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 ….
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 …
“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 …
