Director Ogata discovers a new female star in Koharu Tanaka, who works selling candy at a studio theater and she is given a part as a bit player. After the studio's top leading lady is embroiled in a scandal, Koharu is suddenly thrust into the limelight when she replaces her in a film and gains instant fame and fortune. But the going is not always easy, and she soon seeks help from unexpected quarters.
Direction
Yamada's 48th film—confident, unhurried, deeply affectionate.
Acting
Narimi Arimori's luminous transformation from nobody to somebody.
Production
Loving recreation of 1930s Japanese studio system.
Director
Yoji Yamada
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Kiyoshi Atsumi appears as Kihachi, essentially playing his iconic Tora-san character in a dramatic context—Yamada's sly nod to his own cinematic universe.
Released in 1986, this deliberately evokes Shochiku's actual 1930s 'Kamata' studio era, making it a meta-elegy for the director's own home studio's golden age.
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