A Dedicated Life

A Dedicated Life
A Dedicated Life
Kanji	全身小説家
Revised Hepburn	Zenshin shōsetsuka
Directed by	Kazuo Hara
Produced by	Sachiko Kobayashi
Cinematography	Kazuo Hara
Edited by	Jun Nabeshima
Music by	Takashi Sekiguchi
Production; company	Sprint Production (Kazuo Hara)
Distributed by	Sprint Production; Euro Space;
Release date	23 September 1994 (Japan);
Running time	157 minutes
Country	Japan
Language	Japanese

A Dedicated Life (全身小説家, Zenshin shōsetsuka, lit. "A wholehearted writer") is a 1994 Japanese documentary and docudrama film directed by Kazuo Hara about writer Mitsuharu Inoue.^[4] It shows the last four years of Inoue's life while fighting cancer, and tries to capture his character and the influence he had on the people around him.

Synopsis

Filming Inoue both at public appearances and in private, and interviewing fellow writers like Yutaka Haniya as well as former pupils of Inoue's literary training centers, some of which speak frankly about their affair with their married teacher, Kazuo Hara draws a portrait of a multi-faceted personality: socially committed and egotistical, extroverted and hiding behind a persona.

Additionally, the film contains scenes which re-enact Inoue's childhood and youth according to his own accounts, which are partially put into question by statements from relatives.

Cast

Mitsuharu Inoue
Yutaka Haniya
Jakuchō Setouchi
Hiroshi Noma
Ikuko Inoue
Kim Gumija as Mother Takako
Yoshie Yamamoto as Grandmother Saka
Haruhi Iso as Choi Tsuruyo
Masayuki Kubota as Mitsuharu as youth
Hiroya Sugiyama as Mitsuharu as child

Production

Early into the film's production, Inoue was diagnosed with liver metastasis, underwent an operation (which is shown in detail) and continued his work as a writer and teacher. He died in May 1992.^[1]

Reception

Upon the film's presentation at the Forum section of the 1995 Berlin International Film Festival, critic David Stratton, writing for Variety magazine, called A Dedicated Life "riveting viewing, and, in the end, extremely moving", and "a demanding, but most impressive, film portrait".^[5]

Awards

19th Hochi Film Award for Best Film^[6]
49th Mainichi Film Award for Best Film^[7]
68th Kinema Junpo Award for Best Film^[4]
18th Japan Academy Film Prize – Special Award for Kazuo Hara^[8]

Notes

^ A variety of lengths is given for the film's running time, depending on the source. The Internet Movie Database lists 157 minutes, which complies with the length of the Japanese DVD video release.^[3]