Love Letter (1959) Movie Script
1
A NIKKATSU PRODUCTION
LOVE LETTER
Writer: Kiichi Ishii
Concept: Kenro Matsuura, Kenzo Asada
Art Director: Kazuo Yagyu
Lighting: Aizo Kono
Cinematography: Isamu Kakita
Sound: Toshio Nakamura
Assistant Director: Kazunari Takeda
Editing: Akira Suzuki
Music: Michio Mamiya
Title Song
Lyrics: Takao Saeki
Music: Tadashi Yoshida
Performed by Frank Nagai
PERFORMERS:
Hisako Tsukuba
Frank Nagai
Kyosuke Machida
Keisuke Yukioka
Directed by
Seijun Suzuki
Everyone has a
favourite time of their lives.
While playing the piano at a nightclub,
I keep thinking about one man, Masao.
We first met in winter,
in the mountains, two years ago.
Oh, you're going to cut it?
Doesn't work.
LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP
I had several glorious days with him.
Masao is now recuperating
in his mountain cabin.
Illness has pulled us apart.
Only a few letters are
keeping us together.
The letters come less frequently now
than they did at the beginning.
I can't forget my feelings for him, but
it's been three months
since I received a letter.
I feel like I've sent one every day.
My life feels like an empty hole.
But the manager at the club
has been very kind to me.
What should I do?
Kozue!
Mr. Manager!
Sorry to trouble you again.
It's my obligation to
see that everyone gets home,
but in your case, I look forward to it.
That six bar coda...
was it in D minor?
Kozue.
Was it D minor?
Sorry. It should have been B7.
It's been difficult to sing
with your piano the past few days.
Mr. Fukui... are you planning
to quit as club manager?
Me?
There's a rumour you've
been contracted by Victor.
Don't worry.
As long as you're around,
I'll sing at the club.
Even in D minor?
Listen, Kozue.
Don't say anything.
But you understand,
even if I say nothing?
I understand.
I know what you want to say.
It's been less than three months
since you started at my club.
I feel I've been especially nice to you.
I don't know if I should have done that.
But I couldn't help myself.
It felt natural that
I've been alone until now
I was just waiting
until I could meet you.
You said you understand my feelings.
So why don't you tell me how you feel?
Is your heart closed forever?
Will your lips remain sealed forever?
Won't you open up, and tell me
your whole story? I want to know!
No, no!
My heart is screaming.
Shouting with a desire
so strong, it's painful.
Screaming for just one person:
Masao!
I know he'll come back to me.
If only his illness were cured, he would
be standing before me as you are now.
I can see him clearly, standing in front
of me, where I can hold him with my arms.
You've been waiting,
thinking that, for two years.
I don't think he's coming back.
Aren't you just in love
with his love letters?
That's right.
I love the Masao of his love letters.
That's the Masao I've been separated from.
It's only a dream.
He's only using the love letters
to hold on to your affection.
Kozue...
Even if the letters keep coming,
Masao isn't coming back.
Even the letters have stopped coming.
Maybe it's as you say...
Should I give up Masao
and get married to a man like you?
What a relief that would be...
Can I really wait for him any longer?
12TH JANUARY
SENDER: MASAO MURAKAMI,
NAGANO PREFECTURE
Then go to Masao.
It's best if you see him again.
If your feelings were as love letters,
you would be by Masao's side.
If you ever return to the club again,
I'd like to think you came back for me.
If you do return, I'll know
you've come back for me.
For the sake of my own feelings,
I can't keep writing to you any longer.
WELCOME
YAMANOUCHI ONSEN TOURIST BOARD
YOROZUYA HOT SPRINGS INN
He claimed that he
had gotten better, but
I wonder if the love letter was
still an empty space of joy for him.
I wonder if this joyful, golden road
that I walked on with Masao
will turn into a sad,
grey road without him.
Masao!
Masao!
It is you, isn't it?
You...
are you Kozue?
Yes! It's me, Kozue!
The Kozue that loves you!
Masao!
I didn't think you'd come here.
And you're not like I imagined.
Imagined?
I was surprised.
I was so surprised, I ran off.
You're so beautiful,
and suddenly right in front of me.
I just lost it.
I was more surprised than you.
Kozue...
I...
I was afraid that you were
running away from me.
The one I've held so dearly
in my heart for two years
and I suddenly heard it crumbling
all at once.
I heard that sound the whole
time I was chasing Masao.
The next thing I knew, I was crying.
Where did Masao's feelings go?
How could I get the old Masao back?
But I'm so glad I can meet you again.
Masao!
Apart from your health, you haven't
changed at all from two years ago.
And that makes me happy.
Kozue!
Masao, should I not have done that?
But I wanted to go to our hill again.
You were wearing your fancy
chequered jacket that day.
You let me wear it so that
I wouldn't catch a cold.
I want to make beautiful
memories with you again.
Don't you, too?
Why don't you speak?
Why don't you ask me to
restore our past happiness?
Be quiet!
Kozue, forgive me if I've offended you.
I'd just like to be quiet and be
with you like this for a while.
Forgive my selfishness.
It's so I can feel as elated as you do.
If you'd like to stay quiet...
then I'll do that.
But even the site of your cabin
makes my heart skip a beat.
- Masao!
- Kozue!
When did you start taking photographs?
You stopped playing the piano?
The doctor told me to.
And you've forgotten the music box
I gave you for your birthday.
It's covered in dust, like the piano.
You quit the piano
and you didn't even tell me.
From your letters...
it felt like the white mountains,
the blue water,
our golden hill,
and this little cabin with a Matisse
hanging in it hadn't changed at all.
You hated photographs.
You wouldn't even let me have any of you.
I was afraid that I'd make you sad.
I was very sad.
In your final letter...
I loved you.
I loved you so much it hurt.
Masao, if that's true...
Is the young master home?
The bus conductor told me to look out for a
Tokyo girl who'd gone up the mountain alone.
Masao!
Shu...
Shukichi!
Go back for today.
You'll make trouble if
we talk in front of her.
Talk about what?
Shu...
So much has happened
but I wish I could
trust in his love for me.
"Fluttering about noiselessly
you sneak in through whatever
nook or cranny you could find."
"And you stay for a while, but still
I stare at you."
"Holding me tenderly, you change shape
just like a fallen teardrop."
You remember it.
"Spring floating in a pale stream."
"Crimson romance in which everything
burns faintly brilliantly, love."
"I keep holding on to
the feelings of our duet."
"Your two eyes will soon open up again
as a prelude to the full summer sun."
It's been two years.
My fingers are out of practice.
I can bring you back quickly.
Kozue.
There's something I
have to talk to you about.
Kozue.
Masao!
Don't break my heart.
Say that you love me.
Kozue.
Masao!
When did you start
shooting with your right hand?
Two years ago, you told
me you were left handed.
You carried the gun on
your left shoulder then.
Ever since I started taking photographs. Cameras
are designed for use with your right hand.
Masao, stop!
You'll ruin your hands!
You never want to play piano again?
Masao, why are you upset?
Stop it!
You...
Even our tree...
You even cut down our tree...
MUTUAL LOVE
MASAO + KOZUE
Kozue!
I'm not Masao!
I'm Ryuji.
Masao's younger brother.
Masao!
I'm Ryuji!
It can't be!
- Masao!
- My brother is dead.
What are you saying?
Tell me the truth!
Kozue!
Masao seemed like he was doing well.
Two years ago, when I returned
from a mountaineering trip,
Masao had gotten much better.
He was lively and enjoying all the time.
And he told me about you.
Kozue...
My brother died that day.
He died when a rifle
accidentally discharged.
It happened in an instant.
He died without saying a word.
But I could tell
he wanted to tell me about you very badly.
He would have wanted
me to tell you right away.
That's what I thought when I
brought his body to the shed.
There was a love letter from you.
I read it to my brother.
"Overflowing emotions in the
burning midsummer sun."
That's what it said.
That love letter was what
stopped me from telling you.
You didn't know, and it made me sad.
I took my time.
I thought that you'd forget about him.
But I couldn't tell you
about his death until today.
I can't believe it.
I can't believe what you're saying.
I want to believe...
that you're Masao.
You knew all of our love letters.
You knew...
how to play the piano just like Masao.
We played together when we were young.
My brother loved the piano.
I didn't like it like he did.
You speak just like him, too.
You're completely like Masao.
The one difference
is that you take photographs.
Masao, please tell me directly.
Are you upset that I came to visit you?
Kozue, I'm Ryuji.
I'm not Masao!
- We were twins!
- Tell me!
Was it just a love letter romance?
Kozue...
come with me.
Masao loved this hill.
He shared his fondest
memory with you here.
I stopped you when you
tried to come here yesterday.
I didn't have the heart to tell
you that Masao had died.
MASAO MURAKAMI
DIED 28TH NOVEMBER, 1957
Masao...
Masao is dead.
I can't believe it.
For two whole years...
we were writing love
letters to each other.
I...
I was writing those letters.
Masao!
Forgive me.
I fell in love with you from
writing those letters.
I fell in love with you when
I wrote those letters.
A faint and dark
shade of purple
In vain, the night fades away.
I love you,
I love you
I can't forget the kiss that you
and I shared back then
A love letter written in tears
I wonder if it's a thought that will
clear up when I write it down.
I sadly gaze upon my pen
I love you,
I love you
I miss the embrace of your eyes
A love letter written in tears
Will you come back to the club?
I came back to you.
I came back to you.
Ryuji!
"Fluttering and dancing without a sound."
"No matter how close or how far,
you creep in."
"I'm going to stay here for a while."
"I stare at you
and hold you, and you transform."
"I was just dropping a teardrop."
Ryuji!
I couldn't help but come here.
Wait for me in my room.
Mr. Fukui!
That's Masao Murakami, isn't it?
Yes.
That's right.
It's Masao.
- Congratulations.
- I really did plan to go back to you.
I came down from the
mountain to come back.
I really thought I'd
make a new life with you.
And yet...
That's okay.
No one can destroy your happiness.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Forgive me.
I finally understand.
I've just figured it out.
The one I love is the Masao
from the love letters.
You're the one who's been
writing them for two years.
- You're the one I love, Ryuji.
- Me, too.
I love you from your letters.
THE END
A NIKKATSU PRODUCTION
LOVE LETTER
Writer: Kiichi Ishii
Concept: Kenro Matsuura, Kenzo Asada
Art Director: Kazuo Yagyu
Lighting: Aizo Kono
Cinematography: Isamu Kakita
Sound: Toshio Nakamura
Assistant Director: Kazunari Takeda
Editing: Akira Suzuki
Music: Michio Mamiya
Title Song
Lyrics: Takao Saeki
Music: Tadashi Yoshida
Performed by Frank Nagai
PERFORMERS:
Hisako Tsukuba
Frank Nagai
Kyosuke Machida
Keisuke Yukioka
Directed by
Seijun Suzuki
Everyone has a
favourite time of their lives.
While playing the piano at a nightclub,
I keep thinking about one man, Masao.
We first met in winter,
in the mountains, two years ago.
Oh, you're going to cut it?
Doesn't work.
LOVE AND FRIENDSHIP
I had several glorious days with him.
Masao is now recuperating
in his mountain cabin.
Illness has pulled us apart.
Only a few letters are
keeping us together.
The letters come less frequently now
than they did at the beginning.
I can't forget my feelings for him, but
it's been three months
since I received a letter.
I feel like I've sent one every day.
My life feels like an empty hole.
But the manager at the club
has been very kind to me.
What should I do?
Kozue!
Mr. Manager!
Sorry to trouble you again.
It's my obligation to
see that everyone gets home,
but in your case, I look forward to it.
That six bar coda...
was it in D minor?
Kozue.
Was it D minor?
Sorry. It should have been B7.
It's been difficult to sing
with your piano the past few days.
Mr. Fukui... are you planning
to quit as club manager?
Me?
There's a rumour you've
been contracted by Victor.
Don't worry.
As long as you're around,
I'll sing at the club.
Even in D minor?
Listen, Kozue.
Don't say anything.
But you understand,
even if I say nothing?
I understand.
I know what you want to say.
It's been less than three months
since you started at my club.
I feel I've been especially nice to you.
I don't know if I should have done that.
But I couldn't help myself.
It felt natural that
I've been alone until now
I was just waiting
until I could meet you.
You said you understand my feelings.
So why don't you tell me how you feel?
Is your heart closed forever?
Will your lips remain sealed forever?
Won't you open up, and tell me
your whole story? I want to know!
No, no!
My heart is screaming.
Shouting with a desire
so strong, it's painful.
Screaming for just one person:
Masao!
I know he'll come back to me.
If only his illness were cured, he would
be standing before me as you are now.
I can see him clearly, standing in front
of me, where I can hold him with my arms.
You've been waiting,
thinking that, for two years.
I don't think he's coming back.
Aren't you just in love
with his love letters?
That's right.
I love the Masao of his love letters.
That's the Masao I've been separated from.
It's only a dream.
He's only using the love letters
to hold on to your affection.
Kozue...
Even if the letters keep coming,
Masao isn't coming back.
Even the letters have stopped coming.
Maybe it's as you say...
Should I give up Masao
and get married to a man like you?
What a relief that would be...
Can I really wait for him any longer?
12TH JANUARY
SENDER: MASAO MURAKAMI,
NAGANO PREFECTURE
Then go to Masao.
It's best if you see him again.
If your feelings were as love letters,
you would be by Masao's side.
If you ever return to the club again,
I'd like to think you came back for me.
If you do return, I'll know
you've come back for me.
For the sake of my own feelings,
I can't keep writing to you any longer.
WELCOME
YAMANOUCHI ONSEN TOURIST BOARD
YOROZUYA HOT SPRINGS INN
He claimed that he
had gotten better, but
I wonder if the love letter was
still an empty space of joy for him.
I wonder if this joyful, golden road
that I walked on with Masao
will turn into a sad,
grey road without him.
Masao!
Masao!
It is you, isn't it?
You...
are you Kozue?
Yes! It's me, Kozue!
The Kozue that loves you!
Masao!
I didn't think you'd come here.
And you're not like I imagined.
Imagined?
I was surprised.
I was so surprised, I ran off.
You're so beautiful,
and suddenly right in front of me.
I just lost it.
I was more surprised than you.
Kozue...
I...
I was afraid that you were
running away from me.
The one I've held so dearly
in my heart for two years
and I suddenly heard it crumbling
all at once.
I heard that sound the whole
time I was chasing Masao.
The next thing I knew, I was crying.
Where did Masao's feelings go?
How could I get the old Masao back?
But I'm so glad I can meet you again.
Masao!
Apart from your health, you haven't
changed at all from two years ago.
And that makes me happy.
Kozue!
Masao, should I not have done that?
But I wanted to go to our hill again.
You were wearing your fancy
chequered jacket that day.
You let me wear it so that
I wouldn't catch a cold.
I want to make beautiful
memories with you again.
Don't you, too?
Why don't you speak?
Why don't you ask me to
restore our past happiness?
Be quiet!
Kozue, forgive me if I've offended you.
I'd just like to be quiet and be
with you like this for a while.
Forgive my selfishness.
It's so I can feel as elated as you do.
If you'd like to stay quiet...
then I'll do that.
But even the site of your cabin
makes my heart skip a beat.
- Masao!
- Kozue!
When did you start taking photographs?
You stopped playing the piano?
The doctor told me to.
And you've forgotten the music box
I gave you for your birthday.
It's covered in dust, like the piano.
You quit the piano
and you didn't even tell me.
From your letters...
it felt like the white mountains,
the blue water,
our golden hill,
and this little cabin with a Matisse
hanging in it hadn't changed at all.
You hated photographs.
You wouldn't even let me have any of you.
I was afraid that I'd make you sad.
I was very sad.
In your final letter...
I loved you.
I loved you so much it hurt.
Masao, if that's true...
Is the young master home?
The bus conductor told me to look out for a
Tokyo girl who'd gone up the mountain alone.
Masao!
Shu...
Shukichi!
Go back for today.
You'll make trouble if
we talk in front of her.
Talk about what?
Shu...
So much has happened
but I wish I could
trust in his love for me.
"Fluttering about noiselessly
you sneak in through whatever
nook or cranny you could find."
"And you stay for a while, but still
I stare at you."
"Holding me tenderly, you change shape
just like a fallen teardrop."
You remember it.
"Spring floating in a pale stream."
"Crimson romance in which everything
burns faintly brilliantly, love."
"I keep holding on to
the feelings of our duet."
"Your two eyes will soon open up again
as a prelude to the full summer sun."
It's been two years.
My fingers are out of practice.
I can bring you back quickly.
Kozue.
There's something I
have to talk to you about.
Kozue.
Masao!
Don't break my heart.
Say that you love me.
Kozue.
Masao!
When did you start
shooting with your right hand?
Two years ago, you told
me you were left handed.
You carried the gun on
your left shoulder then.
Ever since I started taking photographs. Cameras
are designed for use with your right hand.
Masao, stop!
You'll ruin your hands!
You never want to play piano again?
Masao, why are you upset?
Stop it!
You...
Even our tree...
You even cut down our tree...
MUTUAL LOVE
MASAO + KOZUE
Kozue!
I'm not Masao!
I'm Ryuji.
Masao's younger brother.
Masao!
I'm Ryuji!
It can't be!
- Masao!
- My brother is dead.
What are you saying?
Tell me the truth!
Kozue!
Masao seemed like he was doing well.
Two years ago, when I returned
from a mountaineering trip,
Masao had gotten much better.
He was lively and enjoying all the time.
And he told me about you.
Kozue...
My brother died that day.
He died when a rifle
accidentally discharged.
It happened in an instant.
He died without saying a word.
But I could tell
he wanted to tell me about you very badly.
He would have wanted
me to tell you right away.
That's what I thought when I
brought his body to the shed.
There was a love letter from you.
I read it to my brother.
"Overflowing emotions in the
burning midsummer sun."
That's what it said.
That love letter was what
stopped me from telling you.
You didn't know, and it made me sad.
I took my time.
I thought that you'd forget about him.
But I couldn't tell you
about his death until today.
I can't believe it.
I can't believe what you're saying.
I want to believe...
that you're Masao.
You knew all of our love letters.
You knew...
how to play the piano just like Masao.
We played together when we were young.
My brother loved the piano.
I didn't like it like he did.
You speak just like him, too.
You're completely like Masao.
The one difference
is that you take photographs.
Masao, please tell me directly.
Are you upset that I came to visit you?
Kozue, I'm Ryuji.
I'm not Masao!
- We were twins!
- Tell me!
Was it just a love letter romance?
Kozue...
come with me.
Masao loved this hill.
He shared his fondest
memory with you here.
I stopped you when you
tried to come here yesterday.
I didn't have the heart to tell
you that Masao had died.
MASAO MURAKAMI
DIED 28TH NOVEMBER, 1957
Masao...
Masao is dead.
I can't believe it.
For two whole years...
we were writing love
letters to each other.
I...
I was writing those letters.
Masao!
Forgive me.
I fell in love with you from
writing those letters.
I fell in love with you when
I wrote those letters.
A faint and dark
shade of purple
In vain, the night fades away.
I love you,
I love you
I can't forget the kiss that you
and I shared back then
A love letter written in tears
I wonder if it's a thought that will
clear up when I write it down.
I sadly gaze upon my pen
I love you,
I love you
I miss the embrace of your eyes
A love letter written in tears
Will you come back to the club?
I came back to you.
I came back to you.
Ryuji!
"Fluttering and dancing without a sound."
"No matter how close or how far,
you creep in."
"I'm going to stay here for a while."
"I stare at you
and hold you, and you transform."
"I was just dropping a teardrop."
Ryuji!
I couldn't help but come here.
Wait for me in my room.
Mr. Fukui!
That's Masao Murakami, isn't it?
Yes.
That's right.
It's Masao.
- Congratulations.
- I really did plan to go back to you.
I came down from the
mountain to come back.
I really thought I'd
make a new life with you.
And yet...
That's okay.
No one can destroy your happiness.
Goodbye.
Goodbye.
Forgive me.
I finally understand.
I've just figured it out.
The one I love is the Masao
from the love letters.
You're the one who's been
writing them for two years.
- You're the one I love, Ryuji.
- Me, too.
I love you from your letters.
THE END