Kudo Kankuro’s “A Town Without Seasons” Shines Bright as the Tragedy Unfolds After the Release of Akira Kurosawa’s “Dodesukaden”
The drama “A Town Without Seasons” (TV Tokyo), written and directed by Kankuro Kudo, is outstanding.
The story is set in a town of temporary housing units created by a disaster called “Nani” 12 years ago. It depicts a mosaic of people who society might deem not quite right, such as construction workers who drunkenly swap wives, homeless parents and children who cannot even enter the temporary housing, and a young man and his mother who pretend to be a train and its conductor.
“‘Nani’ likely refers to the Great East Japan Earthquake, and the series portrays impoverished people living together uncertain of when they might be ordered to evacuate by the government. Amidst this, tragedies such as a homeless boy dying from food poisoning or a woman suffering sexual abuse from her uncle occur in each episode, making it difficult to watch. However, Kankuro Kudo’s pop-style direction turns it into an excellent ensemble drama.
Last August, it was exclusively streamed on ‘Disney+’ with all 10 episodes, generating buzz. Even in its terrestrial broadcast debut, it’s receiving rave reviews on social media, with comments praising Kudo Kankuro’s excellent pacing that seamlessly mixes comedy into serious and heavy topics, noting that each episode is only 30 minutes long, but the content is packed, and admiring the amazing cast, with everyone delivering outstanding performances.” (TV Magazine Writer)
The original novel of the same name, written by Shugoro Yamamoto, was serialized in the Asahi Shimbun in 1962, and it was adapted into a film by director Akira Kurosawa. The movie, “Dodesukaden,” released in 1970, was a significant topic of discussion at the time as it was Kurosawa’s first color film.
“During a slump in the Japanese film industry, in an attempt to break through the trend, the film production company ‘Yonki no Kai’ was formed in 1969 by four masters: Kurosawa, Kon Ichikawa, Keisuke Kinoshita, and Masaki Kobayashi. It was decided that ‘Dodesukaden’ would be produced by these four, but both Ichikawa and Kinoshita opposed it, considering the storyline to be too dark. Eventually, Kurosawa ended up directing the film alone.” (Movie Magazine Editor)
