On April 30, 2018, in Japan, a centenarian named Tadashi Kinoshita, was a film composer who passed away peacefully.
Perhaps, too many viewers are not familiar with the name.
However, when it comes to his brother, moviegoers who may like Japanese movies are no strangers, and he is Keisuke Kinoshita, who is known as the Four Horsemen along with Akira Kurosawa, Masaki Kobayashi, and Kun Ichikawa.
Keisuke Kinoshita 1954: Twenty-Four Eyes
Keisuke Kinoshita's film works are mostly tragic films that reflect Japan's political and social issues, such as "Twenty-Four Eyes", which is most familiar to domestic audiences and starring Hideko Takayama, which has a strong anti-war meaning.
The film, shot in 1954, was screened at the 8th Beijing International Film Festival this year, and still achieved great resonance from the audience, crying inside and outside the venue.
The reason why this film has such an appeal, in addition to the civilian angle chosen by Keisuke Kinoshita, the beautiful photography, and the sincere and natural performance of Hideko Takashita, the excellent soundtrack of the film can be said to be indispensable.
And the composer of this film is None other than Tadashi Kinoshita.
Twenty-Four Eyes Soundtrack: Tadashi Kinoshita
In 1946, Tadashi Kinoshita debuted as a composer in the film "The Courtee" directed by his brother.
He then served as the royal composer of Keisuke Kinoshita and composed music for 11 films, including "Carmen Homecoming" (1951) and "Twenty-Four Eyes" (1954).
In 1954, he won the Daily Picture Music Award for his song "Women's Garden".
In "Twenty-Four Eyes", Tadashi Kinoshita alternately uses various musical forms such as folk songs, children's songs, instrumental music, symphonic music, etc., perfectly setting off the tragic life of a simple rural female teacher, and using music to pluck the heartstrings of the audience.
Hideko Takashi plays the rural teacher Hisako Oishi
After the release of "Twenty-Four Eyes", it received unanimous praise from inside and outside the film industry and was hailed as one of the best films in Japan.
It won the first place in the 1954 Film Journal's Top Ten Film awards of the year, and the Best Foreign Language Film Award at the 12th American Film and Television Golden Globe Awards in 1955.
It can be said that the director of Keisuke Kinoshita, the acting skills of Hideko Takayama and the soundtrack of Tadaoji Kinoshita, together made this film into the Oriental "Sound of Music" and became famous in film history.
Twenty-Four Eyes, 12 Little Destinies