Obscure Japanese Film #179
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| Jukichi Uno and Nobuko Otowa |
Tokyo, c. 1942. Sakie (Nobuko Otowa) and her husband Kiichi (Jukichi Uno) run a barbershop together and agree to take Kiichi’s nephew Jutaro (Hiroyuki Nagato) as a live-in apprentice. When Kiichi is called up to join the army, his absence brings Sakie and Jutaro closer during his absence, but it’s not long before Jutaro is also conscripted. One day, a messenger arrives to inform Sakie that her husband has been killed in battle in the Philippines. After living out the remainder of the war with her brother (Akitake Kono) and his resentful wife (Harue Tone) in the country, Sakie returns to Tokyo to find the barbershop in ruins, but is reunited with Jutaro. Their relationship soon turns romantic and they vow to rebuild the business, but the course of true love never runs smooth…
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| Otowa with Hiroyuki Nagato |
This Nikkatsu production was based on a 1952 short story of the same title by Torahiko Tamiya (male, 1911-88), whose work also provided the basis for Miyoji Ieki’s Stepbrothers (1957) among other films. Written and directed by Kaneto Shindo, as usual it stars his long-term mistress, Nobuko Otowa, who gives a typically fine performance in the lead role. The rest of the cast also acquit themselves well and it’s always good to see Shindo’s stock company of his favourite character actors, including Taiji Tonoyama, Tanie Kitabayashi and – very briefly as a barbershop customer – Jun Hamamura. However, I did think that the actress playing Umeko, the alcoholic, gambling-addicted harlot went way over the top – I finally realised that this role was also being played by Nobuko Otowa! This is cleverly shot and edited, with Taiji Tonoyama playing a scene with both Otowas.
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| Taiji Tonoyama with Otowa as Sakie |
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| TT with Otowa as Umeko |
This film has its flaws and gets a bit too repetitive in its latter stages, with virtually the same scene playing out several times, and it would be easy to dismiss it as just another rather hokey tragic love story. However, it also provides a powerful depiction of the sense of futility and waste that the Japanese felt after the war, and how this inevitably led to widespread disillusionment, bitterness, cynicism and nihilism. In one scene which has no bearing on the plot, the bombed-out Sakie and Jutaro take shelter with other newly-homeless Tokyo residents in the subway and look on as two men chase a screaming woman through a tunnel. Nobody intervenes or even offers a comment. For me, this type of seemingly-irrelevant scene which actually speaks volumes is the mark of a great filmmaking talent, which I think Shindo certainly was. The excellent cinematography of Takeo Ito (an award-winner for Kurosawa’s Drunken Angel) and score by Godzilla composer Akira Ifukube also help to make this a film worth seeking out.
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| Otowa as Sakie |
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| Otowa as Umeko |
Thanks to A.K.
On Amazon Japan (no English subtitles)
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