Kitsune no kureta akanbo
The Gift of the Fox
- Release Date
- May, 26th, 1971
- Running Time
- 84 min
- Genre
- Feature
- Color
- Color
- Screening Format
- -
- Screen Size
- Cinema Scope (1:2.35)
[ Directed by ]
[ Cast ]
[ Staff ]
- MARUNE Santaro ── Original Story
- MARUNE Santaro ── Screenplay
- KABURAGI Hajime ── Music
[ Production Company ]
DAIEI
[ Distributor (Japan) ]
DAIEI
[ Story ]
In the days of the Tokugawa Shogunate, many river porters and pack-horse drivers live at Kanaya, a putting stage. There is no bridge over the Oi River and everyone going to the other side must pay these husky men to carry them across. But even among all these tough, rough men, Torahachi (Shintaro Katsu) stands out for he can beat any man hands down in fighting, swearing, drinking and gambling. One night Tatsu, a fellow porter bursts into the inn, pale as a ghost, saying he had run for his life from a fox. So Torahachi sets out to catch a fox and all await his triumphant return. He returns however with a new-born babe in his arms. In old Japan, foxes were believed to have the power to transform anything they chose, so Torahachi believes the baby is a fox. But it is a real baby and he watches helplessly as the child cries when he is hungry and wets himself at all hours when he is fed and comfortable.
Nettled when all the porters laugh at him over his predicament, Torahachi decides to keep the infant. He surprises everyone by changing completely. He does not fight, drink or gamble any more and is a good father to the boy that providence has bestowed on him. Thus, seven happy years pass by and then like a bolt out of the blue he learns the boy is the son of a feudal lord. Torn between a wild desire to keep the boy at any cost or to give him up to his parents, Torahachi sorrowfully decides to let the son he now loves more than his own life return to his true world. And as he watches the little samurai leave with due pomp and ceremony, a piece of his heart goes with him.
【Quoted from Unijapan Film Quarterly 1971 14.3】
[ Contact (International) ]
KADOKAWA CORPORATION
International Sales, Motion Picture Business
2-13-3 Fujimi, Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo 102-8177
Rep: NATSUNO Takeshi (President)
Attn: MORI Chiyo
tel: +81 50 1746 1220
E-mail: mori-c@kadokawa.jp
http://www.kadokawa.co.jp
