Appassionata

Appassionata (1984)

Drama

This story is based on the novel "Jo no mai" by Tomiko Miyao which is based on the life of painter Shōen Uemura (1875–1949), the first woman to be awarded the Order of Culture. The title refers to the masterpiece bijinga ("picture of a beautiful woman") that Uemura painted at the age of 61. The main character, Tsuya Shimamura, is born in Kyoto as the second daughter of a tea trader who dies before her birth. Tsuya, who loves painting more than anything and is hopeless at housework, attends art school and at age 15 receives the name Shōsui (from the characters for "pine" and "green") from her teacher. The crown prince of England purchases one of her works, propelling her to fame overnight. The novel portrays the remainder of her stormy life, during which she is impregnated by her teacher and raises a fatherless child; through it all she devotes herself to her painting, undaunted.

Director: Sadao Nakajima
Writer: Hirō Matsuda

Casts

	Yūko Natori as Tsuya Shimamura
	Morio Kazama as
	Kunihiko Mitamura as
	Aki Mizusawa as Shima Shimamura
	Mariko Okada as Sei Shimamura
	Mieko Takamine as
	Yoshiko Mita as
	Ayako Kobayashi as Sei as a girl
	Shirō Ōsaka as
	Kōjirō Kusanagi as Sei's uncle
	Kin Sugai as
	Junkichi Orimoto as
	Tomiko Ishii as Midwife
	Shingo Misawa as
	Eizō Kitamura as
	Takashi Ebata as
	Takashi Noguchi as
	Ryoichi Kusanagi as
	Ken'ichi Nagira as
	Yoshiro Ichikawa as
	Tokuko Miura as
	Naoji Iwata as
	Mineko Maruhira as Neighborhood lady
	Kojin Tokuda as
	Masaharu Arikawa as
	Kojirō Kawanami as
	Kōjiro Shirakawa as
	Yoshihiro Igarashi as
	Gorō Ōki as
	Michiko Tsujima as
	Tsuyako Okajima as
	Mitsue Wakabayashi as Sei's grandmother
	Kayoko Tominaga as Kura Shimamura
	Mieko Hoshino as Neighborhood lady
	Aki Sawa as Neighborhood lady
	Mayumi Tokunaga as Neighborhood lady
	Tankurô as
	Junichi Hosokawa as
	Mayumi Eda as Waitress
	Katsuko Ōkawa as
	Keiko Nanase as Girl
	Yuka Monma as
	Hiroshi Tanaka as Postman
	Momiji Yamamura as
	Yoshiki Yamada as
	Shintarō Mibu as
	Shunji Kotani as
	Rantaro Mine as
	Michihiro Kinoshita as Rickshaw man
	Yasushi Amaeda as
	Makoto Asai as Rickshaw man
	Hiroyuki Sugaya as
	Sozaburo Yoshimi as
	Kozo Kotani as
	Etsuko Ichihara as Narrator (voice)
	Mikio Narita as
	Kei Satō as

Crew