Film Forum

人情紙風船 (Ninjô kami fûsen)

Director Sadao Yamanaka
Cast Chôjûrô Kawarasaki, Shinzue Yamagishi, Kan’emon Nakamura
Screenplay Shintarô Mimura | Cinematography Akira Mimura
1937 | Japan | 35mm print courtesy The Japan Foundation Film Library | approx. 86 min. | In Japanese with English subtitles

18th century Edo and on a tiny street dead-ended by a barrel wall live Chojuro Kawarasaki, a ronin supported by his stern wife’s kamifusen of the title, his last hope a legacy debt a rich lord won’t accept, and hairdresser Kan’emon Nakamura who pawnbrokes, runs illegal gambling and saves a damsel. Last film by Yamanaka, who would die at 26 in the war. One of the greatest Japanese films of the 30s.