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 and Akira Kurosawa’s frequent screenwriter, Shinobu Hashimoto, and stars Kurosawa’s frequent star Takashi Shimura.

• DirectorTomu Uchida
• Release24 November 1957
• GenreDrama
• Duration1h 49m
• Budget?
• Revenue?
• Rate
  

  7.2
  6 reviews
• Productions

  Toei Company