Twilight Saloon (1955): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1955, Twilight Saloon is a drama film directed by Tomu Uchida, running about 94 minutes.

What it’s about. Takes place in one place, a beer hall, over the course of one evening. Uchida employs this concentration of setting and time to fashion a microcosm for a group portrait of Japan. One by one, the regulars of the bar appear: the pianist who dreams of becoming a composer but has disappeared from the music world after a knifing; a stripper who had planned to be a ballet dancer; an elderly painter trying to make a living at pachinko, and who rues his art having been used for militarist propaganda during the war; a young waitress considering elopement; a colonel turned real estate broker who attempts to rouse the crowd in military song until he realizes the tune has been transformed by marchers in the street into a leftist chant. The "twilight" is more than just a time of day; here, it is a state of being, a suspension between past and present, between the camaraderie of the saloon and the harsh world outside.

Who’s in it. Twilight Saloon stars Daisuke Katō as Kibe, Eijirō Tōno as Onizuka, Keiko Tsushima as Emy Rosa and Jun Tatara as Tetsuo Kumishima, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 8.0/10, Twilight Saloon sits among the best-reviewed titles in the catalogue.

Where to watch. Streaming options change often. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Twilight Saloon page.

If you liked it. Fans of Twilight Saloon tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.