A Last Note

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A Last Note

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Plot

Veteran Japanese filmmaker Kaneto Shindo was 82 when he directed this meditation on life, death, and loss. Following the passing of her husband, elderly former actress Yoko Morimoto (Haruko Sugimura) travels to her summer home in the mountains of Central Japan. Upon her arrival, her servant Tokoyo (Nobuko Otowa) has sad news for her -- her long-time gardener has recently committed suicide. Adding to Yoko's sorrow is the arrival of Tomie, an old friend from her days in the theater, who is traveling with her husband Tohachiro Urshikuni (Hideo Kanze), also an actor. Tomie has grown senile, and Tohachiro no longer has the money to support them; he informs Yoko that they've chosen to kill themselves rather than entering an old age home that they can't afford anyway, and they are taking this final trip to say goodbye to their friends. As Yoko deals with this troubling news, Tokoyo has a confession to make -- she had an affair with Yoko's late husband, who was the biological father of Tokoyo's daughter. A Last Note received the Critics Award at the 1995 Moscow International Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Cast

Hideo Kanze - Tohachiro Ushikuni; Nobuko Otowa - Tokyo Yangawa; Haruko Sugimura - Yoko Morimoto

Credit

Shigemori Shigeta - Art Director, Kaneto Shindo - Director, Hikaru Hayashi - Songwriter, Kaneto Shindo - Screenwriter

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A Last Note

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A Last Note
Theatrical poster for A Last Note (1995)
Directed by	Kaneto Shindō^[1]
Produced by	Yasuo Ibata Kiesi Mizogami
Written by	Kaneto Shindō
Starring	Haruko Sugimura Nobuko Otowa
Music by	Hikaru Hayashi
Cinematography	Yoshiyuke Miyake
Distributed by	Nihon Herald Eiga
Release date(s)	June 3, 1995
Running time	112 min.
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

A Last Note (午後の遺言状, Gogo no Yuigon-jo^?) is a 1995 Japanese film directed by Kaneto Shindō. It was chosen as Best Film at the Japan Academy Prize ceremony.^[2]

Contents

1 Synopsis
2 Cast
3 Reception
4 References
5 External links

Synopsis

A retired actress whose husband has recently died visits her summer home. There she has encounters with old friends and acquaintances who bring various stories and news of death and the past.^[3]

Cast

Haruko Sugimura: Yoko Morimoto
Nobuko Otowa: Toyoko Yanagawa
Hideo Kanze: Fujihachiro Ushiguni
Kyoko Asagiri: Tomie Ushiguni
Toshiyuki Nagashima: Police
Mitsuko Baisho: Naoko Yazawa
Yutaka Matsushige: Daigoro
Tomomi Seo: Akemi
Katsumi Kiba: Prisoner
Kōichi Ueda: Chief Police
Masahiko Tsugawa: Saburo Morimoto
Masaaki Uchino: Koji Kiyokawa

Reception

The film won the awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Screenplay and Best Supporting Actress at the 1996 Japan Academy Prize.^[4] It was also nominated for Best Editing. It also won the award for Best Film at the 1996 Blue Ribbon Awards, the 1995 Hochi Film Award for Best Film, and the awards for Best Film, Best Director, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actress at the 1996 Kinema Junpo Awards.

References

^ Infobox data from "午後の遺言状" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1995/ds001290.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-14. and Gogo no Yuigon-jo (1995) at the Internet Movie Database
^ "Awards for Gogo no Yuigon-jo (1995)" (in Japanese). Internet Movie Database. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113186/awards. Retrieved 2009-05-05.
^ Based on A Last Note at AllRovi
^ "第19回日本アカデミー賞". Japan Academy Prize. Archived from the original on 23 December 2008. http://www.japan-academy-prize.jp/allprizes/1996/index.html. Retrieved 18 January 2009. ^{[dead link]} (Japanese)

External links

Gogo no Yuigon-jo (1995) at the Internet Movie Database
A Last Note at AllRovi
"午後の遺言状" (in Japanese). Japanese Movie Database. http://www.jmdb.ne.jp/1995/ds001290.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
"GOGO NO YIGONJO". Complete Index to World Film. http://www.citwf.com/film133683.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
"午後の遺言状" (in Japanese). www.walkerplus.com. http://www.walkerplus.com/movie/kinejun/index.cgi?ctl=each&id=27869. Retrieved 2009-05-14.
"午後の遺言状(1995)" (in Japanese). www.allcinema.net. http://www.allcinema.net/prog/show_c.php?num_c=152539. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
"午後の遺言状" (in Japanese). Variety Japan. http://search.varietyjapan.com/moviedb/cinema_27869.html. Retrieved 2009-05-14.

v t e Films directed by Kaneto Shindo

Children of Hiroshima (1952) Umi no yarodomo (1957) Lucky Dragon No. 5 (1959) The Naked Island (1960) Ningen (1962) Onibaba (1964) Akuto (1965) Kuroneko (1968) Kenji Mizoguchi: The Life of a Film Director (1975) A Last Note (1995) Will to Live (1999) By Player (2000) Postcard (2010)

Awards

Blue Ribbon Award for Best Film

Until We Meet Again (1950)
Repast (1951)
Lightning (1952)
An Inlet of Muddy Water (1953)
Twenty-Four Eyes (1954)
Floating Clouds (1955)
Mahiru no ankoku (1956)
The Rice People (1957)
The Hidden Fortress (1958)
Kiku to Isamu (1959)
Her Brother (1960)
Pigs and Battleships (1961)
Foundry Town (1962)
The Insect Woman (1963)
Woman in the Dunes (1964)
Red Beard (1965)
Shiroi Kyotō (1966)
The Fossil (1974)
Lullaby of the Earth (1976)
The Yellow Handkerchief (1977)
Third Base (1978)
Vengeance Is Mine (1979)
Kagemusha (1980)
Muddy River (1981)
Fall Guy (1982)
Tokyo Trial (1983)
MacArthur's Children (1984)
Ran (1985)
House of Wedlock (1986)
A Taxing Woman (1987)
The Silk Road (1988)
Dotsuitarunen (1989)
Childhood Days (1990)
A Scene at the Sea (1991)
Sumo Do, Sumo Don't (1992)
All Under the Moon (1993)
Like a Rolling Stone (1994)
A Last Note (1995)
Boys Be Ambitious (1996)
Bounce Ko Gals (1997)
Hana-bi (1998)
Taboo (1999)
Battle Royale (2000)
Spirited Away (2001)
The Twilight Samurai (2002)
Akame 48 Waterfalls (2003)
Nobody Knows (2004)
Break Through! (2005)
Hula Girls (2006)
Kisaragi (2007)
Climber's High (2008)
Mt. Tsurugidake (2009)
Confessions (2010)

Hochi Film Award for Best Film

The Inugamis (1976)
The Yellow Handkerchief (1977)
Third Base (1978)
Taiyō o Nusunda Otoko (1979)
Kagemusha (1980)
Enrai (1981)
Fall Guy (1982)
The Family Game (1983)
The Funeral (1984)
And Then (1985)
Comic Magazine (1986)
A Taxing Woman (1987)
Tomorrow (1988)
Untamagiru (1989)
Sakura no Sono (1990)
My Sons (1991)
Sumo Do, Sumo Don't (1992)
All Under the Moon (1993)
A Dedicated Life (1994)
A Last Note (1995)
Shall We Dance? (1996)
Welcome Back, Mr. McDonald (1997)
Hana-bi (1998)
Spellbound (1999)
Face (2000)
Go (2001)
The Twilight Samurai (2002)
Doing Time (2003)
Nobody Knows (2004)
Always Sanchōme no Yūhi (2005)
Hula Girls (2006)
I Just Didn't Do It (2007)
Departures (2008)
Shizumanu Taiyo (2009)
Villain (2010)

Japan Academy Prize for Best Film

The Yellow Handkerchief (1978)
The Incident (1979)
Vengeance Is Mine (1980)
Zigeunerweisen (1981)
Station (1982)
Fall Guy (1983)
The Ballad of Narayama (1984)
The Funeral (1985)
Gray Sunset (1986)
House on Fire (1987)
A Taxing Woman (1988)
The Silk Road (1989)
Black Rain (1990)
Childhood Days (1991)
My Sons (1992)
Sumo Do, Sumo Don't (1993)
A Class to Remember (1994)
Crest of Betrayal (1995)
A Last Note (1996)
Shall We Dance? (1997)
Princess Mononoke (1998)
Begging for Love (1999)
Poppoya (2000)
After the Rain (2001)
Spirited Away (2002)
The Twilight Samurai (2003)
When the Last Sword Is Drawn (2004)
Half a Confession (2005)
Always Sanchōme no Yūhi (2006)
Hula Girls (2007)
Tokyo Tower: Mom and Me, and Sometimes Dad (2008)
Departures (2009)
Shizumanu Taiyō (2010)
Confessions (2011)
Rebirth (2012)

v t e Mainichi Film Award for Best Film

1946–1959	Aru yo no Tonosama (1946) · Ima Hitotabi no (1947) · Drunken Angel (1948) · Late Spring (1949) · Until We Meet Again (1950) · Repast (1951) · Ikiru (1952) · An Inlet of Muddy Water (1953) · Twenty-Four Eyes (1954) · Floating Clouds (1955) · Mahiru no ankoku (1956) · The Rice People (1957) · The Ballad of Narayama (1958) · Kiku to Isamu (1959)

1960–1979	Her Brother (1960) · A Soldier's Prayer (1961) · Harakiri (1962) · High and Low (1963) · Woman in the Dunes (1964) · Red Beard (1965) · Shiroi Kyotō (1966) · Samurai Rebellion (1967) · The Profound Desire of the Gods (1968) · Double Suicide (1969) · Kazoku (1970) · Silence (1971) · Shinobu Kawa (1972) · Tsugaru Folk Song (1973) · Castle of Sand (1974) · The Fossil (1975) · Fumō Chitai (1976) · The Yellow Handkerchief (1977) · The Incident (1978) · Ah! Nomugi Toge (1979)

1980–2009	Kagemusha (1980) · Muddy River (1981) · Fall Guy (1982) · Merry Christmas, Mr. Lawrence (1983) · W's Tragedy (1984) · Ran (1985) · The Sea and Poison (1986) · A Taxing Woman (1987) · My Neighbor Totoro (1988) · Black Rain (1989) · Childhood Days (1990) · My Sons (1991) · Sumo Do, Sumo Don't (1992) · All Under the Moon (1993) · A Dedicated Life (1994) · A Last Note (1995) · Shall We Dance? (1996) · Princess Mononoke (1997) · Begging for Love (1998) · Poppoya (1999) · Face (2000) · Spirited Away (2001) · The Twilight Samurai (2002) · Akame 48 Waterfalls (2003) · Blood and Bones (2004) · Break Through! (2005) · Sway (2006) · I Just Didn't Do It (2007) · Departures (2008) · Shizumanu Taiyō (2009) · Villain (2010)

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