneto Shindo on the making of Wolf". filmtv.it (in Italian). 18 March 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2021.
^ Shindo, Kaneto (2012). Nagase, Hiroko (ed.). 100 sai no ryugi [The Centenarian's Way] (in Japanese). PHP. ISBN 978-4-569-80434-7.

External links

Wolf at IMDb

[kj-1] "狼". Kinenote (in Japanese). Retrieved 30 December 2020.

[jmdb-2] "狼". Japanese Movie Database (in Japanese). Retrieved 30 December 2020.

[3] "Kaneto Shindo on the making of Wolf". filmtv.it (in Italian). 18 March 2015. Retrieved 27 January 2021.

[4] Shindo, Kaneto (2012). Nagase, Hiroko (ed.). 100 sai no ryugi [The Centenarian's Way] (in Japanese). PHP. ISBN 978-4-569-80434-7.

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+{{short description|1955 Japanese film}}
+{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2020}}
 {{Infobox film
-| name           = Wolf
+| name           = The Wolves
+| native_name    = {{Infobox Japanese| kanji = 狼}}
 | image          =
 | caption        =
-| director       = [[Kaneto Shindo]]
+| director       = [[Kaneto Shindō]]
-| producer       =
+| producer       = Toshio Itoya<br />Tengo Yamada<br />Setsuo Noto
-| writer         = Kaneto Shindo
+| writer         = Kaneto Shindō
-| starring       = [[Nobuko Otowa]]
+| starring       = [[Nobuko Otowa]]<br />[[Jun Hamamura]]<br />[[Ichirō Sugai]]<br />[[Sanae Takasugi]]<br />[[Taiji Tonoyama]]
-| music          =
+| music          = [[Akira Ifukube]]
-| cinematography = Takeo Ito
+| cinematography = Takeo Itō
-| editing        =
+| editing        = Zenju Imaizumi
 | distributor    =
+| released       = {{Film date|1955|7|3|df=yes|Japan|ref1=<ref name="kj">{{cite web |url=http://www.kinenote.com/main/public/cinema/detail.aspx?cinema_id=24323 |title=狼 |website=Kinenote |language=Japanese |access-date=30 December 2020}}</ref><ref name="jmdb">{{cite web |url=http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1955/ce002410.htm |title=狼 |website=Japanese Movie Database |language=Japanese |access-date=30 December 2020}}</ref>}}
-| released       = {{Film date|1955|7|3}}
-| runtime        = 120 minutes
+| runtime        = 127 minutes
 | country        = Japan
 | language       = Japanese
-| budget         =
 }}
-{{nihongo|'''''Wolf'''''|狼|Okami}} is a 1955 Japanese [[drama film]] written and directed by [[Kaneto Shindo]].<ref name="citwf">{{cite web|url=http://www.citwf.com/film254627.htm |title=Wolf |accessdate=2012-06-02 |work=Complete Index to World Film | date=2012-06-02}}</ref>
+{{nihongo|'''''The Wolves (or Wolf)'''''|狼|Okami}} is a 1955 Japanese [[Crime film|crime]] [[drama film]] written and directed by [[Kaneto Shindō]].<ref name="kj" /><ref name="jmdb" />
+==Plot==
+After an [[opening sequence]] showing a group of people hijacking a post office truck, a [[Montage (filmmaking)|montage]] of press coverage and police investigations, and the arrest of Akiko, one of the gang members, the film switches to a [[Flashback (narrative)|flashback narration]] covering the preceding events: A group of 5 insurance salesmen and -women are facing dismissal for not accomplishing the company's sales plan, with all of them already living under precarious social conditions. War widows Akika and Fujibayashi have to raise their children on their own, Yoshikawa and Mikawa, one a hapless screenwriter, one a former car factory worker who lost his job after an accident, can hardly feed their families, and Harashima, a bank clerk fired for his [[Trade union|union]] activities, lives in an unhappy marriage with a wife who refuses to divorce him without severance. Out of desperation, they decide to rob a post office money transport on its daily route. The coup is successful, but later the members of the group, titled "wolves" in the press, are caught one after another. The last to be arrested is Akiko, who needed the money for an operation on her disfigured son, and is already being expected by the police at the hospital where her son is treated.
 ==Cast==
 * [[Nobuko Otowa]] as Akiko Yano
 * [[Jun Hamamura]] as Harashima
-* [[Ichiro Sugai]] as Fusajiro Yoshikawa
+* [[Ichirō Sugai]] as Fusajirō Yoshikawa
 * [[Sanae Takasugi]] as Tomie Fujibayashi
 * [[Taiji Tonoyama]] as Yoshiyuki Mikawa
 * [[Bokuzen Hidari]]
 * [[Tanie Kitabayashi]]
-* [[Masao Mishima]]
+* Masao Mishima
 * [[Tomoko Naraoka]]
-* [[Eitaro Ozawa]]
+* [[Eitarō Ozawa]]
-* [[Sumie Sasaki]]
+* Sumie Sasaki
-* [[Masami Shimojo]]
+* [[Masami Shimojō]]
-* [[Tsutomu Shimomoto]]
+* Tsutomu Shimomoto
-* [[Kinzô Shin]] as Hideo Yamamoto
+* [[Kinzō Shin]] as Hideo Yamamoto
 * [[Kin Sugai]]
-* [[Yoshiko Tsubouchi]]
+* Yoshiko Tsubouchi
-* [[Eijiro Tono]]
+* [[Eijirō Tōno]]
-* [[Jukichi Uno]]
+* [[Jūkichi Uno]]
 ==Production==
+Shindō had based his screenplay on an actual event, the robbing of a truck by a group of five insurance agents, including two women, who had no previous criminal records and acted out of sheer poverty. The film was produced by Shindō's and actor [[Taiji Tonoyama]]'s own production company [[Kindai Eiga Kyōkai]] after [[Nikkatsu]] studios backed out of the project shortly before shooting began. Instead, Itō Takerō of the independent company Dokuritsu Eiga helped in funding the production. ''Wolf'' was shown in only a few independent cinemas and was a failure with the audience.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.filmtv.it/post/31148/kaneto-shindo-sul-making-of-di-wolf-okami-1955/#rfr:film-77186 |title=Kaneto Shindo on the making of ''Wolf'' |date=18 March 2015 |website=filmtv.it |language=Italian |access-date=27 January 2021}}</ref> Tonoyama, who appeared in many of Shindō's films, later stated that this was his favourite role of all of the director's films.<ref>{{100sainoryugi}}</ref>
-Actor [[Taiji Tonoyama]], who appeared in many of [[Kaneto Shindo]]'s films, said that this was his favourite role of all of Shindo's films.<ref>{{100sainoryugi}}</ref>
 ==References==
-{{reflist}}
+{{Reflist}}
 ==External links==
 * {{IMDb title|0048443|Wolf}}
-* {{jcdb title|5629|title=Wolf}}
 {{Kaneto Shindo}}
-{{DEFAULTSORT:Wolf}}
 [[Category:1955 films]]
-[[Category:Japanese films]]
+[[Category:1950s Japanese-language films]]
-[[Category:Japanese-language films]]
+[[Category:1955 crime drama films]]
-[[Category:1950s drama films]]
+[[Category:Japanese crime drama films]]
 [[Category:Films directed by Kaneto Shindo]]
+[[Category:Films scored by Akira Ifukube]]
-{{1950s-Japan-film-stub}}
+[[Category:Japanese black-and-white films]]
+[[Category:1950s Japanese films]]