Restored Asian Films
千人針 (Senninbari) [One Thousand Stitches / The 1000 Stitch Belt]
Film Synopsis
The title “Senninbari” or “One Thousand Stitches” refers to the metre-long belt composed of a thousand stitches which the hero’s grandmother prepares for him. These strips of cloth were given to soldiers as they left for war, and symbolised luck, protection, and well-wishes from loved ones. The film is a memento of bellicose times, made when Japan, which had already annexed Manchuria, launched a full-scale war with China.
This was the third film produced by Dai Nihon Tennenshoku Eigasha, a production company that pioneered colour cinema in Japan. They used the American two-strip colour process Cinecolor. On the film’s release, the Kinema Junpo reviewer praised the improvement of the process in comparison with the studio’s first film, Tsukigata Hanpeita (Seika Shiba, 1937), but suggested that the work was lacking in dramatic terms.
Film Details
Alternate Titles: One Thousand Stitches / The 1000 Stitch Belt
Language: Japanese
Original Production Country: Japan
Original Release Year: 1937
Original Elements Held By: GFF Moscow (Fragment only)
Original Distribution Company:
Production Company: Dai Nihon Tennenshoku Eigasha
Executive Producer:
Producer:
Director: Genjiro Saegusa
Writer: Genjiro Saegusa
Cinematography: Sukeshige Urushiyama
Editor:
Sound Editor:
Music/Score:
Narrator:
Other Credits: Cast: Matsunosuke Fukui, Kuni Sugiura, Hoshiko Tachibana, Fumio Wakamatsu
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1
Colour System: Colour
Colour Process: Cinecolor
Duration: 19 mins
Restoration Details
Status: Released
Country Where Restored: Japan
Restoration Release Date:
Country Restoration First Screened: Singapore
Lab Image Restored By: Imagica & Imagica West
Lab Audio Restored By:
Archive Partner(s) in Restoration: GFF Moscow & NFAJ (NFC) Tokyo
Restored Elements Held By:
Restoration Funded By:
Restoration Premiere:
Screening Rights Held By: