KENZABURO OE'S LONG ROAD TO FATHERHOOD (TV)
Summary
This 1995 International Emmy Award-winning documentary examines the relationship between the author Kenzaburo Oe and his mentally disabled son, Hikari, who has become a respected composer. Chronicling the summer of 1994 -- when Kenzaburo, that year's recipient of the Nobel Prize for Literature, is finishing his master work "The Flaming Green Tree," while his eldest son Hikari composes music which will commemorate the bombing of Hiroshima -- this documentary examines the maturation of a unique father-son relationship. Highlights include: Hikari learns that he is to compose music to be performed at the Atomic Dome in Hiroshima; the day-to-day life of the Oe family in Setagaya, Tokyo; an explanation of Hikari's physical and mental disabilities which make it difficult for him to communicate and walk, his affliction with epilepsy, and his employment at a workshop for the disabled; Kenzaburo's initial distress over his son's handicap at the time of his birth in 1963; how a meeting with Doctor Fumio Shigeto at the Atomic-Bomb Survivors Hospital made the father improve his outlook about his son's life despite Hikari's congenital physical and mental disabilities; the progress of Hikari's musical piece for the Hiroshima commeroration; a brief history of the development of Hikari's composing skills, which began because of his childhood interest in bird calls; comments by Hikari's music teacher, Kumiko Tamura, on her pupil's progress; segments of recordings of Hikari's music; the young man's attendance at a recording session of his compositions at Daisetsu Crystal Hall; footage of Kenzaburo guiding Hikari through the Peace Memorial Museum in Hiroshima so that his son can overcome his fear of death; and footage from the concert where Hikari's piece "Hiroshima" -- now retitled "Long Summer" -- is performed to great acclaim.
Details
- NETWORK: NHK (Japan)
- DATE: November 30, 1994
- RUNNING TIME: 0:58:51
- COLOR/B&W: Color
- CATALOG ID: T:41379
- GENRE: Arts documentaries
- SUBJECT HEADING: Developmental disabilities; Fathers and sons; International Collection - Japan; Music; Writers
- SERIES RUN: NHK - TV, 1995
- COMMERCIALS: N/A
CREDITS
- Yoshiaki Yamato … Producer
- Kensuke Miyauchi … Director, Writer
- Hikari Oe … Music by
- Elizabeth Hadover … Narrator
- Kenzaburo Oe
- Fumio Shigeto
- Kumiko Tamara