Then and Now, Tokyo in “I Was Born But …”

One of the pleasures of looking at the old films is to admire the scenery of the past. When you look at the Keaton shorts, you are looking at the Los Angeles in making. When you see Italian Neo-realist films, you see Rome, Milan and other Italian cities before MacDonald invasion. While watching “I Was Born But … (1932)” by Yasujiro Ozu, I was asking myself, “Which railway is this, these obnoxious ever-present trams ?”  The film was shot at Kamata Studio, so this must be either Mekama-Line or Ikegami-Line. One of the key locations in the film, the railroad …

An Executive, A Chauffeuse, A Novelist and A Girl like Me

“Hanshojo (1938)” is a typical Shochiku-style woman’s film in the late thirties. The film is rarely seen today, and is not listed in imdb. Keisuke Sasaki, the director of the film, dedicated his whole career to Shochiku. He made 57 films, mostly woman’s films Shochiku was noted for. The casts of the film are regulars of the Shochiku programmers. The original novel was written by Seijiro Kojima, who loved the complicated plots for his tear-jerkers. The plot of “Hanshojo” may be far-fetched, but it really doesn’t matter. Women suffer. Men suffer. But in the end, women suffer more. Soukichi (Shin …

Calligraphy and Propaganda

Chishu Ryu said “Ozu-san didn’t make any heroic movie during the war”. This is true. He did not make any combat films, heroic military action films nor pseudo-historical drama to support totalitarian political agenda. But it does not mean he was making films in vacuum. “I was born, but … (1932)” may seem the last place for anyone to find any war propaganda, but, remember, it was filmed in 1932, the year of Shanghai Incident. During the scene in the classroom, you can see a rather large frame of Japanese calligraphy on the wall. It says “Bakudan Sanyu-shi”, or “Three …