The Sun's Burial
1960 1h 27m movie Film Japan

The Sun's Burial

太陽の墓場

Synopsis

太陽の墓場

In Osaka's slum, youths without futures engage in pilfering, assault and robbery, prostitution, and the buying and selling of identity cards and of blood. Alliances constantly shift. Tatsu and Takeshi, friends since boyhood, reluctantly join Shin's gang. Shin's an upstart and moves his gang often to avoid the local kingpin. Hanoko is a young woman with ambitions: first she's in the blood business with her father, then she joins forces with Shin. She soon breaks off that partnership, even though she's taken the sensitive Takeshi under her wing. Double crosses multiply. Those with the closest bonds become each others' murderers.

The 1959–1961 Japan Window

36 Japan films released in this three-year window, ranked here by audience rating. The Sun's Burial sits at position #25.

  1. Hero of the Red Light District
    #1

    Hero of the Red Light District

    ★ 8.6 · 1960

  2. The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer
    #2

    The Human Condition III: A Soldier's Prayer

    ★ 8.4 · 1961

  3. The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity
    #3

    The Human Condition II: Road to Eternity

    ★ 8.2 · 1959

  4. Yojimbo
    #4

    Yojimbo

    ★ 8.1 · 1961

  5. The Human Condition I: No Greater Love
    #5

    The Human Condition I: No Greater Love

    ★ 8.0 · 1959

  6. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs
    #6

    When a Woman Ascends the Stairs

    ★ 8.0 · 1960

  7. Hiroshima Mon Amour
    #7

    Hiroshima Mon Amour

    ★ 7.8 · 1959

  8. Good Morning
    #8

    Good Morning

    ★ 7.7 · 1959

Titles With Overlapping Themes

Films and series that share thematic tags with The Sun's Burial. Number on each card indicates how many keywords overlap.

Other Titles From Shochiku

The 1960s Japan Landscape

Catalog density by release year in the 1960s. Highlighted year (yellow) is when The Sun's Burial premiered. 202 total titles in this decade from Japan.

'6016'6110'6219'6315'6424'6522'6628'6721'6821'6926

Reception Benchmarks

6.7
TMDB Rating
20
Audience Reviews
Well Received
Critical Tier

Ranked #2,819 of 4,579 Japan films indexed here (38th percentile by TMDB audience score).

Rating is -0.2 points below the Japan average of 6.9/10.

Among Japan Drama productions specifically: #1,240 of 1,933 (top 64%).

Production Details

Primary Country Japan
Original Language Japanese
Production Companies Shochiku
Runtime 1h 27m
Release Date August 9, 1960
IMDb tt0054366

Themes & Motifs

  • youth gang
  • osaka
  • japan
  • prostitution
  • post war japan
  • japanese new wave
  • slum dwellers

External Catalogs