Sumie Tanaka

Writing

Sumie Tanaka

Born April 11, 1908 · Tokyo Prefecture, Japan

Died March 1, 2000 · aged 91

Sumie Tanaka (田中澄江, Tanaka Sumie, 11 April 1908 — 1 March 2000) was a Japanese screenwriter and playwright. An outspoken feminist, her stories often focused on women struggling with familial and societal expectations. She was a long-time collaborator of film director Mikio Naruse and wrote screenplays for Japan's first major female director Kinuyo Tanaka.

Known For

Women in PrisonWomen in Prison · 1956
Women in Prison
4.01956
MovieDramaCrime
The woman prison has a cast all with a story of their own and with no dull or routine day. There is an employee who is divorced after her husband had an affair. She loves the jailed criminals and almost sees them as family. One day at a workshop someone faints while working hard to make money because she has a poor boyfriend. Another inmate is knocked up Another is a mother and has her child with her.
Forever a WomanForever a Woman · 1955
Forever a Woman
7.61955
MovieDramaRomance
Fumiko, mother of two and wife to an unfaithful man, shares her family life with her budding vocation as a poet. The beginning of her successful literary career coincides with her divorce and her breast cancer diagnosis. In her final stages, Fumiko meets a young journalist from Tokyo who wants to write a story on her experiences.
FlowingFlowing · 1956
Flowing
7.21956
MovieDrama
Otsuta is running the geisha house Tsuta in Tokyo. Her business is heavily in debt. Her daughter Katsuyo doesn't see any future in her mother's trade in the late days of geisha. But Otsuta will not give up. This film portrays the day time life of geisha when not entertaining customers.
An Heir's PlaceAn Heir's Place · 1953
An Heir's Place
10.01953
Movie
This film stars Tanaka Kinuyo as the mother of the heir to the Hosho name, a famous lineage of Noh actors. The heir, Hosho Yagoro, is played by Hasegawa Kuzuo who went on to become familiar among Ichikawa Kon fans as Yukinojo in An Actor's Revenge, which was also co-written by Ito, adding to the relatedness of An Heir's Place.
RepastRepast · 1951
Repast
7.61951
MovieDrama
In post-WWII Osaka, a middle-aged woman is forced to examine her dreary life and marriage when her husband's young and flirtatious cousin arrives for a brief stay to escape an arranged marriage.
Girls of the NightGirls of the Night · 1961
Girls of the Night
6.51961
MovieDrama
In the wake of the 1956 Prostitution Prevention Law, a young woman recently released from one of Japan's new rehabilitation centers struggles to build a new life.
Yōsei wa hana no nioi gasuruYōsei wa hana no nioi gasuru · 1953
Yōsei wa hana no nioi gasuru
1953
MovieRomance
A romance between a female student and a young professor, where friendship, temptation, and jealousy intertwine.
Dispersed CloudsDispersed Clouds · 1951
Dispersed Clouds
7.01951
MovieRomanceDrama
Five women classmates from a college in Tokyo are on the first stretch of a walking tour when one of them, Masako, falls ill at a railway station. Osen, a middle-aged maid from a nearby inn, takes her in and nurses her, assisted by Dr. Minami, a young physician who diagnoses her illness as a mild case of pneumonia. With Masako in good hands and needing a few days to recuperate, her classmates continue their tour. Masako’s recovery, however, is hampered by her spoiled and immature nature and her determination to punish the world for the loss of her mother.

Filmography

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