Based on a 1956 television feature on Japan’s national network, NHK, this is one of Uchida’s rarest films. A socially conscious drama with a contemporary backdrop, Dotanba focuses on the attempts to rescue a group of trapped miners. The title is a figure of speech — (essentially “last minute” or “eleventh hour”) — that refers to a situation of peril. The film boasts a script co-written by Uchida and Akira Kurosawa’s frequent screenwriter, Shinobu Hashimoto, and stars Kurosawa’s frequent star Takashi Shimura.
Directing | Tomu Uchida | Director |
Writing | Tomu Uchida | Screenplay |
Editing | Fumio Soda | Editor |
Writing | Shinobu Hashimoto | Screenplay |
Writing | Ryūzō Kikushima | Novel |
Sound | Taichiro Kosugi | Original Music Composer |
Camera | Shizuka Fujii | Director of Photography |
Art | Mikio Mori | Art Direction |
Sound | Shozo Hirogami | Sound Recordist |