Daibyonin
Encyclopedia
Daibyonin is a 1993
film
directed by the Japanese
filmmaker
Juzo Itami
, about the final year of a successful film director suffering from cancer.
The film can be seen as a criticism of the traditional attitudes of Japanese doctors to their patients, especially the withholding of information from patients suffering from terminal illness
es. It also touches on other end-of-life issues for the terminally ill.
The cast includes Rentaro Mikuni (Buhei Mikai, the film director), Masahiko Tsugawa
(Doctor Ogata) and Nobuko Miyamoto
(Buhei‘s wife).
Mikuni was nominated for the Best Actor award at the Japanese Academy Awards for his role in this film and Tsuribaka nisshi 6
.
After he vomits blood when he is with his mistress, Buhei’s wife takes him to the hospital, where the doctor diagnoses him with terminal cancer and operates on his stomach. However, he withholds this information from Buhei, and tells him he has an ulcer.
After a remission, Buhei again becomes ill, is operated on for a second time, and is confined to hospital. Gradually he guesses that he must be suffering from cancer, despite constant reassurances to the contrary from his wife and doctor.
After an unsuccessful suicide attempt, the doctor and wife decide to tell him the truth. After wrestling with his conscience, Dr Ogata also allows Buhei to direct the final scene of his film, even though the effort will shorten his life, and agrees not to administer drugs that would prolong his life at the cost of more pain and suffering.
Buhei completes his film. He tells the doctor how grateful his is that he was honest about his condition and could live his final weeks to the full. In the last scene, he dies, surrounded by his wife, doctor, nurse and members of the film production crew.
1993 in film
The year 1993 in film involved many significant films, including the blockbuster hits Jurassic Park, The Fugitive and The Firm. -Events:...
film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
directed by the Japanese
Cinema of Japan
The has a history that spans more than 100 years. Japan has one of the oldest and largest film industries in the world – as of 2009 the fourth largest by number of feature films produced. Movies have been produced in Japan since 1897, when the first foreign cameramen arrived...
filmmaker
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Juzo Itami
Juzo Itami
, born , was an actor and a popular modern Japanese film director. Many critics came to regard him as Japan's greatest director since Akira Kurosawa. His 10 movies, all of which he wrote himself, are comic satires on elements of Japanese culture....
, about the final year of a successful film director suffering from cancer.
The film can be seen as a criticism of the traditional attitudes of Japanese doctors to their patients, especially the withholding of information from patients suffering from terminal illness
Terminal illness
Terminal illness is a medical term popularized in the 20th century to describe a disease that cannot be cured or adequately treated and that is reasonably expected to result in the death of the patient within a short period of time. This term is more commonly used for progressive diseases such as...
es. It also touches on other end-of-life issues for the terminally ill.
The cast includes Rentaro Mikuni (Buhei Mikai, the film director), Masahiko Tsugawa
Masahiko Tsugawa
, born Masahiko Kato on January 2, 1940 in Kyoto, Japan is a Japanese actor and director.He made his debut at the age of 16 in the Kō Nakahira film Crazed Fruit in 1956. Tsugawa's family was heavily involved in the film industry since before his birth...
(Doctor Ogata) and Nobuko Miyamoto
Nobuko Miyamoto
is a Japanese actress. She was born in Otaru, Hokkaidō, and raised in Nagoya. She was married to director Jūzō Itami from 1969 until his death in 1997, and regularly starred in his films....
(Buhei‘s wife).
Mikuni was nominated for the Best Actor award at the Japanese Academy Awards for his role in this film and Tsuribaka nisshi 6
Tsuribaka Nisshi 6
is a 1993 Japanese film directed by Tomio Kuriyama.-Awards:17th Japan Academy Prize*Won: Best Actor - Toshiyuki Nishida*Nominated: Best Actor - Rentaro Mikuni...
.
Plot
Buhei Mikai is a successful actor and film director, and is making a film about a middle aged married couple, both of whom are dying of cancer.After he vomits blood when he is with his mistress, Buhei’s wife takes him to the hospital, where the doctor diagnoses him with terminal cancer and operates on his stomach. However, he withholds this information from Buhei, and tells him he has an ulcer.
After a remission, Buhei again becomes ill, is operated on for a second time, and is confined to hospital. Gradually he guesses that he must be suffering from cancer, despite constant reassurances to the contrary from his wife and doctor.
After an unsuccessful suicide attempt, the doctor and wife decide to tell him the truth. After wrestling with his conscience, Dr Ogata also allows Buhei to direct the final scene of his film, even though the effort will shorten his life, and agrees not to administer drugs that would prolong his life at the cost of more pain and suffering.
Buhei completes his film. He tells the doctor how grateful his is that he was honest about his condition and could live his final weeks to the full. In the last scene, he dies, surrounded by his wife, doctor, nurse and members of the film production crew.