Castle of Sand (Japanese: 砂の器, Hepburn: Suna no Utsuwa), alternatively The Castle of Sand, is a 1974 Japanese police procedural neo-noir film directed by Yoshitarō Nomura, based on the novel Suna no Utsuwa by Seicho Matsumoto.
Contents
Plot
The film tells the tale of two detectives, Imanishi (Tetsuro Tamba) and Yoshimura (Kensaku Morita), tasked with tracking down the murderer of an old man, found bludgeoned to death in a rail yard. When the identity of the old man can't be determined, the investigation focuses on the only other clue: a scrap of conversation overheard at a bar between the old man and a younger one. A witness recalls the cryptic phrases "Kameda did this" and "Kameda doesn't change."
This sets off a wide-ranging investigation that covers vast swaths of geography, changing social mores, and time. The investigation ends with an emotional and heartbreaking conclusion, all the more shattering because the reason for the crime no longer exists in the world.
Cast
Tetsuro Tamba – Detective Eitaro Imanishi
Go Kato – Eiryo Waga/Hideo Motoura
Kensaku Morita – Detective Hiroshi Yoshimura
Yoko Shimada – Rieko Takagi
Karin Yamaguchi – Sachiko Tadokoro
Ken Ogata – Kenichi Miki
Seiji Matsuyama – Shokichi Miki
Yoshi Katō – Chiyokichi Motoura
Chishū Ryū – Kojuro Kirihara
Taketoshi Naito
Yoshio Inaba
Shin Saburi – Shigeyoshi Tadokoro
Kinzō Shin
Awards
1975 Kinema Junpo Award
Best Screenplay (Shinobu Hashimoto and Yōji Yamada)
Readers' Choice Award
Best Japanese Film Director (Yoshitaro Nomura)
1975 Mainichi Film Concours
Best Director (Yoshitaro Nomura)
Best Film (Yoshitaro Nomura)
Best Film Score (Kosuke Sugano )
Best Screenplay (Shinobu Hashimoto and Yōji Yamada)
9th Moscow International Film Festival
Diploma (Yoshitaro Nomura)
Nominated for Golden Prize (Yoshitaro Nomura).