Film Forum

喜劇　にっぽんのお婆ちゃん

Director Tadashi Imai
Cast Chôko Iida, Tanie Kitabayashi, Chôchô Miyako
Screenplay Yôko Mizuki | Cinematography Shunichirô Nakao
1962 | Japan | 35mm print courtesy The Japan Foundation Film Library | approx. 95 min. | In Japanese with English subtitles

A Comedy: Japanese Grandmas. Two obaachans become fast friends listening to music in front of a record store. They both boast about their loving sons but in reality, one had just escaped a retirement home and the other was looking for an escape from her son and daughter-in-law. With nowhere to go, the two wander around, befriending a cosmetics salesman and a kind waitress who give them beer. This biting social satire starring two memorable grandmothers, scripted by Yôko Mizuki, picked up on Japan’s aging population problem far ahead of its time.

KIGEKI: NIPPON NO OBAACHAN © SHOCHIKU.