Nankyoku Monogatari

Nankyoku Monogatari
Nankyoku Monogatari
Directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara
Produced by Tomohiro Kaiyama
Masaru Kakutani
Koretsugo Kurahara
Juichi Tanaka
Written by Toshirō Ishidō
Koreyoshi Kurahara
Tatsuo Nogami
Kan Saji
Starring Ken Takakura
Tsunehiko Watase
Eiji Okada
Masako Natsume
Music by Vangelis
Cinematography Akira Shiizuka
Editing by Koreyoshi Kurahara
Akira Suzuki
Distributed by Nippon Herald Films (Japan)
Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation (USA - dubbed)
Release date(s) 23 July 1983 (1983-07-23)
Running time 143 minutes
Country Japan
Language Japanese

Nankyoku Monogatari (南極物語?, literally "South Pole Story", released in the U.S. as Antarctica) is a 1983 Japanese film directed by Koreyoshi Kurahara and starring Ken Takakura. Its plot centers on the 1958 ill-fated Japanese scientific expedition to the South Pole, its dramatic rescue from the impossible weather conditions on the return journey, the relationship between the scientists and their loyal and hard-working Karafuto Dogs, particularly the lead dogs Taro and Jiro, and fates of the 15 dogs left behind to fend for themselves.

As of 2007, the film is available on DVD in Japan (Japanese subtitles) and Hong Kong (Chinese and English subtitles). The original electronic score was created by Greek musician Vangelis, who had recently written music for Chariots of Fire and Blade Runner. The soundtrack is available worldwide on CD-audio as Antarctica.

Nankyoku Monogatari's plot was adapted into the 2006 Disney movie Eight Below.

In 2011, a Japanese drama titled Nankyoku Tairiku centers around Japan's first expedition to Antarctica in 1958.

Contents

Plot

In February 1958, the Second Cross-Winter Expedition for the Japanese Antarctic Surveying Team rode on the icebreaker Sōya to take over from the 11-man First Cross-Winter Expedition. Due to the extreme weather conditions in Antarctica, Sōya could not get near enough to the Showa Base and they decided not to proceed with the stay-over.

The First Cross-Winter Expedition retreated by helicopter, but they had to leave 15 Sakhalin Huskies at the unmanned Showa Base. The dogs were left chained at the base, as the team thought that they would be returning, but they did not due to fuel shortages. The team was worried about the dogs, as the weather was extremely cold and only one week of food was available.

Meanwhile, eight of the fifteen sled dogs managed to break loose from their chains (Riki, Anko, Shiro, Jakku, Deri, Kuma, Taro, and Jiro), but the other seven were not so fortunate. As they journeyed across the frozen wilderness of Antarctica, the dogs were forced to survive on their own feces, hunting penguins and seals on the ice shelves and even eating the excrement of seal for food. As months passed, several of the dogs died or disappeared in the glacier. Riki was fatally injured by an orca while trying to protect Taro and Jiro. Anko and Deri fell through the ice and drowned in freezing waters. Shiro fell off a cliff to his death, and Jakku disappeared in the wilderness.

Eleven months later, on 14 January 1959, Kitagawa, one of the dog handlers in the first expedition, returned with the Third Cross-Winter Expedition, wanting to bury his beloved dogs. He, along with the two dog-handlers Ushioda and Ochi, recovered the frozen corpses of seven dogs, but were even more surprised when they discovered that eight of their dogs had broken loose. To everyone's surprise, they were greeted warmly at the base by two dogs, Taro and Jiro, brothers who were born in Antarctica.

It is still unknown how and why the brothers survived, because an average husky can only live in such conditions for about one month. In the movie, the director used the data available, together with his imagination, to reconstruct how the dogs struggled with the elements and survived.

Cast

  • Ken Takakura as Akira Ushioda
  • Tsunehiko Watase as Kenjirō Ochi
  • Eiji Okada as Chief Ozawa
  • Masako Natsume as Keiko Kitazawa
  • Keiko Oginome as Asako Shimura
  • Takeshi Kusaka as Morishima Kyōju
  • Shigeru Kōyama as Horigome Taichō
  • Sō Yamamura as Iwakiri Senchō
  • Jun Etō as Tokumitsu Taiin
  • Kōichi Satō as Toda Taichō
  • Shin Kishida as Kissaten Master
  • Takeshi Ōbayashi as Nonomiya Taichō
  • Shinji Kanai as Ozaki Taichō

Production

The film took over three years to make. It was filmed at the northern tip of Hokkaidō. The dogs in the film were sired by Kuma, a Sakhalin from Furen and were born in Wakanai, Hokkaido, not Antarctica.

  • 7 dogs were found dead at the base still chained: Goro, Pesu, Moku, Aka, Kuro, Pochi, Kuma (monbetsu)
  • 6 dogs got loose and disappeared: Riki, Anko, Shiro, Jakku, Deri, Kuma (furen)
  • 2 survivors left: Taro and Jiro

Release and reception

Nankyoku Monogatari was entered into the 34th Berlin International Film Festival.[1] The film was a big hit in Japan, becoming the number one Japanese film on the domestic market in 1983, earning ¥5.9 billion in distribution income.[2]

The breed of dog also became briefly popular. However, concerns were raised that the dogs who took part in the filming might have been subjected to extreme conditions to obtain the degree of realism involved. The American Humane Association withheld its "No Animals Were Harmed" disclaimer, rating the film "Unacceptable" due to what it regarded as deliberate cruelty on the set.[3] The director responded that the emotions shown by the dogs during the film were painstakingly captured and then edited into the relevant parts. In order to recreate the death scenes the dogs were carefully anesthetized. The parts where the dogs drowned or fell were done in the studio and blue-screened with the actual filming location. The blood on the dogs was fake. It remained unclear whether the deaths of the prey animals (a seabird and a seal) were also simulated.

Data

  • Producer and Director: Koreyoshi Kurahara
  • Release Date: 23 July 1983
  • Box office: 5.9 billion yen
  • Viewership: c. 8.8 million
  • Main actor: Ken Takakura

Original score album

The original score to Nankyoku Monogatari was composed, arranged, produced and performed by Greek artist Vangelis. It was recorded at Vangelis' Nemo Studios, in London, UK, by sound engineer Raine Shine. The album was released worldwide (including Japan) as Antarctica.

Fate of Taro and Jiro

The younger brother Jiro died at the age of four during the fifth expedition in July 1960. His body was made into a specimen and is placed together in the National Science Museum at Ueno, Tokyo.[4] The older brother Taro was luckier: he returned to Hokkaido University for his retirement, and died at the age of 15 in 1970. His body was also made into a specimen at Hokkaido University.

References

External links


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Look at other dictionaries:

  • Nankyoku Monogatari — Filmdaten Deutscher Titel: Taro und Jiro in der Antarktis Originaltitel: 南極物語, Nankyoku Monogatari Produktionsland: Japan Erscheinungsjahr: 1983 Länge: 143 Minuten Originalsprache …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Nankyoku Monogatari — Antarctica Pour les articles homonymes, voir Antarctica (homonymie). Antarctica Réalisation Koreyoshi Kurahara Acteurs principaux Ken Takakura Tsunehiko Watase Eiji Okada Masako Natsume Keiko Oginome Takeshi Kusaka Shigeru Kôyama …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Taro und Jiro in der Antarktis — Filmdaten Deutscher Titel Taro und Jiro in der Antarktis Originaltitel 南極物語, Nankyoku Monogatari …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Koreyoshi Kurahara — (蔵原 惟繕, Kurahara Koreyoshi?), né le 31 mai 1927 à Kuching (Sarawak) et mort le 28 décembre 2002, est un réalisateur, scénariste, Producteur, éditeur, et assistant réalisateur de films …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Antarctica — Pour les articles homonymes, voir Antarctica (homonymie). Antarctica Données clés Titre original Nankyoku Monogatari Réalisation Koreyoshi Kurahara Scénario …   Wikipédia en Français

  • Koreyoshi Kurahara — Nihongo|Koreyoshi Kurahara|蔵原惟繕|Kurahara Koreyoshi (born May 31, 1927; died December 28, 2002) was a Japanese screenwriter and director. He is perhaps best known for directing Nankyoku Monogatari, which won awards. He also was co director, with… …   Wikipedia

  • Eight Below — Infobox Film name = Eight Below caption = Theatrical poster director = Frank Marshall producer = Patrick Crowley David Hoberman writer = David DiGillio narrator = starring = Paul Walker August Schellenberg music = Mark Isham cinematography = Don… …   Wikipedia

  • Antarctica (album) — For the original score to Nankyoku Monogatari , see Nankyoku Monogatari . Infobox Album | Name = Antarctica Type = studio Artist = The Secret Handshake Released = 2004 Recorded = Kefka Studios, Dallas TX Genre = Indie, Electronica Length = 34:06… …   Wikipedia

  • Jiro (given name) — Infobox Given Name Revised name = Jirō imagesize= caption= pronunciation= gender = Male meaning = It can have many different meanings depending on the kanji used. region = origin = Japanese related names = Taro Saburo footnotes = nihongo|Jirō or… …   Wikipedia

  • Liste des longs-métrages japonais proposés à l'Oscar du meilleur film en langue étrangère — Affiche du film Rashōmon d Akira Kurosawa, qui fut élu meilleur film en langue étrangère sorti aux États Unis en 1951, et qui reçu un Oscar d honneur. Le Japon présente des films pour l Oscar du meilleur film en langue étrangère depuis la… …   Wikipédia en Français

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