Asian TV » movie » A Distant Cry from Spring (1980)
Name:

A Distant Cry from Spring (1980) (1980)

Other name: 遥かなる山の呼び声 / はるかなるやまのよびごえ / 远山的呼唤 / 远山个呼唤 / Harukanaru Yama no Yobigoe / Ein ferner Schrei im Frühling / L'Écho de la montagne / Ett rop ur fjärran / Зов далёких гор
Cast: Takakura Ken (1931), Baisho Chieko (1941), Yoshioka Hidetaka (1970), Takeda Tetsuya (1949), Suzuki Mizuho (1927), Sugiyama Tokuko (1926), Shimokawa Tappei (1930), Awazu Go (1945), Hana Hajime (1930), Atsumi Kiyoshi (1928), Hata Masanori (1935),
Genre: Drama, Family, Friendship, Romance
Country: Japanese
Release year: 1980
Status: Completed
 
WATCH NOW  
Plot:

"A Distant Cry from Spring (1980)(1980)"

I first saw this film at the Hong Kong International Film Festival in 1981 and have often looked for it since (without any luck). Of the 50 films I saw in those 16 days (including masterpieces by Angelopoulos, and Syberberg's Hitler, A Film From Germany), Yamada's simple story turned out to be my favorite. When it recently turned up in a 5-disk Yoji Yamada box set, I immediately ordered it. Well, the disk is very poor quality, a murky transfer with the widescreen compositions butchered by a truly wretched pan-and-scan job -- and yet the quality of the film still manages to shine through. On its surface, there's nothing particularly remarkable about A Distant Cry From Spring. A widow struggles to maintain a small farm in a remote area of Hokkaido, fighting the elements and raising her young son. One brutally stormy night, a stranger appears at the door looking for shelter. Though wary, the widow offers him her hospitality. He leaves, but then returns in the spring and asks for work, desiring only room and board in return. What follows is the depiction of a slowly developing emotional bond set against a beautifully observed portrait of daily life on the farm, an endless round of backbreaking chores which constantly threaten to overwhelm the lonely woman. There is nothing terribly surprising in the revelations which eventually emerge about the characters, but they are so finely drawn and their emotional lives resonate with such authenticity, that only a cold-blooded viewer could fail to be moved by the film's resolution. Yamada is a master of emotional nuance and a brilliant observer of the small details of ordinary lives, which he obviously holds in some kind of awe, and in which he finds a kind of magic. He makes you feel for the characters without ever stooping to sentimentality or easy manipulation. His work deserves to be more widely known, and he certainly deserves better treatment from DVD distributors.
Comment
RANDOM
  • Ep 1 SUB

    Kung Fu Hustle (2004)

    Kung Fu Hustle
    Genre:
    Drama
    Country:
    Hong Kong
    Set in Canton, China in the 1940s, the story revolves around a hapless wannabe gangster who aspires to become a member of the notorious "Axe Gang." Other characters include an obnoxious landlady and her apparently frail husband who exhibit extraordinary powers in defending their turf.
  • Ep 1 SUB

    JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable (2017) (2017)

    JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond Is Unbreakable (2017)
    Genre:
    Action, Adventure, Bromance, Family, Fantasy, Friendship, Mystery, School, Supernatural
    Country:
    Japanese
    In the fictional town of Moriou, Josuke Higashikata is the illegitimate son of Joseph Joestar. He possess a Stand (super power), called Crazy Diamond, that allows him to restore or fix broken objects or animals. Josuke and his friends go to war with other Stand users.
  • Ep 1 SUB

    Poetry Angel (2017)

    Poetry Angel
    Genre:
    Drama
    Country:
    Japanese
    After Tsutomu Tamaki (Amane Okayama) graduated from high school, he has worked at his family farm and raises ume (plum). He looks for a place that can show his delusions. He becomes interested in a class for “poetry boxing” and...
  • Ep 1 SUB

    Raid on the Lethal Zone (2023) (2023)

    Raid on the Lethal Zone (2023)
    Genre:
    Drama
    Country:
    Chinese
    N/A
  • Ep 1 SUB

    Hey Japanese! Do You Believe in Love, Peace and Understanding (2008)

    Hey Japanese! Do You Believe in Love, Peace and Understanding
    Genre:
    Drama
    Country:
    Japanese
    A gonzo black comedy with six intertwining stories set in the streets of Tokyo about the ongoing battle between the Internet generation and the older generation.
  • Ep 1 SUB

    Special Female Force (2016)

    Special Female Force
    Genre:
    Action, Comedy
    Country:
    Hong Kong
    After her mother was killed during a mission twenty years ago in Thailand, Fa (Eliza Sam) decides to join the police academy in Hong Kong were she meets 5 new friends played by Anita Chui, Cathryn Lee, Mandy Ho, Joyce Cheng and Jeana Ho. Failing to graduate the six women are given the opportunity to join a formerly disbanded all-female elite force to hunt down terrorist Gu Zhi Jin, the man who killed Fa's mother. The group of female agents led by a friend of Fa's mother go undercover in Malaysia.
  • Ep 1 SUB

    Awakening aka Tamamoe (2007)

    Awakening aka Tamamoe
    Genre:
    Drama
    Country:
    Japanese
    After the unexpected death of her husband a new life begins for Toshiko. 30 years of a happy marriage seem to suddenly vanish as she finds out that her husband had lived a double life. Struggling between her anger and...Terao
  • Ep 1 SUB

    Aku no Hana (2019) (2019)

    Aku no Hana (2019)
    Genre:
    Drama, Psychological, Romance, School, Suspense, Thriller, Youth
    Country:
    Japanese

    Kasuga Takao is a boy who loves reading books, particularly Baudelaire's Les Fleurs du Mal. A girl at his school, Saeki Nanako, is his muse and his Venus, and he admires her from a distance. One day, he forgets his copy of Les Fleurs du Mal in the classroom and runs back alone to pick it up. In the classroom, he finds not only his book but Saeki's gym uniform. On a mad impulse, he steals it.

    Now everyone knows "some pervert" stole Saeki's uniform, and Kasuga is dying with shame and guilt. Furthermore, the weird, creepy, and friendless girl of the class, Nakamura, saw him take the uniform. Instead of revealing it was him, she recognizes his kindred deviant spirit and uses her knowledge to take control of his life. Will it be possible for Kasuga to get closer to Saeki, despite Nakamura's meddling and his dark secret? What exactly does Nakamura intend to do with him?