The Youth and His Amulet (1961)
Directed by Hiroshi Inagaki
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Synopsis by Sandra Brennan
In this Japanese drama, a ten-year-old boy lives in the country with his sister and his widowed father, a Buddhist priest. When the father decides to remarry, the boy is devastated. The father, wanting to avoid trouble, then sends the boy to live with a parishioner in a neighboring village. The old woman the boy lives with hates children and constantly nags at him. The poor lad tires of her and the work she assigns him. One day, he picks up a small idol and goes for a walk with it. He tells the idol all his troubles. He soon finds himself in more trouble when he is arrested for stealing the idol, which had come from a local shrine. The authorities return him to his father, who is having problems with his new wife. She then throws away the boy's beloved amulet. When he calls her on this, the woman leaves. The boy and his sister go looking for her. In the end, the boy is placed up for adoption.
Characteristics
Keywords
adoption, amulet, arrest, boy, Buddhism, child, countryside, dysfunctional, father, foster-home, idol, Japan, marriage, menial-task, monk, priest, problems, robbery, search, shrine, sister, stepmother, widow/widower, wife, news
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