Hunting Rifle

Hunting Rifle

Year: 1961

Runtime: 98 mins

Language: Japanese

Director: Heinosuke Gosho

Drama

Saiko leaves her husband, a physician, after a mysterious stranger delivers a baby claiming it is his husband’s child. She then begins an affair with her cousin’s husband, complicating family ties. Tension rises when she learns her ex is planning to remarry, forcing her to confront her past decisions.

Melancholic
Sad ending
Emotionally heavy
Medium intensity
Slow pacing
Moderate complexity

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Timeline & Setting – Hunting Rifle (1961)

Explore the full timeline and setting of Hunting Rifle (1961). Follow every major event in chronological order and see how the environment shapes the story, characters, and dramatic tension.

Time period

Location

Japan

The story unfolds across Japan, focusing on intimate domestic interiors and the stark winter landscapes that frame the characters. A prologue shows a hunter moving through a snow-drenched setting, establishing a mood of isolation. Much of the drama plays out inside Saiko's, Midori's, and Kadota's homes, where private betrayals and fragile alliances push the plot forward. The season's cold climate mirrors the emotional chill that permeates the relationships.

❄️ Snowy landscapes 🏠 Domestic spaces

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 18:38

Main Characters – Hunting Rifle (1961)

Meet the key characters of Hunting Rifle (1961), with detailed profiles, motivations, and roles in the plot. Understand their emotional journeys and what they reveal about the film’s deeper themes.

Josuke Misugi (Shin Saburi)

A hunter by habit who has become a company director and art collector. Newly married to the young Midori, he becomes involved in an intense affair with Saiko, testing his loyalties. He is portrayed as reserved and introspective, and his choices reveal the fragility of adult commitments. The prologue's hunter image frames his role as the emotional hinge of the past that drives the flashback.

💔 Adulterer 🧭 Conflicted 🧊 Reserved

Midori Misugi (Mariko Okada)

The young wife of Josuke, initially inexperienced and observant. Her discovery of the affair triggers a slow emotional disintegration and a period of loneliness. She engages in brief affairs with other men as the marriage cools, signaling her search for connection beyond her husband. Her arc embodies the cost of secrecy on a woman's life and sense of self.

💔 Neglected wife 🕊️ Resilient 🪶 Secluded

Saiko Tagi (Fujiko Yamamoto)

Midori's older cousin, married to Kadota, who becomes Misugi's lover. Sophisticated and conflicted, she views their affair as a kind of criminal act and is haunted by guilt. She vows to end her life if the truth is exposed, and later dies after Saiko asks Shoko to burn her diary, leaving behind a potent diary of secrets.

💼 Sophisticated 💔 Guilty 📝 Diary-driven

Kadota (Koji Nakata)

A physician and Midori and Saiko's link through Saiko's marriage; he is the husband of Saiko and later remarries after their separation. His presence anchors the social and moral dimensions of the affair, highlighting the complexity of intimate relationships within a professional class.

🏥 Doctor 🧭 Complex marriage 🔒 Secretive

Shoko Tagi (Haruko Wanibuchi)

The child of Hamako and Kadota who is adopted into Saiko's circle after Hamako's appearance. Shoko is a lens through which the audience perceives the impact of adult secrets on a young life; she ultimately confronts the 'sad and terrible world of adults' through the diary.

👶 Innocence 📜 Diary reader 😮 Shocked

Hamako (Nobuko Otowa)

The mother who arrives with her young child claiming Kadota's former mistress status; her appearance sparks the central conflict and leads to Saiko's diary's fate. Her death in an accident after these revelations intensifies the tragedy and the sense of consequence surrounding the affair.

💔 Heartbroken 💡 Catalyst 🌧️ Tragic

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 18:38

Major Themes – Hunting Rifle (1961)

Explore the central themes of Hunting Rifle (1961), from psychological, social, and emotional dimensions to philosophical messages. Understand what the film is really saying beneath the surface.

💔 Adultery

The central affair between Misugi and Saiko drives the narrative and exposes how desire destabilizes marriages. The lovers trade secrecy for urgency, risking exposure that would devastate Midori. The diary that records their acts becomes a tangible symbol of guilt and accountability. The film uses this forbidden romance to explore the ethical weight of passion and its consequences.

🕰️ Marital decline

Misugi and Midori's relationship deteriorates into coldness and loneliness as the affair unfolds. The film traces how trust erodes and personal longing gives way to distance within the marriage. Their growing separation echoes through the family, amplifying the sense of loss and miscommunication. Time accentuates regret, reframing the romance as a casualty of hidden truths.

📝 Guilt

Saiko's sense of guilt shapes her choices and her vow that she would kill herself if Midori discovered the truth. The diary becomes a physical record of secrets that governs the fates of those involved. Shoko's later reading of the diary exposes the adults' world as sad and terrifying from a child's perspective. Guilt binds the characters, limiting their freedom and driving tragic outcomes.

🎞️ Memory

The opening prologue framed by Misugi's snowy life is echoed throughout as the rest of the film unfolds in a flashback. A narrator guides the viewer through past events, prompting reflection on what really happened. The structure invites viewers to piece together truth from fragments and memories. The ending circles back to the opening image, underscoring how memory preservers emotional landscapes.

Last Updated: October 04, 2025 at 18:38

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Explore Movie Threads

Discover curated groups of movies connected by mood, themes, and story style. Browse collections built around emotion, atmosphere, and narrative focus to easily find films that match what you feel like watching right now.

Slow burn stories of marital ruin like Hunting Rifle

Stories where domestic lives unravel under the weight of quiet betrayal.A collection of movies like Hunting Rifle, featuring slow-paced dramas about the quiet collapse of relationships. If you appreciated the heavy emotional weight and melancholic tone of Hunting Rifle, you'll find similar stories exploring betrayal, guilt, and the painful consequences of secrets within families.

melancholicsomberrestrainedtenseachingreflectivequietlonely

Narrative Summary

These narratives often follow characters as they confront the fallout of adultery or deceit, revealing the damage through restrained interactions and emotional isolation rather than overt drama. The journey is one of regret and reflection, typically leading to a somber or sad conclusion.

Why These Movies?

Movies are grouped here for their shared focus on the slow, painful unraveling of intimate bonds, their melancholic and reflective tone, and their emphasis on the heavy emotional weight of guilt and regret.

Movies about quiet suffering and regret like Hunting Rifle

Character-driven dramas centered on internal pain and the burden of past mistakes.Discover films similar to Hunting Rifle that explore themes of deep regret and quiet emotional pain. These character-driven dramas share a slow pacing and heavy emotional weight, perfect for viewers who liked the reflective and somber mood of Hunting Rifle and its focus on the consequences of past actions.

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Narrative Summary

The narrative pattern involves characters grappling with the long-lasting effects of their choices, often in isolation. The conflict is primarily internal, with the plot serving to expose the depth of their guilt and the impossibility of undoing their past, leading to an emotionally resonant, typically sad, resolution.

Why These Movies?

This thread unites movies through their dominant mood of reflective melancholy, their focus on the internal experience of guilt and regret, and their use of a slow, deliberate pace to amplify the feeling of quiet, persistent sorrow.

Unlock the Full Story of Hunting Rifle

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Hunting Rifle Summary

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Hunting Rifle Summary

Hunting Rifle Timeline

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Hunting Rifle Timeline

Hunting Rifle Spoiler-Free Summary

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Hunting Rifle Spoiler-Free Summary

More About Hunting Rifle

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Hunting Rifle (1961) Plot Summary & Movie Recap

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