Dancing Girl (1951)

Very strange.

The Little Girl Who Conquered Time (1983)

Well. I didn’t dislike it. But the direction is silly and details of the story are often unclear or confusing. I am tempted to say that it verges on camp.

This seems to be the first film version of the story and is apparently quite popular in Japan. Perhaps I would have more to say about it if I hadn’t already seen the recent (and internationally popular) anime version; but alas my mind can’t help but make the comparison and be terribly underwhelmed by and uninterested in this original.

Yearning (1964)

This was ok … But that ending! Well, at least the mountain town was ridiculously beautiful. I would have liked to see more of it.

Meshi (1951)

This was ok. The street shots of Osaka were cool. I wasn’t much interested in the story (revolving around petty wifely angst), but it didn’t completely turn me off the way Naruse’s more melodramatic movies do.

The Funeral (1984)

I enjoyed this. It was even more subdued than I expected, but it’s relative lack of ridiculousness makes it somehow seem the most comically accomplished of Itami’s movies. My favorite gag was the driving-in-the-rain scene. I liked all the aisatsu gags as well.

There’s an old monk in the movie and there was one point where I thought he sounded exactly like Chishu Ryu. I thought, “Is that Chishu Ryu?” After a moment, I decided “No way!” But looking at the credits, it turns out it is Chishu Ryu. I was so wrong!

Lightning (1952)

I enjoyed this a lot. I admired all the shots of Tokyo in particular, but Hideko Takamine is great as well and the story isn’t as heavy-handed as I had expected. Even an outburst of self-pity near the end didn’t dampen my pleasure. I hope there are more canonical 50s and 60s Naruse films as wonderful as this (my experience with them so far has been mixed). As far as Naruse goes, this is definitely a highlight for me.

Fall Guy (1982)

This was great.

Sound of the Mountain (1954)

I’m going to refrain from saying anything about this for now.

Chikamatsu monogatari (1954)

I enjoyed this to an extent. It’s pretty, after all. But the self-pity! I can only put up with that for so long. Mizugochi’s histrionics turned me off by the end.

Ishinaka sensei gyojoki (1950)

A film consisting of three short romantic stories in which Ishinaka sensei, a novelist, plays a small but pivotal role. My first impression is that this is a pleasant and picturesque romantic comedy with the, as usual, slightly odd (in my opinion) Naruse direction. But, curious about this Ishinaka sensei, I did some research:

Ishinaka seems to be a not-so-disguised stand-in for the story’s real writer, Yojiro Ishizaka. I have never heard the name, but he seems to have been a popular Japanese post-war novelist. Ishizaka was born in Hirosaki, Aomori Prefecture, which happens to be the the area in which this story takes place. The film, in fact, subtly highlights this setting. The first of the three stories, for example, takes place in an apple orchard; Hirosaki is renowned for its apples. Festivals, processions, and dances also appear in the film’s background, notably the Nebuta Festival, a festival of floats Aomori is famous for (and the floats of 1950 look quite different from the floats of today). What I found most interesting was the presence of Mt. Iwaki (see screencap), which dominates the rural scenery in the film and, presumably, of the Hirosaki area.

Rather than being a simple romantic comedy, this is a love letter from Ishizaka to his home town. A fascinating and enjoyable film.