[KineJapan] [Kinejapan] retrospective of 16 films by the noted nimaime actor Sada Keiji in Tokyo

[Paul Berry]

Now running amidst all the book stores at the Jinbocho Theatre  (1/17-2/13)
is a selection of 16 films by the renowned nimaime actor Sada Keiji
1926-1964 as a centennial celebration of his birth.
https://eiga.com/theater/13/130710/3302/
 All are being shown on 35mm prints as is the standard for this well
designed retrospective movie theatre.  This is an excellent selection of
some of his best films, including ones that are rarely seen today.

Although best known overseas for his leading roles in Ozu’s Ohayoo.1959 and
Sama no Aji 1964, he took on a wide range of more challenging roles
including the lead in Kobayashi Masaki’s Anata kaimasu opposite Kishi Keiko
1956 which received major awards. He starred in important films by many
noted directors including Kinoshita Keisuke, Yoshida Kiju,  Oba Hideo,
Nakamura Yoshitaro, Tanaka Noboru、and so on.
Sada’s popularity was boosted greatly by his lead role in the Kimi no na wa
trilogy (1953-1954) that follows the star-crossed love of a couple who
first encounter is on a bridge in the midst of the March 1945 fire storm
bombing of Tokyo that forms the arresting beginning to the first film. The
popularity of this film was so overwhelming that his friends later called
him by the nickname “Haruki” after his role in the work.
He was also one of the major male roles in the first two films of
Kobayashi’s antiwar epic Ningen no Joken.  Among his close friends was
Takahashi Teiji 1926-1959 another of the top nimaime actors at Shochiku.
Among directors he was especially close to Ozu and Kinoshita. Popular
sayings after Sada’s death held that both Takahashi and Ozu were calling
him to join them in the other world.

Among the many understudied areas of Japanese cinemas, the importance of
nimaime actors in film, and the culture at large, is especially
regrettable. There are, of course, some who have written on this, but many
more and deeper studies would help balance the usual focus on the aragoto
style of Mifune, and so many others that remain the stereotype of the
Japanese male role. It is not a competition between significant styles and
performances, but only a regret that the nimaime remains so under evaluated.

Those of you in the Tokyo area have a rare chance to see some of Sada’s
best performances. Otherwise there are a number of his works on DVDs and
other platforms. Yet nothing tops seeing quality prints shown on the big
screen.

Paul Berry
Independent scholar, Kyoto
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