Zero Focus

Zero Focus (ゼロの焦点, Zero no shōten) is a 1961 Japanese crime drama film directed by Yoshitarō Nomura, and co-written by Shinobu Hashimoto and Yoji Yamada. It is based on the novel of the same name by Seichō Matsumoto. A remake of the film was released in 2009.

Plot

One week into newlywed Teiko Uhara's marriage, her husband, ad agency manager Kenichi, leaves on a short business trip to Kanazawa and doesn't return. With a pair of old photographs she found among his belongings, Teiko travels across Japan to search for him, first with the help of her husband's employer, later on her own. After a series of mysterious deaths, including a reception girl of the agency's Kanazawa branch, who turns out to be Kenichi's common law wife, and Kenichi's alleged suicide, all clues lead to Sachiko Murota, wife of a wealthy business partner of her husband. Teiko confronts Mrs. Murota and blames her for murdering Kenichi and everyone who knew of her past as a prostitute in the post-war era. Yet, as Mrs. Murota's confession reveals, the truth is even more complex than that.

Cast

• Yoshiko Kuga as Teiko Uhara
• Hizuru Takachiho as Sachiko Murota / Emmy
• Ineko Arima as Hisako Tanuma / Sally
• Koji Nambara as Kenichi Uhara / Masuzaburo Sone
• Kō Nishimura as Sōtarō Uhara
• Yoshi Katō as Gisaku Murota
• Sadako Sawamura as Sōtarō's wife
• Takanobu Hozumi as Mr. Honda

Awards

• 1961 Blue Ribbon Award for Best Supporting Actress (Hizuru Takachiho)

Legacy

Seicho Matsumoto's novel was again adapted in 2009 by Isshin Inudō with Ryōko Hirosue as Teiko Uhara.

References

External links

• Zero Focus at IMDb
• Zero Focus at Rotten Tomatoes
• Zero Focus at AllMovie