SETTING: Present day Kawaguchi, a city in the northern outskirts of Tokyo

SYNOPSIS:
KAWAGUCHI is a city of small foundries. It has been a town of iron, soot and sweat gor generations, and so it remains to this day.
ISHIGURO TATSUGORO is a stoker in a small foundry of sit workers. The foundry has been bought by a large factory, and TATSUGORO has been fired by the new management because of his age. He lives in a crowded tenement house with his wife, TOMI, daughter, JUN, and two sons. TAKAYUKI and TETSUHARU. JUN is a bright and intelligent young girl whose ambition is to advance to high school.
After losing his job, TATSUGORO takes to drinking. Having spent his retirement allowance on drinking and gambling, his family is stricken with adverse poverty. One night, a family row over the buying of a pair of training pants for TAKAYUKI results in the boy's leaving home and taking shelter with his friend, SANKICHI, whose father is Korean.
JUN blames her father for the incident, and reproaches him for his slovenly behavior. A few days after the family quarrel, JUN persuades her brother to return home. He obeys his sister whom he is fond of.
KATSUMI, the family's only friend, tries to help TATSUGORO start a new life, but TATSUGORO continues to drink. JUN is so disgusted and distressed by her father's behavior that she is unable to take the school excursion she has been looking forward to for the past several months. When she is roaming the streets in despair, she meets a friend who takes her to a bar where a group of hoodlums slip her sleeping powder. She is rescued in the nick of time by KATSUMI who leads a policeman to the scene.
The incident at the bar proves a shock to the young girl, and she refuses to go back to school. It is only through the kind and considerate persuasion of her teacher that she changes her mind, but another shock awaits her. JUN's best friend, YOSHIE, and her brother, SANKICHI, are to accompany their father back to North Korea. It is a sad parting between JUN and YOSHIE, and TAKAYUKI and SANKICHI.
However, adversities do not continue forever. Spring comes after the cold winter, and a glow of happiness begins to radiate around the ISHIGURO household. TATSUGORO is employed in KATSUMI's factory which has expanded its facilities, and JUN decides to go to high school while working in the daytime to help the family. Laughter and hope permeate the home, and this happiness is shared with whole hearted sincerity by KATSUMI who has stood by the ISHIGUROs through the worst time of their lives.

NOTES:
"Cupola, Where the Furnaces Glow" eloquently depicts adults who are about to be crushed by the changing times, and children who bravely face the times determined to survive despite their poverty. The film marks URAYAMA KIRIO's debut as a director. He studied under IMAMURA SHOHEI, working as his assistant director on films which include "My Second Brother" (NIANCHAN) 1959, and "Hogs and Warships" (BUTA TO GUNKAN) 1961. IMAMURA collaborated with him on this script.
Many social problems preceded the attainment of a high level of economic growth in Japan. The modernization of factories brought about problems with workmen's compensation, unemployment, and the firing of longtime employees. Poverty prohibited children from continuing in school. Koreans residing in Japan returned to Korea.
These social problems, the relationship between people and their environment, and the characters themselves are depicted vividly and sympathetically.
URAYAMA did not produce many films, but he made several very fine and individualistic films before his death in 1985 at the age of 54. These films include: "The Delinquent Girl" (HIKO SHOJO) 1963, "The Woman I Left" (WATASHI GA SUTETA ONNA) 1969, and "The Darkroom" (ANSHITSU) 1983. YOSHINAGA SAYURI, who plays JUN, was an instant success in this film. She is now active as a top actress with a well established reputation.