← Back to Cinema Atlas
Discover great cinema and the connections that made it possible.
Dotanba
JAPAN · 1957

Dotanba

Tomu Uchida
mining disaster rescue operation working class struggle human survival social consciousness
Watch on MUBI → Stream on Criterion → ▶ Trailer

Synopsis

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 a

More from Tomu Uchida

Japan · Japanese Golden Age
Shinken Shobu
1971 • Japan
View →
Jinsei Gekijo: Hishakaku to Kiratsune
1968 • Japan
View →
Kika-Kaikyo
1965 • Japan
View →