[go: up one dir, main page]

    Release calendarTop 250 moviesMost popular moviesBrowse movies by genreTop box officeShowtimes & ticketsMovie newsIndia movie spotlight
    What's on TV & streamingTop 250 TV showsMost popular TV showsBrowse TV shows by genreTV news
    What to watchLatest trailersIMDb OriginalsIMDb PicksIMDb SpotlightFamily entertainment guideIMDb Podcasts
    OscarsEmmysSan Diego Comic-ConSummer Watch GuideToronto Int'l Film FestivalSTARmeter AwardsAwards CentralFestival CentralAll events
    Born todayMost popular celebsCelebrity news
    Help centerContributor zonePolls
For industry professionals
  • Language
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Watchlist
Sign in
  • Fully supported
  • English (United States)
    Partially supported
  • Français (Canada)
  • Français (France)
  • Deutsch (Deutschland)
  • हिंदी (भारत)
  • Italiano (Italia)
  • Português (Brasil)
  • Español (España)
  • Español (México)
Use app
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • Trivia
  • FAQ
IMDbPro

Le vase de sable

Original title: Suna no utsuwa
  • 1974
  • 2h 23m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
1.7K
YOUR RATING
Le vase de sable (1974)
Police ProceduralCrimeDramaMysteryThriller

Detectives investigate the murder of an old man found in a Tokyo rail yard.Detectives investigate the murder of an old man found in a Tokyo rail yard.Detectives investigate the murder of an old man found in a Tokyo rail yard.

  • Director
    • Yoshitarô Nomura
  • Writers
    • Seichô Matsumoto
    • Shinobu Hashimoto
    • Yôji Yamada
  • Stars
    • Tetsurô Tanba
    • Gô Katô
    • Kensaku Morita
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.3/10
    1.7K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Yoshitarô Nomura
    • Writers
      • Seichô Matsumoto
      • Shinobu Hashimoto
      • Yôji Yamada
    • Stars
      • Tetsurô Tanba
      • Gô Katô
      • Kensaku Morita
    • 20User reviews
    • 10Critic reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 7 wins & 1 nomination total

    Photos73

    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    View Poster
    + 69
    View Poster

    Top cast69

    Edit
    Tetsurô Tanba
    Tetsurô Tanba
    • Eitaro Imanishi
    Gô Katô
    Gô Katô
    • Eiryo Waga
    Kensaku Morita
    Kensaku Morita
    • Hiroshi Yoshimura
    Yôko Shimada
    Yôko Shimada
    • Reiko Takagi
    Karin Yamaguchi
    Karin Yamaguchi
    • Sachiko Tadokoro
    Yoshi Katô
    Yoshi Katô
    • Chiyokichi Motoura
    Kazuhide Haruta
    Kazuhide Haruta
    • Hideo Motoura
    Chishû Ryû
    Chishû Ryû
    • Kirihara
    Junko Natsu
    • Akiko
    Seiji Matsuyama
    • Miki's Son
    Taketoshi Naitô
    Taketoshi Naitô
    • Search Section Chief
    Masumi Harukawa
    Masumi Harukawa
    • Naka Sumie
    Yoshio Inaba
    Yoshio Inaba
    • Search Chief Clerk
    Tokue Hanazawa
    • Miki's Colleague in Flashback
    Taiji Tonoyama
    Taiji Tonoyama
    • Publican at Ebisu
    Kinzô Shin
    Kinzô Shin
    • Professor Kuwabara
    Kappei Matsumoto
    • Mimori Police Chief
    Jun Hamamura
    Jun Hamamura
    • Patrolman
    • Director
      • Yoshitarô Nomura
    • Writers
      • Seichô Matsumoto
      • Shinobu Hashimoto
      • Yôji Yamada
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews20

    7.31.6K
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10

    Featured reviews

    9Samanessence

    Thoroughly Enjoyable

    I just saw this movie for the first time last night at the Japanese Film Festival held in Melbourne. It was a re-mastered print and on the huge screen it was magnificent. The flashback scenes with the father and son set to the stunning musical score seemed like a completely different movie to what had preceded. But to me, final scenes are important - a skillful movie ending turns a good film into a great film. A bad ending turns an average to good film into a piece of rubbish. As far as Castle of Sand is concerned, what started out as an interesting detective story ended as a sweeping piece which left me walking out of the cinema thinking "That was incredible!!".

    Japanese cinema rarely fails to impress me. I keep discovering more and more gems, usually from years gone by when I was too young to experience them at the time.
    6poikkeus

    A tragedy it ends so badly

    CASTLE OF SAND is an engrossing, laid-back police procedural that captures your attention even when the plot seems fairly ordinary. A Tokyo cop (Tetsuro Tamba) is troubled when a retired cop is found brutally murdered, with no evidence save the vague recollections of a few townsfolk. At times, the story is reminiscent of a regional travelogue, but in learning more about Japan, Tamba hones in on a small set of likely suspects, but everyone is so agreeable that uncovering the truth becomes like rooting out the one hidden evidence of violence in a sea of potential data.

    Regrettably, the film unravels in the final forty or so minutes, when the remainder of the story is told with musical accompaniment of a famous pianist. The plot becomes frankly loses credibility and even becomes rather nonsensical. The movie changes mood and style, and dripping with melodrama.
    7deschreiber

    Too long

    There's a lot to like about this film, mostly because of the beautiful cinematography and the picturesque Japanese countryside. The unraveling of the police investigation of the central murder has interesting moments, but by the end it becomes too strung-out and torturous. The last 45 minutes or so had me tapping my toes waiting for it to end, as every plot point and every shot was prolonged far past the limits of my patience.

    Lovers of classical music will be amused by what passes for the output of the "genius" composer. While composing in the early stages in his home at the piano, he plays quite awful nightclub music. It would never get him an invitation to perform with the New York Philharmonic, as the plot requires. In the last section, with him performing on stage, intercut with scenes of the police concluding their investigation, he plays a pretty forgettable late-Romantic piano concerto, apparently written by a real Japanese composer, Yasushi Akutagawa.
    SONNYK_USA

    2005 NEW YORK FILM FESTIVAL SIDEBAR - Special Retrospective

    The Film Society of Lincoln Center Presents

    A Special Retrospective of The 43rd New York Film Festival

    The Beauty of the Everyday: Japan's Shochiku Company at 110 September 24 – October 20, 2005

    This project is supported in part by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts, which believes that a great nation deserves great art.

    This year's New York Film Festival Retrospective— The Beauty of the Everyday: Japan's Shochiku Company at 110— is virtually a pocket history of Japanese cinema. While some fifteen of the forty-five films in the retrospective are devoted to Japanese filmmaker masters, such as Ozu, Naruse, and Mizoguchi, more than two dozen of the films are by directors far less well-known in the West.

    The Castle of Sand / Suna no Utsuwa Yoshitaro Nomura, 1974; 140m Two detectives, Imanishi and Yoshimura, are assigned to the murder of a 60-year-old man whose body was found dumped in a railroad yard. It turns to be that of a former policeman, Miki; the murder now seems even more mysterious, as Miki was well liked by all and had been on holiday when he was killed. The detectives visit all the places to which Miki has traveled, with little luck, but then they read an account buried in a lengthy report of how Miki years before had befriended a destitute, leprous man and his young son. Amazingly, that boy had grown up to become Eiryo Waga, a rising star in the music world. Could such an eminent figure have anything to do with the murder? Sadly, Yoshitaro Nomura passed away this past April; for years one of Shochiku's most popular and reliable directors, he worked successfully in a variety of genres but especially made his mark with The Castle of Sand, based on a best-selling novel. A real delight, the film contains many of the classic features of the detective film — the pairing of a veteran and a rookie, the investigation as a voyage of discovery, wonderfully eccentric supporting characters — but under Nomura's sure direction they take on a whole new life.

    ONLY ONE Screening: Sun Sept 25: 9:00pm
    caddie1976

    Nice to see an (almost) forgotten movie again

    This movie has three stories which are skillfully merged together at the end. One story is about a determined detective who is searching for a murderer. The second story is about a composer with social aspirations who is preparing to perform the debut of his piano concerto. I won't spoil it by describing the third story which is a flashback 30 years into the past. The third story has very little dialog and shows what silent movie fans have always known: you don't need much dialog to tell a good story.

    The English subtitling on the dvd version I saw is not great, but passable. As a minor quibble, the subtitles are not present to translate written documents when a newspaper article or arrest warrant is shown on the screen.

    There are some nice visual scenes which are quite effective. I last saw this movie in the 1970's and although I forgot the movie title, I never forgot the scene where the two detectives ride silently on their way to arrest the murderer. When I viewed this movie again recently, I was surprised to see how brief this scene actually is.

    More like this

    Inugami-ke no ichizoku
    7.1
    Inugami-ke no ichizoku
    L'été du démon
    7.4
    L'été du démon
    Le Détroit de la faim
    7.9
    Le Détroit de la faim
    Giwaku
    7.1
    Giwaku
    Amagi goe
    7.0
    Amagi goe
    Confessions d'une épouse
    7.4
    Confessions d'une épouse
    Yatsuhaka-mura
    6.5
    Yatsuhaka-mura
    Harikomi
    7.1
    Harikomi
    Nihon no ichiban nagai hi
    7.7
    Nihon no ichiban nagai hi
    Akuma no temari-uta
    6.8
    Akuma no temari-uta
    Les mouchoirs jaunes du bonheur
    7.3
    Les mouchoirs jaunes du bonheur
    Sandakan hachiban shôkan: Bôkyô
    7.5
    Sandakan hachiban shôkan: Bôkyô

    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Seichô Matsumoto once said he preferred this movie, based on his novel, over said novel.
    • Connections
      Referenced in NHK supesharu: Sayonara eiga no furusato: Ofuna satsueijo (2000)

    Top picks

    Sign in to rate and Watchlist for personalized recommendations
    Sign in

    FAQ14

    • How long is The Castle of Sand?Powered by Alexa

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • October 19, 1974 (Japan)
    • Country of origin
      • Japan
    • Language
      • Japanese
    • Also known as
      • The Castle of Sand
    • Filming locations
      • Ebisu, Naniwa, Osaka, Japan
    • Production companies
      • Hashimoto Productions
      • Shochiku
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 2h 23m(143 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

    Contribute to this page

    Suggest an edit or add missing content
    • Learn more about contributing
    Edit page

    More to explore

    Recently viewed

    Please enable browser cookies to use this feature. Learn more.
    Get the IMDb App
    Sign in for more accessSign in for more access
    Follow IMDb on social
    Get the IMDb App
    For Android and iOS
    Get the IMDb App
    • Help
    • Site Index
    • IMDbPro
    • Box Office Mojo
    • License IMDb Data
    • Press Room
    • Advertising
    • Jobs
    • Conditions of Use
    • Privacy Policy
    • Your Ads Privacy Choices
    IMDb, an Amazon company

    © 1990-2025 by IMDb.com, Inc.