“Fossil” ( Japanese 化石 , kaseki ; The Fossil , is a drama film directed by Masaki Kobayashi based on the novel by Yasushi Inoue . The movie, released in 1975, is an abridged version of the television mini-series (of 6 episodes) shown on on television screens in 1974. In the same year, the film was nominated by Japan for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film, but didn’t make it to the selected five nominees. The film was awarded the prestigious national film awards “Blue Ribbon” and “Minichi” for the award of the magazine "Kinem Jumpo", but by cut Lattam vote received only 4 place.
| Fossil | |
|---|---|
| Japanese 化石 ( kaseki ) | |
 | |
| Genre | movie drama |
| Producer | Masaki Kobayashi |
| Producer | Masahiro Satoi , Ginichi Kishimoto |
| Author script | Xiong Nagaki Takeshi Yoshida |
| In the main cast | Shin Saburi Keiko Kishi , Komaki Kurihara , Haruko Sugimura , Jukichi uno |
| Operator | Kozo Okazaki |
| Composer | Tohru Takemitsu |
| Film company | Haiyuza, Yonokinokai "Good" |
| Duration | 200 minutes |
| A country |  Japan |
| Tongue | Japanese |
| Year | 1975 |
| IMDb | |
Content
Story
A successful self-confident businessman Itsuki, a widower of about sixty who successfully married his two daughters, decides to take a breath and relax in Europe. While in Paris, where he came with his assistant Funadzu, Itsuki learns that he has cancer. Doctors suggest that he will live no more than a year. Here in Paris he meets a beautiful Japanese woman who married a French millionaire, Madame Marcelin. Having let his business partner Funadzu go to Rome, Itsuki accepts an offer from a young Japanese couple, Kishi, to drive around Burgundy in order to visit the old Romanesque cathedrals. Madame Marceline unexpectedly joins them. No one else knows about his illness, but he spends the rest of his trip to Europe thinking about his past life. And this beautiful woman Marceline is increasingly coming to him in visions in the form of Death herself.
The director focuses on the inner world of the hero, who turns out to be broken not by external social circumstances, but by his own experiences. The materialist Itsuki begins to see the world completely different from what he had previously known. Returning to Japan, the hero puts things in order, tries to again establish relations with his stepmother, which he once hated, although now he does not even remember why, and reunites with his old army comrade, with whom he served in China. Yielding to the entreaties of relatives and colleagues, Itsuki agrees to go for surgery with a Japanese doctor, Dr. Kihara. The operation was successful and Itsuki is trying to start living differently than before.
Cast
- Shin Saburi - Itsuki
- Keiko Kishi - Madame Marceline / Death
- Kay Yamamoto - Akihiko Kishi
- Mayumi Ogawa - Akiko Itsuki
- Komaki Kurihara - Kiyoko Itsuki
- Hisashi Igawa - Funadzu
- Haruko Sugimura - Itsuki's stepmother
- Shigeru Koyama - Dr. Kihara
- Seiji Miyaguchi - Sunami
- Tetsuo Hasegawa - Akiko's husband
- Itiro Nakatani - Taisha, Itsuki's Younger Brother
- Jukichi Uno - Tappei Yabuki
- Guo Kato - narrator (voice-overs)
Premieres
- - October 4, 1975 the national premiere of the film in Tokyo [1] .
- - Premiere in the USA on September 9, 1976 in New York [1] .
Awards and nominations
- Blue Ribbon Film Award
- 18th awards ceremony (for 1975) [2] .
- 1975 Best Film Award.
- Award for best performance of the main male role - Sin Saburi.
Kinem Jumpo Magazine Award (1976) [2]
- Won:
- Award for best performance of the main male role - Sin Saburi.
- Nominations:
- The film was nominated for a film award for the best film of the year, however, according to the results of the vote, it received only 4th place [3] .
The Mainity Film Award (1976) [2]
- 1975 Best Film Award.
- Award for best performance of the main male role - Sin Saburi.
- Award for the best camera work - Kodzo Okazaki (for two films, including his work on the film "Your humble servant cat").
- Award for the best soundtrack - Tohru Takemitsu.
Notes
- ↑ 1 2 Kaseki (1975) on IMDb-Release Info
- ↑ 1 2 3 Kaseki (1975) on IMDb-Awards
- ↑ Kinema Junpo Top YBY on Rinkworks.com
Links
- " Fossil ” on the Internet Movie Database
Literature
- “ Director's Encyclopedia : Cinema of Asia, Africa, Australia, Latin America”, Research Institute of Cinema, Vetrova TN (ed.), Mainland - M., 2001, S. 55-56. ISBN 5-85646-053-7 .