JAPANESE FILMS

Postwar Kurosawa: One Wonderful Sunday

Let’s put this film in proper perspective. Do you remember the adorable kids, two brothers in Ozu’s “I Was Born But…”? Take one of them, say, the elder brother, let him grow older, let him have a sweet girlfriend, put him in soldiers uniform, send him to South Pacific islands or Indochina, let him fight against Americans or Australians, let him starve for a year or two, and let him survive. The war is over. He is now back in Japan. Here is your guy in this film. What happened to his salary-man father and gentle mother? Remember what he …

 
Uncategorized

Postwar Kurosawa

Out there, in print, or on internet or whatever, there are numerous reviews, writings, essays and books on Kurosawa’s films. Many of them are by professional writers and critics and are well-researched, very thought-provoking. So what else to be added? If I were to write about his masterpieces, will readers get something new or interesting? Well, I decided to do it anyway. To do so, I will try to avoid usual trap of reiterating plot, filling lines with vocabulary of “quintessential masterpiece” sort or listing information simple googling can provide. My intent here is to share how a Japanese (me) …