Overview
is a 1946 Japanese film directed by Akira Kurosawa, Hideo Sekigawa and Kajirō Yamamoto (who was also co-writer). It was produced to illustrate the purpose of the workers' union at the Toho film studios, as the Allied Forces endorsed the formation of unions as part of the democratisation process during the post-World War II Occupation of Japan. Kurosawa later denounced the film, calling it "a committee-made film" in which he had been involved only one week, and refused to mention it in his autobiography. Toho's studio stars Hideko Takamine and Susumu Fujita appear playing themselves.
Plot
The sisters Chieko, a script girl working at a big film studio, and Aiko, a revue dancer, are daughters to anti-unionist father Gintarō. When the workers at a railway company, including the family's subtenant Seizo, go on strike, Chieko and her co-workers demonstrate their solidarity and call for strike as well to achieve financial security for the film studio's staff. Meanwhile, Aiko and her dancing troupe decide to get organised in opposition to the theatre's mean stage manager. When Gintarō is fired together with a large group of employees at his company, he finally gives up his reluctance and joins the unionists, impressed by their earnestness.
Cast
Susumu Fujita – Fujita
Hideko Takamine – Takamine
Kenji Susukida – Gintarō Okamoto, father
Masayuki Mori – Seizō Hori, chauffeur
Chieko Takehisa – Kin Okamoto, mother
Takashi Shimura – Theatre manager
Yonosuke Toba – Okamoto's colleague
Masao Shimizu – Section chief
Hyō Kitazawa – Director
Chieko Nakakita – Yoshiko
Mitsue Tashibana – Aiko
Legacy
Those Who Make Tomorrow was screened as part of a retrospective on actress Hideko Takamine by the National Museum of Modern Art, Tokyo in 2004.
From Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).