Kabei: Our Mother

2008 Japanese film

January 26, 2008 (2008-01-26)

Running time

132 minutesCountryJapanLanguageJapaneseBox office$18,385,964^[1]^[2]

Kabei: Our Mother (母べえ, Kābē) is a 2008 Japanese film starring Sayuri Yoshinaga and directed by Yoji Yamada.

The film was based on the autobiographical novel by Teruyo Nogami, who for many years worked with director Akira Kurosawa,^[3] often as script supervisor.

Plot

Set in Tokyo in 1940, the peaceful life of the Nogami Family suddenly changes when the father, Shigeru, is arrested and accused of being a Communist. His wife Kayo works frantically from morning to night to maintain the household and bring up her two daughters with the support of Shigeru's sister Hisako and Shigeru's former student Yamazaki, but her husband does not return. World War II breaks out and casts dark shadows on the entire country, but Kayo still tries to keep her cheerful determination, and sustain the family with her love. This is an emotional drama of a mother and an eternal message for peace.

Cast

Sayuri Yoshinaga as Kayo Nogami
Tadanobu Asano as Yamazaki Toru
Rei Dan as Hisako Nogami
Mirai Shida as Hatsuko Nogami
Miku Satō as Teruyo Nogami
Umenosuke Nakamura as Kyūtarō Fujioka
Takashi Sasano
Denden
Bandō Mitsugorō X as Shigeru Nogami
Mizuho Suzuki as Hajime Nikaido
Chieko Baisho as Hatsuko Nogami (adult)
Keiko Toda as Teruyo Nogami (adult)
Yōji Matsuda as Shimazaki
Michie Tomizawa
Mayumi Tanaka
Kumiko Nishihara
Masuo Amada
Daisuke Gōri
Mii Takahashi as Ritsuko

Reception

The film received several nominations at the 32nd Japan Academy Film Prize, including for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress for Sayuri Yoshinaga, Best Supporting Actor for Tadanobu Asano and Best Supporting Actress for Rei Dan.^[4]

References

^ "Kabei (2009)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
^ "Kaabee (Our Mother) (2008)". Boxofficemojo.com. 2014-01-04. Retrieved 2014-04-02.
^ 母べえ(2007) (in Japanese). AllCinema. Retrieved 2013-09-21.
^ 第32回日本アカデミー賞優秀作品. Japan Academy Prize (in Japanese). Archived from the original on 2014-07-14. Retrieved 2011-09-20.