12m 57s: Lenght

Nobuko 信子 Director: Hiroshi Shimizu / 清水宏 Year: 1940 出演　Cast 高峰三枝子　Mieko Takamine 三浦光子　Mitsuko Miura 岡村文子　Fumiko Okamura 森川まさみ　Masami Morikawa 高松栄子　Eiko Takamatsu 大塚君代　Kimiyo Otsuka 松原操　Misao Matsubara 忍節子　Setsuko Shinobu 出雲八重子　Yaeko Izumo 雲井ツル子　Tsuruko Kumoi 青木しのぶ　Shinobu Aoki 三笠朱実　Akemi Mikasa 奈良真養　Shinyo Nara 吉川満子　Mitsuko Yoshikawa 飯田蝶子　Choko Iida 三谷幸子　Sachiko Mitani 草香田鶴子　Tazuko Kusaka 東山光子　Mitsuko Higashiyama 野村有為子　Yuiko Nomura 三浦ハマ子　Hamako Miura 春日英子　Eiko Kasuga なぎさ陽子　Yoko Nagisa 加藤夕未子　Yumiko Kato 三村秀子　Hideko Mimura 青山万里子　Mariko Aoyama 日守新一　Shinichi Himori Nobuku is the story of a young female teacher from the countryside and her first teaching job at an all-girls school, in an unspecified big city (probably Tokyo.) There are some minor plot points about her fitting in with the other teachers and her friendship with some geishas, but the main story is about a battle of wills between her and a trouble-making student. This is about the sixth movie I've seen by this director, and it is probably the most plot driven movie of his that I've seen (although this may be due to the fact that it is based on a novel.) And while this isn't a bad movie, it is probably the least favorite of his that I've yet seen. The story is a fairly typical new teacher story and the resolution was too pat to be believable in these times. As other reviews of this movie have noted, this movie was made while the Japanese military had tight control over the movie industry and that may explain the rather preachy and extremely optimistic ending. Still, the performances are all wonderful and there are enough charming bits in the movie to make it worthwhile viewing for anyone interested in cinema history.