JAPANESE FILMS

Then and Now, and In Between (Part 1)

Absence of Tokyo Between now and then, transformation is staggering. Yasujiro Ozu made 5 “Tokyo” films. “Tokyo Chorus”, “Woman of Tokyo”, “An Inn in Tokyo”, “Tokyo Story” and “Tokyo Twilight”. In addition to these films, his films make frequent reference to Tokyo. “I Was Born But …” is the story of a “salary man” in the Tokyo suburb, “The Only Son” is another story of disillusion in metropolis, and “Ohayo” tells the parallel stories of men, women and children of Tokyo, to name the few. However, his recurring reference to this ever-growing megacity provides the limited view of “Tokyo”. Most …

 
JAPANESE FILMS

Jazz Operetta in Edo

The year was 1939. The entry into the grim era. But for the New Year Film Fest, Nikkatsu released “Oshidori Utagassen“, one of the most delightful Japanese musicals ever. It was directed by Masahiro Makino in about 10 days. In fact the star of the film Chiezo Kataoka was ill at the time, so his screen time is minimum (shooting was only 2 hours long, it was said), and the rest of the film was filled with the most delightful examples of cinema making ….

 
JAPANESE FILMS

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 …