His filmography is kilometers long. Her discography is a collection of hits. Miyazaki, as a great admirer, secretly modeled Sophie Hatter, the main character of Howl's Moving Castle, on her… After Takeshi Kitano, awarded in 2022, the Golden Mulberry Lifetime Achievement Award at the Far East Film Festival will go this year to Baisho Chieko! The famous Japanese actress and singer will bring to FEFF 25 her most recent film, “Plan 75” by Hayakawa Chie, and two films that she personally wanted to choose for the Udine audience: the very first “Tora-san” and “Where Spring Comes Late”.
«When I learned that I had been invited to the Far East Film Festival in Udine and that I would receive an award – Baisho Chieko's words – I said to myself: “Really? For Plan 75?”. But instead… What a surprise! The Lifetime Achievement Golden Mulberry celebrates all the work I've done since I entered the world of cinema! I am really happy that my roles as an actress are also appreciated abroad: films are just something wonderful… I sincerely thank all the FEFF staff and, of course, I promise that I will continue to act with passion and dedication…».
Baisho Chieko, born in 1941, is very famous for having played the role of Sakura in the infinite Tora-san film series between 1969 and 1995: dozens of super cult films that marked her very long artistic partnership with director Yamada Yoji. In 1980 she was awarded Best Actress at the Hōchi Film Awards for “Haruka Naru Yama No Yobigoe” (“A Distant Cry of Spring”), also directed by Yamada Yoji. Also very active as a voice actress, she has often lent her voice to the world of animation: we remember Gundam, Kimba – The legend of the white lion and, as we have already said, “Howl's Moving Castle”.
Plan 75's Synopsis
Japan, tomorrow. A government program, Plan 75, aims to stem what has now become a national emergency: the aging of the population. On the one hand, the public costs of welfare. On the other hand, precisely, the possibility for the elderly to resort to state euthanasia in exchange for logistical and financial support. Live or die is not an ethical dilemma: it's a matter of bureaucracy. Just be 75 years old…
Following Michi, an old woman just trying to get by, Hiromu, a program salesman, and Maria, a Filipino nurse, Hayakawa Chie gracefully and naturally paints a rigorous social drama where dystopia and realism, moral inquiry and civil reflection converge . Plan 75 sees the eternal talent of Baisho Chieko sparkle in the role of Michi: symbol of an old Japan that tries to resist the shocks of time and modernity.
