Talk:Kumeko Urabe

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Kumeko Urabe/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: ErnestKrause (talk · contribs) 18:57, 15 December 2021 (UTC)

I've already made a print-out of this article and read it through with my notes on it. I should be able to type in my review notes over the next day or two. ErnestKrause (talk) 18:57, 15 December 2021 (UTC)

Initiating review

(1) Lead section: "She worked on the stage and on television as well as film", to "She worked on stage and television as well as film."

Done. simongraham (talk) 16:47, 21 December 2021 (UTC)

(2) Lead section: "...but moved as her father, a priest, moved temples", to "but had multiple homes while growing up as she needed to relocate with her father who was a Buddhist priest between the different temples to which he was assigned," or something like this.

Done. simongraham (talk) 16:47, 21 December 2021 (UTC)

(3) Lead section: "In 1923, she auditioned...". Start a second paragraph in the end section for her film career and add in her name as "In 1923, Urabe auditioned...".

Done. simongraham (talk) 16:47, 21 December 2021 (UTC)

(4) Early life: Her medal is mentioned here though she won it very late in her life, which is mentioned below in the article. Give the citation being used here and the year of the award should be stated. Recommend that you might use a phrase like "Retrospective, when she received the Medal of Honor years later...".

Done. simongraham (talk) 16:47, 21 December 2021 (UTC)

(5) Movie career: This section could use a little bit more. The film Ikiru is also a must to add in this section with a brief description of her role in the film and if she received any awards for her acting in it. A separate paragraph on the Mizoguchi films she made would add a lot to this section, were there three or films with him? The Criterion Collection [1], I think, distinguished these films with a special box set, and it would be nice to again give a brief description of her role in each of her Mizoguchi films. Doing this would draw more attention from readers and you could also link this page from the Mizoguchi biography page as an added benefit to readers of this article.

Done. simongraham (talk) 16:47, 21 December 2021 (UTC)

Also, what was considered her top film or the role-of-a-lifetime for her? Did she have a stand-out film hit which reminds film viewers in Japan of her as an actress to this day? I think readers of this article would like to hear of such a film if there is one which is a stand-out.

I could not find one. She generally seems to have played minor roles. simongraham (talk) 16:47, 21 December 2021 (UTC)

(6) TV career: There is a "Death and legacy" part of this section which ought to be separated out into a separate section. There is only mention of her Medal of Honour here, though it seems she must have had numerous Awards and Prizes during her lifetime which are otherwise not covered in this article at all. An Awards section would be a very welcome new section for this biography article.

I have separated her private life to include her marriage and death. Although the source states she won other things, I have not found reference to them so I have amended it to accolades rather than awards. simongraham (talk) 16:47, 21 December 2021 (UTC)

(7) Filmography: Even though this is a partial list, the list needs to include Ikiru, and each one of the Mizoguchi films. You might want to give some thought to also adding selectively the director's name to the more famous films in this list. She worked with some of Japan's most outstanding directors.

I have expanded the list. Reference to the directors she worked with is in the narrative. simongraham (talk) 16:47, 21 December 2021 (UTC)

@Simongraham: It may also be worthwhile checking on Interwiki for the Japanese version of this article which has an enhanced version of the list of her films which it also highlights for the Mizoguchi films among them which is useful, along with an enhanced TOC with lots of references not in the English version. ErnestKrause (talk) 14:57, 18 December 2021 (UTC)

I have looked at the Japanese version and there are a lot of unverified facts, including the list of films is useful. However, it is a useful starting point. simongraham (talk) 16:47, 21 December 2021 (UTC)

@ErnestKrause: Thank you for your rigorous review. Please take a look at the changes I have made and see if there is anything else to meet the GA criteria. I look forward to your comments. simongraham (talk) 16:47, 21 December 2021 (UTC)

Section break

• Repeat that father was a priest in the Early life section, same as in lead section.

The fact that he is a Rinzai priest is already mentioned.

• Awards / Award History

1952: Daiei Award "Lightning Bolt"

1966: Medal with Purple Ribbon

1977: 1st Fumiko Yamaji Film Award Film Achievement Award

1984: Yumo Grand Prize

I saw these claims on the Japanese wikipedia site. However, the use of wikipedia as a source violates WP:CIRC. simongraham (talk) 04:31, 25 December 2021 (UTC)

• Her films with Mizoguchi (important for Japanese film studies) include about a dozen silent films and about a half dozen sound films. I am suggesting that at least the ones identified in this list below be added to the English biography article here at GAN, along with the 'hollow star' added for the Mizoguchi films in the list. He is a cultural icon in Japanese film studies in Japan. ErnestKrause (talk) 00:56, 22 December 2021 (UTC)

• Films:

☆ mark denotes directed by Kenji Mizoguchi (include this line at the top of the English version of the article for the 'hollow star' code)

☆ Dust boundary (1924, Nikkatsu) --Omatsu

☆ Ax that cuts off love (1924, Nikkatsu) --Young wife Pearlko, Senami Chinami

☆ Queen of the Circus (1924, Nikkatsu) --Spanish character

☆ Special mission ship Kanto (1925, Nikkatsu) --Daughter of the village

☆ No money war (1925, Nikkatsu) --Tsubame Musume

☆ Human front and back (1925, Nikkatsu) --Yukie

☆ General Nogi and Mr. Kuma (1925, Nikkatsu) --Kuma's wife, Yu

☆ Tojin Okichi (1930, Nikkatsu) --Omatsu

☆ Moreover, they go (1931, Nikkatsu) --Atsuko's mother

☆ The Water Magician (1933, Pro Irie) --Ogin

☆ Gion Matsuri (1933, Shinko Kinema) ---

☆ The Straits of Love (1937, Shinko Kinema) --Midwife Murai Ume

☆ Ah hometown (1938, Shinko Kinema) --Shinkichi's second wife

Unfortunately the Japanese site has no reliable references in the film list. I have included a referenced list of films instead as this meets WP:VER and WP:NOR, and a selection of her work with different directors to meet WP:NPOV and WP:OOS. There are links to Mizoguchi and other directors with whom she worked in the narrative. simongraham (talk) 04:31, 25 December 2021 (UTC)

• The films and tv sections would I think look better in "div col 2".

Done

See if any of this can be brought into the article during the holidays or for the holidays. ErnestKrause (talk) 00:56, 22 December 2021 (UTC)

@ErnestKrause: Please take a look at the amendments. I have not included some of the material you have requested as it would violate the core content policies to add without verified sources. Do you have sources that I can use please? simongraham (talk) 04:31, 25 December 2021 (UTC)

The reliable source for the Mizoguchi films and titles in English is at [Jacoby, Alex: "Kenji Mizoguchi". Senses of Cinema, Great Directors: A Critical Database]. There are 3 films after 1937 she did with Mizoguchi which should also be added here in the list of films using the hollow star notation, now with a reliable source. ErnestKrause (talk) 00:30, 28 December 2021 (UTC)

Thank you. This source does not identify those which starred Urabe, but is rather a list of films by Kenji Mizoguchi; this would be relevant to the article on him but WP:OOS for this article. simongraham (talk) 04:52, 28 December 2021 (UTC)

Almost there. The three missing Urabe films with Mizoguchi are (1) Woman of the Night (1948), (2) Portrait of Madame Yuki (1950), and (3) Street of Shame (1956, his last film). The last two just listed also have Wikipedia English articles for these films. Now with this complete list of Urabe-Mizoguchi films, you can take the first one and match it up with the film entry in the filmography of the Wikipedia Mizoguchi article which gives the official Japanese name transliterated into English characters. You can copy that transliterated Japanese name into a Google search engine which will provide a list of the English language articles online which discuss that Mizoguchi film along with Urabe's participation in most all cases. (One or two of these films are permanently lost to posterity). Once you get the reliable source website for the Mizoguchi films with Urabe in this way and add them into the filmography for his films with Urabe, then I think the article will check all the boxes. ErnestKrause (talk) 23:51, 28 December 2021 (UTC)

That is helpful. These films are all there with references. simongraham (talk) 10:09, 29 December 2021 (UTC)

Closing Review Comments: Article is well written on a subject which is of much interest to Mizoguchi followers in film theory. Optionally, the "hollow star" format mentioned in the review above can be used to highlight the Mizoguchi films in the filmography here which Urabe did with him at your discretion. This is currently done on interwiki for the Japan version of her biography with good success. Also, double checking the "backlinks" to this article from the linked articles and films might help with the low daily page count for this biography article which might be helpful. For example, in Ikiru she plays the sister-in-law of the main character and it would nice to check if her name is linked from there to this biography article. Article is promoted. ErnestKrause (talk) 15:32, 29 December 2021 (UTC)