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Post by morrisondylanfan on Jun 3, 2021 4:41:08 GMT
Time to finally crack this open! Seven Samurai (1954) 9. “This is the nature of war:By protecting others you save yourself,if you think of yourself, you’ll only destroy yourself.” Spanning across two disc, Criterion present a pristine transfer,with the film being supported by two detailed audio commentaries,and a third DVD packed with interviews. Spreading the 148 shooting days across the entire year,with the studio fearing a disaster as production went four times over the original budget on what would become the title with the longest run time to come from the film maker, editor/ co-writer/(with regular collaborators of this era Shinobu Hashimoto & Hideo Oguni) directing auteur Akira Kurosawa reunites with cinematographer Asakazu Nakai and lays out the battleground canvas in long panning shots across the farmland. Charging to a superb score from regular composer Fumio Hayasaka, (the last completed score for a Kurosawa movie he would do,before dying of tuberculous in 1955 at 41 years old) Kurosawa continues to build on the experimentation with light that had been ignited in Rashomon, via reflecting shards of light across the samurai in the heat of battle,which gets whipped by rain hitting them like a sword through the heart. Binding each of the loner ronin together, Kurosawa expands on his sharp eye for depth of field, with ultra-stylised dolly shots and delicately composed tracking shots unveiling an immerse atmosphere which glides the audience deep into the village, that is burnt down by Kurosawa’s excellent, distinctive screen-wipes slicing into the bond of the seven, leading to a poetic, Pyrrhic final shot. Detailed by Kenneth Turan in the Criterion booklet that the title was written in 6 weeks, with Kurosawa banning co-writers Hashimoto and Oguni from taking any phone calls or having visitors come round their homes until the script was completed, the writers have the destruction from war (a major theme in Kurosawa’s work) hang in the air,as the dialogue becomes increasingly brittle from each battle that opens new wounds in the samurai's. Wandering the land with no direction home, the writers match up the moral code of each samurai with new personal power from their new responsibilities which becomes an armor, that gets hammered from each battle, where their aggressive behavior poisons their relationship with the locals and grinding down the moral line of separation between the samurai and the bandits, until their decades-held code of loyalty is left as a pile of ashes on the hills. Spinning across the battlefield like a rabid Tasmanian Devil, Toshiro Mifune gives a fantastic performance as samurai Kikuchiyo, who coming from a poor farming family, carries an anguished aware of the decay seeping in, but is unable to turn away,from charging in with the magnificent seven samurai. Cowabunga Kurosawa-ranking: Stray Dog Rashomon One Wonderful Sunday No Regrets for Our Youth Drunken Angel Ikiru Seven Samurai The Idiot Scandal Sanjuro The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail The Quiet Duel Uma Sanshiro Sugata Sanshiro Sugata Part 2 The Most Beautiful
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Post by manfromplanetx on Jun 4, 2021 1:11:46 GMT
In the 1960s Daiei studio released a series of “black films” roughly translated as “salaryman thrillers”. With an underlying cynical tone, the films are tales of corporate and legal corruption, of characters with few morals and questionable scruples. Director Yasuzô Masumura filmed three excellent films, beginning with Black Test Car (1962), followed by The Black Report (1963) and Black Super Express (1964). Kuro no hôkokusho aka Black Statement Book or The Black Report (1963) is a tale of murder, infidelity, lies, theft and the pursuit of justice. Kakimoto president of the Fujiyama Food corporation is found murdered in his home. The film opens with the police and forensic team meticulously probing for clues; multiple people with potential motives are quickly identified. The investigation considers many angles, who was involved, and who was responsible? Was it the secretary who was also his mistress? The unfaithful wife? An angry son disgusted by his father’s immoral lifestyle? “To the public, he was the president of Fujiyama Foods. To me, he was a money-mad womaniser,” claims the murdered tycoon’s son. The seemingly straightforward case for Public Prosecutor Kido becomes a tangled web. He is under immense pressure for he has been promised a promotion if a court room conviction can be secured. Prosecutor Kido is up against Yamamuro a slick defense lawyer who will coerce his witnesses to say whatever it takes for him to win the case… The eventual discovery of the murderer was not the hard part, the true challenge for Kido lies in the prosecution of the culprit… As the story concludes the court building pillars are framed into view, their monumental upright presence a contrast to the film’s many flawed characters, citizens regarded and respected as pillars of Japanese society… Masumura’s direction of the camera is striking as always. Shot in wide screen black and white by Yoshihisa Nakagawa who masterly confines the action within the wide screen frame, which cleverly emphasises the claustrophobia of Japanese organisations and society. With great characterizations the fast-paced story is an entertaining treat. My 25th Yasuzô Masumura film, the maverick director, a sought after favourite for outstanding top rating Classic Japanese Cinema…
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Post by manfromplanetx on Jul 22, 2021 8:51:16 GMT
BUMP... Hey there timshelboy this is a fantastic place to start way back on page one... Irezumi (1966) Dir Y asuzo Masumura starring Ayako Wakao
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Post by timshelboy on Jul 22, 2021 9:07:51 GMT
BUMP... Hey there timshelboy this is a fantastic place to start way back on page one... Irezumi (1966) Dir Y asuzo Masumura starring Ayako Wakao Wow - the motherlode was there all the time. I'll start reading! Is this a great place to fritter away the short time we have left or what? Sayonara! Will report back
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Post by morrisondylanfan on Jul 23, 2021 1:39:49 GMT
BUMP... Hey there timshelboy this is a fantastic place to start way back on page one... Irezumi (1966) Dir Y asuzo Masumura starring Ayako Wakao Wow - the motherlode was there all the time. I'll start reading! Is this a great place to fritter away the short time we have left or what? Sayonara! Will report back Hi Tim,along with the Arrow discs I listed in the other thread,here are some classic Japanese films currently on YouTube with Eng Subs: Good For Nothing/ Rokudenashi (1960) by Yoshida (whose Onna no mizûmi 1966) I found to be outstanding) www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZGPkkfT4U8&list=PLK0awoIlXvaT0KeKya2AwO5ICNMkRjr5mBorn Under Crossed Stars (1965) A cynical rebellious youth Melodrama by Seijun Suzuki. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Ll1TqjdNTs The Groom Talks in His Sleep (1935)-A breezy Comedy Drama. www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhaPZdD2fxE&t=8s
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Post by manfromplanetx on Aug 19, 2021 21:25:52 GMT
R.I.P.... 千葉 真 , Shinichi Chiba. (22 January 1939 – 19 August 2021) Legendary artist of action drama for six decades and over 200 films, Chiba first appeared on the big screen in Keishichô monogatari: Fuzai shômei Police Department Story: Alibi (1961) " An actor's body should be full of emotions, whether it is happiness or sorrow, pain or joy, enraged or elated. You have to express yourself with your whole body. Japanese actors don't normally do this. What I'm doing as an action star is what every actor should be doing. Action is drama. If we cannot make the audience laugh, smile or cry with us, we are not actors. That may be idealistic -- but it's true." Dasso yugi , Jail Breakers (1976) An outside organisation specializes in elaborately planned high profile jail breaks, a lucrative business earning the gang millions in payments. When quick thinking prisoner Wataru Kangi (Shin'ichi Chiba) seizes an opportunity he demands from them, a slice of the action also. Kôsaku Yamashita directs a solid action film nothing less with powerhouse Chiba, who gives literally, a knockout performance. With twists & turns spectacular stunt work and even a touch of romance the film is a highly entertaining crime, prison escape drama....
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Post by morrisondylanfan on Jun 21, 2022 18:37:07 GMT
Hi all,I hope everyone is having a good day,I've decided it is again time to say cowabunga to Kurosawa. I Live in Fear (1955)8. "Everybody has to die, but I won't be murdered!" Revealed in the third edition on The Films of Akira Kurosawa by Donald Richie that the script was originally planned to be a satire, with co-writer (with regular collaborators Shinobu Hashimoto, Hideo Oguni, and Fumio Hayasaka - who was a close friend and composer of earlier scores for the film maker,and had in-depth discussions on the title before his passing in 1955) / directing auteur Akira Kurosawa later saying "We decided together, and then talking to other people, that a satire would be the best way of saying what we wanted to do." But, as the writing continued, Kurosawa found "As we (the writers) worked on the script it became less and less satire and more and more something else." Although far more serious then originally planned, the screenplay retains the biting urgency of satire, coming across most prominently in those around Kiichi attempting to counter his fear of another nuke being dropped on Japan,with the most paper-thin reasoning to try and normalize the situation. Landing as a companion work to Ikiru (1952-also reviewed), the writers brilliantly explore the 70 year old Kiichi, (played by 35 year old Toshiro Mifune, who captures the anxiety Kiichi is unable to escape from) trying to protect his family, from what he fears could be the end of their lives. The writers have the dread seeping into his dreams, (dreams being a major theme in Kurosawa's works) and leave Kiichi waking up to find, that the family have increased their labeling of his nuclear fears as mad, and pushed him deeper into a box, in order to keep their image of normalization intact. Reuniting with his regular cinematographer of this period Asakazu Nakai, directing auteur Akira Kurosawa expands on their earlier boiling hot Film Noir Stray Dog (1949-also reviewed), via stylish panning shots gliding over everyone being sweaty, dripping wet and sitting next to fans to cool off, which ignites a superb atmosphere of everything reaching a boiling point. Blowing out the candle with a poetic final shot which builds on the differing stages of life for the generations highlighted in the birthday sequence of Ikiru, and panning shots on grinding machinery, with the increased importance of machines in the modern/business world, being a theme Kurosawa would go deeper in exploring, Kurosawa and Nakai give the audience no breathing space at all, thanks to tight, claustrophobic shots keeping Kiichi boxed in, to a eerie sound design of white blasts of thunder and a baby crying,as Kiichi lives in fear. AK ranking: Stray Dog Rashomon One Wonderful Sunday No Regrets for Our Youth Drunken Angel Ikiru Seven Samurai The Idiot Scandal I Live in Fear Sanjuro The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail The Quiet Duel Uma Sanshiro Sugata Sanshiro Sugata Part 2 The Most Beautiful
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Post by morrisondylanfan on Jun 23, 2022 0:01:44 GMT
Throne of Blood (1957)10. "I feel I am already sleeping and have had a frightening dream. What that witch or spirit said, that is what I dream of." Dripping plans into the ears of her husband over how they can solidify their power as dollops of blood trickle out of her blacken mouth, Isuzu Yamada works with the film maker for the first time,and gives a terrifying performance as Lady Asaji. Inspired by Noh Theatre, Yamada gives Asaji unsettling slow body language movements, that increasingly moves closer to her husband Taketoki, as the forest moves closer to the castle. Unable to shake out of a trance from the spirit foretelling him that he will become lord of the castle, Toshiro Mifune gives a blistering performance as Taketoki,who as Asaji becomes mad over the inability to wash the spot of blood off her hand, Mifune has Taketoki descend into a paranoid obsession, with Mifune having Taketoki throw all loyalties away,to lash out at anyone he fears wants to sit on this bloody throne. Inspired by Noh as a method for staging his favourite Shakespeare play (with The Films of Akira Kurosawa by Donald Richie revealing that he originally planned to only write the script for the project), with The Warrior's Camera: The Cinema of Akira Kurosawa by Stephen Prince detailing the film maker looking back at the title and saying "The composition of leaving a large area white and drawing persons and things only within a limited section of the space is peculiar to Japanese art. The influence of such pictures goes deep with us, and comes out spontaneously in our arrangement of composition. Reuniting with his regular cinematographer of this period Asakazu Nakai, co-writer (with regular collaborators of this era Ryuzo Kikushima, Shinobu Hashimoto and Hideo Oguni) /directing auteur Akira Kurosawa expands on the long lens wide-shots of Seven Samurai (1954-also reviewed) with a refine quality. Book-ending the film on the same shot, and holding back from big, emotional close-ups, Nakai and Kurosawa compose an ominous atmosphere that dip the camera with stylish mid-shots and dolly-shots into the large empty spaces of the castle where Taketoki and Asaji Washizu brew, surrounded by the ghostly sound of wind, lightning and birds, (a major recurring motif of the film maker), which crackle to Kurosawa's sharp, distinctive screen-wipes going back to the errie the Spider's Web Forest, where the spirit awaits to give Taketoki a new foretelling. Transferring the Scottish play to Feudal Japan, and not featuring the scenes of self-examination in Shakespeare 's play (with Kurosawa later saying on the play that "The images of men who lived through the age when the weak became a prey for the strong are highly concentrated. Human beings are described with great intensity. In this sense, I think there is something in Macbeth which is common in all other works of mine.") The writers superbly adapt Shakespeare's play into a a highly concentrated land of darkness, where the unshakable fog, maze of misery of the Spider's Web Forest, and lashings of rain against the dour walls of the castle, are manifestations of the black hearts the preying on those who might stand in their way Washizu's have, when sitting on the throne of blood. AK ranking: Throne of Blood-a new number 1! Stray Dog Rashomon One Wonderful Sunday No Regrets for Our Youth Drunken Angel Ikiru Seven Samurai The Idiot Scandal I Live in Fear Sanjuro The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail The Quiet Duel Uma Sanshiro Sugata Sanshiro Sugata Part 2 The Most Beautiful
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Post by morrisondylanfan on Jun 30, 2022 19:38:28 GMT
Coming in the middle of two major titles, this credit does tend to get overlooked in AK's works. "Lies trump the truth every time." The Lower Depths (1957) 6. Going in-depth on the production in the third edition of his book:The Films of Akira Kurosawa, Donald Eichie reveals that for the second title the film maker made in 1957, the cast and crew spent 40 days in rehearsals, (with the cameras running through empty,and the cast in full costume/make-up) and editor/ co-writer (with regular collaborator of this era, Hideo Oguni) / directing auteur Akira Kurosawa composes his second stage adaptation of the year,by teaming up for the first of two times with cinematographer Kazuo Yamazaki, and building on the long-lens gaze of Throne of Blood. Filmed largely in sequence over 4 weeks, Kurosawa & Yamazaki descend to the lower depths with a beautiful 360 degree opening shot panning, which lands on a trimming of Kurosawa's distinctive screen-wipes, replaced here with delicate,long take panning shots across the confine location, drawing a intimate mood of witnessing an unfolding play, as the sound of heavy wind whistles in the background, until Kurosawa breaks it in the final scene, with rain (the use of weather being a major recurring motif in his works) lashing down on the drenched in somber slum. Having 40 days to rehearse before cameras started rolling, the ensemble cast give excellent performances which perfectly compliment each-other, from a wiggling Toshiro Mifune as thief Sutekichi and Kyoko Kagawa screaming into the void as Okayo, to the harrowing turn by Kamatari Fujiwara as Danjuro, grasping in the dark for lines, he can no longer remember. Differing from Kurosawa's earlier Shakespeare adaptation by containing large passages of Maxim Gorky's original text, the writers weave Gorky's play, with an exploration of those on the very outskirts of society holding dreams, (dreams being a major recurring theme in Kurosawa's works) which smash into a million pieces, on the harsh, fatalistic post-war landscape of Japan, as all the residence of the slum, sink into the lower depths. AK ranking: Throne of Blood Stray Dog Rashomon One Wonderful Sunday No Regrets for Our Youth Drunken Angel Ikiru Seven Samurai The Idiot Scandal I Live in Fear Sanjuro The Men Who Tread on the Tiger's Tail The Quiet Duel Uma Sanshiro Sugata The Lower Depths Sanshiro Sugata Part 2 The Most Beautiful
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Post by manfromplanetx on Apr 17, 2023 23:36:14 GMT
Watching this past week some fantastic classic Japanese films, all have been previously unavailable films with subtitles. I now can tick off a number of films on my wanted list and have notched up the 580th Jap. classic dvd in the home collection and thrilled to reach and see my 30th Yasuzô Masumura film. Sharing a few of the highlights so far, highly entertaining and highly recommended for the Japanese classic film enthusiast ... Tsuma futari, aka Two Wives (1967) note the imdb summary is wrong. 爛, Tadare, aka Stolen Pleasure (1962) 爛 translates as Rotten.With a social conscience there is a pointed focus on the misguided male, and to those rogues in high places. Underlying in both films is an empathetic tone portraying women and their precarious social standing. Masamura’s films speak out, the maverick director boldly unmasks the moral hypocrisy of the post-war social order, where selfishness and deceit undermine progressive egalitarian social reform, he said of his films, "I don't try to portray women. It's just that women are the more human. Men only live for women, all their lives they carry their burden the way a horse pulls his carriage, and then they die of a heart attack. Only by focusing on women can we express humanity..." In these two films the screenplays are from humanist Kaneto Shindo, both star brilliant and enchanting Ayako Wakao. With a Masumura kink and twist to his tales, the melodrama slowly unravels into complex, emotionally charged adult dramas. Ayako Wakao and Mariko Okada in Tsuma futari. (1967) Sekkusu chekku: Daini no sei, The Sex Check (1968) An outstanding Masumura cinematic tale, that tells of a young aspiring Olympic sprint hopeful, being intensively trained by a fallen former sprint champion himself... . Nomugi Pass (1979) from director Satsuo Yamamoto is an epic drama set in the early 1900's. Yamamoto's film tells of the women silk spinners who toil in incredibly harsh conditions to supply the world garment thread trade. Opening with a voice-over narration, a lavish European ball is shown where the ladies twirl in colorful silk dresses, juxtaposed is the arduous snow-bound 160km trek of the young rural workers making their way for a season of factory work. Nomugi Pass is spectacular in its scope and scenery, and gives a fascinating historical perspective, I will never look so casually at a silk garment the same again...
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Post by manfromplanetx on Apr 19, 2023 22:13:51 GMT
しびれくらげ aka Poisonous Jellyfish aka The Hot Little Girl (1970) Dir. Yasuzo Masumura. The translation actually reads 'numb jellyfish'. Aspiring fashion model Midori (Mari Atsumi) is a girl with a mind and a will of her own. Endowed with a beautiful face and a perfect figure, she is a popular model, her smiling face appears frequently in fashion magazines. Midori finds herself compromised by her dubious lover, and she has a rotten father who draws unwanted attention to her, from the yakuza... Jellyfish are considered a symbol of beauty and radiance, an inspiration of what it takes to live life on your own terms they symbolize love, resilience, survival, faith, and adaptability. Life can be tough, but just like jellyfish, go with the flow, endure pain and suffering, and survive you can always bounce back no matter how hard you get hit... An excellent Masumura melodramatic tale incorporating a tasteful exploitive element, popular and typical of the era... Mari Atsumi and Yûsuke Kawazu
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Post by manfromplanetx on Apr 22, 2023 23:40:58 GMT
Finished off the latest Japanese classic film order, watched this week some obscure classics, all with less than 100 IMDb votes. All films very entertaining and highlighted with some wonderfully creative poster art... 憲兵とバラバラ死美人 , The Military Policeman and the Dismembered Beauty (1957) Dir. Kyôtarô Namiki. B grade classic mystery. 最高殊勲夫人 , The Most Valuable Wife (1959) Dir. Yasuzo Masumura. Domestic contemporary romantic comedy. どたんば , Dotanba aka The Eleventh Hour (1957) Dir. by Tomu Uchida. Screenplay by Shinobu Hashimoto, a situation of peril for trapped coal miners... 孔雀秘帖 , The Second Bullet (1960) Dir. Shigehiro Ozawa. A great story with Chiezô Kataoka and young Ken Takakura. 勝利者 , Shôri-sha aka The Winner (1957) Dir. Umetsugu Inoue. A boxer, a ballet dancer, music, melodrama, a great film from Inoue. やくざ絶唱 , Yakuza Masterpiece (1970) Dir. Yasuzo Masumura. Shintaro Katsu plays a lowly violent yakuza thug, who beats up cops and gangsters alike and even harbours romantic feelings for his own sister... Yamaguchi-gumi gaiden: Kyushu shinko-sakusen, The Tattooed Hitman (1974) Dir. Kôsaku Yamashita... A compelling performance from Bunta Sugawara who is the tattooed hitman in this tough crime action film. Hip, violent and touching, based on real life yakuza, Kôsaku Yamashita was a great director!
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Post by mortsahlfan on Apr 26, 2023 19:34:56 GMT
The Face of Another A Woman In The Dunes Pitfall Seven Samurai Jim Morrison's favorite movie is down below. Very experimental. "Anatahan" youtu.be/DsGB2qqKn9w
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Post by manfromplanetx on Apr 27, 2023 23:36:02 GMT
Thanks ! mortsahlfan this looks to be a very interesting film, as is the backstory, from which Sternberg adapted for his own cinematic story... I have downloaded the original b&w version from YT, and look forward to watching here tonight ..
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Post by mortsahlfan on Apr 28, 2023 13:39:53 GMT
Thanks ! mortsahlfan this looks to be a very interesting film, as is the backstory, from which Sternberg adapted for his own cinematic story... I have downloaded the original b&w version from YT, and look forward to watching here tonight .. You're welcome. Please let us know what you think!
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Post by manfromplanetx on Apr 29, 2023 0:07:43 GMT
Thanks ! mortsahlfan ... the original b&w version from YT, and look forward to watching here tonight .. You're welcome. Please let us know what you think! Thanks again !! An excellent unusual film with a fascinating background, the inspiration for the story, and of the directors' Japanese adventure. I am now keen to see the 1958 directors cut. I think the colorized version would detract from the original intent of Sternberg's artistic composition... Inspired by true accounts ANATAHAN the story of a desert island, a femme fatale, and soldiers refusing to surrender became a personal project for director Josef von Sternberg, he referred to the film as his best but also admitted it was his least successful, it was his final film. Composed throughout with extraordinary imagery from light and shadow, the paradisal island becomes the claustrophobic stage for an intensely drawn, multi-faceted human drama of survival, jealousy, violence, and desire. Shot entirely in Japan, on elaborately constructed sets, the director stayed there for eleven months, from August 1952 to July 1953, working with an all-Japanese crew and cast, Josef von Sternberg is credited as writer, producer, director, narrator, and cinematographer. In Japan Sternberg obtained what he rarely was able to achieve from his Hollywood productions, total freedom, without a commercial imperative. Interestingly Sternberg said of the production… “Two interpreters were needed, one to translate into Japanese what I had said, and the other to translate back into English what the first translator was saying so that I could check whether my meaning had been correctly transmitted… To make certain that my ideas were being transferred correctly, I engaged an artist to draw pictures of each scene as we proceeded. I also made a graphic chart of the emotional involvements of each player, so that all of them could clearly see the kind of emotion required and the degree to which it was to be used…”and he jokingly quipped... “Half of my crew had been trained as kamikazes, and the other half had been guerrilla fighters in the Philippines, though this had not prepared them for the ordeal of working with me.”
An enchanting wonderfully expressive debut from Akemi Negishi...as Queen Bee. Josef von Sternberg on set... Beautiful light and shadow cinematography
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Post by manfromplanetx on Nov 21, 2023 23:16:59 GMT
新しき土, Atarashiki Tsuchi (The New Earth) aka Die Tochter des Samurai, The Daughter of the Samurai (1937) Japanese-German drama film directed by Arnold Fanck and Mansaku Itami. The classic film was the first of two cinematic co-productions between Imperial Japan and Nazi Germany. and was made to celebrate the anti-communist treaty the Anti-Comintern pact which was launched in 1935 and concluded between the two nations in 1936, a few months before the premiere of the film. Briefly the multi-faceted storyline is about Teruo (Isamu Kosugi) returning home from a long educational stay in Germany. He now believes in individual freedom and wants to call off his arranged marriage with Mitsuko (Setsuko Hara) in the traditional samurai family into which he has been adopted as a son to carry family tradition…. German director Fanck was a master of the mountain film, and in Japan he excels with magnificent views of a volcano and snow-covered Mount Fuji, he observes Japanese life with the attentive eye of a foreigner and presents cultural richness and natural landscapes with enthralling detail. The collaborative co-production however was difficult, and the film was poorly received in Japan. The Japanese were critical of the condescending treatment of Japan as an exotic Oriental nation, one that needed German political ideas, as if Japan had none of its own, the racist Nazi ideology of ‘blood and soil’ was also considered disturbing. With much music and singing, the classic film is a wonderfully entertaining cinematic curio and a fascinating historical drama presenting a rare artistic collaboration between Axis powers. Setsuko Hara gives a deeply moving performance of a woman caught between tradition and modernity, it was a role that propelled her prominence as an actress….
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Post by manfromplanetx on Nov 23, 2023 23:29:36 GMT
加藤隼戦闘隊, Kato hayabusa sento-tai a.k.a. Colonel Kato's Falcon Squadron (1944) Directed by Kajiro Yamamoto. A morale boosting patriotic war film detailing the missions of a fighter squadron in the Imperial Japanese Army Air Service, Glorifying propaganda, and a tribute, Colonel Katō's squadron was inspired by the military career and heroism of Japanese flying ace Katō Tateo played here by Susumu Fujita, pictured below. While the film focuses on the image of Japanese aviation, the human drama is universally appealing, it is an exciting and gripping war film. Giving a fascinating insight the film can also be viewed as an honorable dedication towards all those who serve their country. Colonel Katō's squadron was active during the early years of the WWII in East Asia, China, Burma and Thailand, the enemy were mainly the British, however throughout the film there is no overt anti-American or anti-British propaganda. Also featured are the legendary combat Hayabusa tactical fighters Nakajima Ki-43 that could out manoeuvre any opponent in the skies. The interest in this classic war-time production is multiple. Pioneering director Kajirō Yamamoto was mentor to young Akira Kurosawa and gave the eager and promising newcomer his first big break. In 1941 Yamamoto appointed Kurosawa his assistant director. The pair worked on 17 features together. During his five years as an assistant director, Kurosawa also worked under numerous directors, but by far the most important figure in his development was Kajirō Yamamoto... The special effects were directed by Eiji Tsuburaya, who would later become famous for his work on the Godzilla and Ultraman franchises. Aspiring young directors and their mentor from left Akira Kurosawa, Ishirō Honda, and Senkichi Taniguchi with Kajirō Yamamoto.
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