is a 1961 melodrama film based on the 1948 novel by Pearl S. Buck. The film was directed and produced by Tad Danielewski from a screenplay co-written with Buck, and stars Sessue Hayakawa, Mickey Curtis, Koji Shitara, and . The story follows two boys, Yukio (played by Ota and Curtis) and Toru (Shitara and Ichizo Itami), growing up in a coastal village that is often threatened by natural disasters. Their friendship is strained when both develop feelings for the same ama girl, Haruko (Reiko Higa).
After working together on a 1956 television adaptation of The Big Wave for NBC, Buck and Danielewski formed the independent production company Stratton Productions. The film adaptation began development in early 1960. Buck visited Japan in May 1960 for the initial meetings but returned to the United States that June after her husband's death, briefly pausing her involvement. During pre-production, Japanese co-producer Toho appointed a Japanese co-director, who ultimately left due to conflicts with Danielewski. Principal photography lasted from September to November 1960, on location in Japan. It became a pioneering American-Japanese co-production and the film debut of both Buck and Danielewski. Buck later authored a memoir, A Bridge for Passing (1962), recounting her experiences during the film's production.
The Big Wave was screened in Hirosaki and Niigata in 1961, and released in the United States on April 29, 1962. It garnered mostly favorable reviews from Western critics, with praise for its acting, story, special effects, and cinematography, but criticism for the slow pacing. A lack of existing contemporary documentation has made its box office total, as well as exact screening dates in Japan, unknown. The film has since become largely unavailable to the general public. A print owned by the Kawakita Memorial Film Institute was screened in Unzen, Nagasaki on October 29, 2005, but has since been disposed of. As of 2018, the Library of Congress owned the only known remaining viewable print of the film.
Plot Yukio (farmer) and Toru (fisher) are two young friends who live in a coastal village on a Japanese island. One day, they travel to the local beach and meet a young pearl diver (ama) named Haruko, who gifts them an abalone and shows them her diving skills. Yukio's sister, Setsu, watches them, deciding she has a liking for Toru and wants to become an ama to impress him like Haruko.
On the village's annual shark hunting day, Toru, alongside his father and most of the villagers prepare for their trip, but are interrupted by the village's leader known as the "Old Gentleman", who warns them of a tsunami that he predicts will destroy the village, as it had happened thirty years ago on the same day. He urges everyone to flee to the hills, but he villagers disregard the Old Gentleman's advice and continue with their daily practices. That night, while Toru is staying at Yukio's house on a farm on the outskirts of the village, the nearby volcano erupts causing a massive wave that destroys the village and kills almost every villager, including Toru's family. Toru witnesses the tsunami and, devastated by the loss of his parents, faints. The wealthy Old Gentleman offers to adopt Toru, but Toru instead decides to live with Yukio's family (who live in poverty).
A decade later, Toru is adopted by Yukio's parents, and they live at their house with Setsu, who still has a crush on Toru. He remained audacious and has been saving money to buy a boat, eventually receiving an offer to purchase one from Haruko, who also has a crush on him. One day, Yukio and Toru go shark hunting with Setsu and Haruko. The two boys realize they both have developed feelings for Haruko over time. A fight soon breaks out between the two girls over who can be in a relationship with Toru, where Haruko unsuccessfully attempts to drown Setsu. Yukio and Toru ultimately get involved. After Toru throws Haruko aside, Yukio becomes enraged and assaults Toru. The fight concludes when Yukio reveals his love to Haruko, and Turo says he wants Setsu; the girls agree to marry them.
Toru and Setsu return to the now-rebuilt village and talk about their plans to get married and go fishing. Overheard by the Old Gentleman who resents the ocean since his son was killed while fishing three decades prior, instead offers the couple the largest farm in the area, adding that he would not warn them of any more tsunamis if they refuse. Nonetheless, they refuse, but suggest he should continue using his wisdom for good and still warn them anyway, to which he agrees.
Cast
Cast listing taken from the film's pressbook.
Production
Development
While working at NBC in the mid-1950s, Tad Danielewski suggested to author Pearl S. Buck a televised adaptation of her 1948 novel The Big Wave, with Buck writing the script. Her script was ultimately adapted for an episode of the anthology television series The Alcoa Hour. Shot in color under the direction of Norman Felton, the episode starred Rip Torn and Robert Morse as the two Japanese village boys, and Hume Cronyn as the Wise Gentleman. It aired on NBC in September 1956, to acclaim from New York-based critics at the time, with The New York Times highlighting Buck's script. Buck said she was "only moderately pleased" with the episode itself, resenting the casting of white actors to play Asian characters. Danielewski was disappointed that he did not end up directing the adaptation of The Big Wave, but later worked with Buck by directing an adaptation of Buck's book The Enemy, which aired as an episode of Robert Montgomery Presents starring Shirley Yamaguchi. Following the episode's success, Buck and Danielewski became close friends.
In 1957, Buck and Danielewski founded the independent production company Stratton Productions named after Stratton Mountain. The company initially worked on stage productions before transitioning to film. After several unsuccessful plays, Danielewski proposed adapting The Big Wave into a film in early 1960, and insisted on filming it in Japan to reflect the story authentically. Buck, who served as the co-writer and executive producer, decided to use this as an opportunity to foster US-Japan cultural understanding through its production. The decision to make the film in Japan was made in April 1960, and development was first disclosed in the issue of Variety printed on May 4, 1960. On May 11, the Motion Picture Exhibitor reported that Allied Artists Pictures president Steve Broidy revealed that his company would acquire The Big Wave for release. It was reported at the time to be filmed in color and in CinemaScope.
Buck visited Tokyo on May 24 where she held the first meeting for the film's production; the Associated Press noted that it occurred on the same day as the tsunami resulted from the 1960 Valdivia earthquake that hit Northern Japan. She traveled back to the United States that June after being informed that her husband, Richard J. Walsh, had died during her absence. Although this briefly deferred her involvement, she returned to Japan to complete negotiations shortly thereafter. The film ultimately became Danielewski's feature directorial debut, and Buck's film debut.
The script of The Big Wave, co-written by Buck and Danielewski, was predominantly faithful to the novel. The pair expanded largely on the dialogue between the two protagonists Yukio and Toru, who in the original novel were named Kino and Jiya respectively. Setsu was, in the novel, depicted as more mischievous than her emotionally fragile counterpart in the film. The film's opening centers on ama divers, as Buck felt this would emphasize their importance in the Japanese coastal community; she had previously made no mention of ama in the novel.
Pre-production
Buck and Danielewski, representing Stratton Productions, reached an agreement with the Japanese company Toho granting distribution rights for The Big Wave in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan, while Allied Artists remained the main distributor in the rest of the world. Toho in exchange provided special effects director Eiji Tsuburaya and four actors. Buck arranged for Toho to hire the Japanese cast and crew and secured full cooperation by agreeing to respect local customs. This meant adhering to Japanese wage standards and sustaining the local pay system without causing disruptions.
Around 200 people auditioned for the thirteen main roles in the film. The American crew were intent on finding Japanese actors who could speak English as they believed this would make the film more universally appealing. Danielewski believed that actors who often appeared in Japanese musical comedies were the best potential cast members as they had already been familiarize with Tin Pan Alley and trained to sing in English occasionally. He reportedly had to teach some of the Japanese cast the distinction between "l" and "r". Danielewski later described the cast as "the kindest, sweetest, hardest working, most wonderful people I have ever been associated with."
A press conference was held in Tokyo in late May 1960 to disclose pre-production details on the film; Buck and a Toho executive were among those in attendance. Casting negotiations had only begun a few weeks prior, and none had been finalized before the start of the conference. However, word soon reached Buck and the others that Sessue Hayakawa, at the time the most famous Japanese actor in the Western world, had just became the first to secure a role in the film fully, and they went forth to inform the press at the conclusion of the conference. Hayakawa had been working in Hollywood and Japan for decades and likely considered his appearance in The Big Wave as fulfilling his dream of starring in a co-production between the two countries. His wife, Tsuru Aoki, was also set to have a role, as reported in August 1960. The Los Angeles Times remarked that the couple had starred in a similar American film, The Wrath of the Gods (1914).
All the adult Japanese cast were well-known in Japan, except Reiko Higa, who Buck said was "chosen especially for the ferocious abalone diving girl". Higa previously appeared in the American film Joe Butterfly (1957). Itami, who played Toru, was an employee of Daiei Film and the company's president, Masaichi Nagata, personally permitted his appearance via a courtesy call with Buck. Setsu was originally set to be played by Kyoko Takahashi, an actress who had worked for Toho's rival film company Toei, according to Japanese outlets. However, she was ultimately replaced by Rumiko Sasa from Toho, leaving Takahashi and the Japanese media discouraged. Variety attributed the casting change to Takahashi's contractual obligations.
While the Japanese production manager was helping find cast members, Buck and Danielewski, along with their assistants, went location scouting around Japan. They intended to find a location close to Tokyo as they wanted to remain close to the studio, focused mostly on finding an active volcano and landslides. In May 1960, they traveled to the Japanese island of Izu Ōshima, which Buck found was an easily accessible destination by boat that usually would only take a few hours to reach, and featured several fishing villages making it an ideal location for them. Unzen, where Buck had visited during her youth, was also chosen as a filming location. By late August, the scouting team, without Buck, had found additional locations for the film such as a beach, farm, and the village houses.