Written and directed by Keisuke Kinoshita, Immortal Love is the story of a woman is part of a loveless marriage that goes on for three decades as she is in love with another man. The film is a look into a marriage that would later create a family but a family that would become dysfunctional. Starring Hideko Takamine, Keiji Sada, Tatsuya Nakadai, and Nobuko Otowa. Immortal Love is a riveting yet intoxicating film from Keisuke Kinoshita.
The film follows 29 years in the life of a couple who are part of a loveless marriage in which the woman is forced into it after her father had been coerced by a landowner into having his daughter marry the landowner’s son. Though she loves another man, she wouldn’t see him for very much due to this marriage that would spawn three children yet the family life would be just as tumultuous as the marriage leading to tragedy and other revelations. Keisuke Kinoshita’s screenplay is told in five different chapters as it begins in 1932 and ends in 1961 as each chapter focuses on a different point in this chaotic marriage between Sadako (Hideko Takamine) and Heibei (Tatsuya Nakadai). The film would capture five key moments in time such as the fact in Heibei returning home in 1932 as a war hero with a limp as he would pursue Sadako and force himself upon her much to the dismay of her lover Takashi (Keiji Sada).
Takashi would suggest to Sadako to run away on the latter’s wedding day but the former doesn’t show up at the site they were supposed to meet leaving Sadako to a fate of chaos. Even as Sadako’s married life would be fraught with difficulties including news about Takashi becoming ill and meeting his wife Tomoko (Nobuko Otowa) that would just cause trouble. Sadako’s life as a mother is also complicated as she and her eldest son Eiichi (Masakasu Tamura) would often fight with Eiichi often going to Heibei for support. It just adds to a lot of complication that would continue throughout this unhappy marriage that would go on for nearly 30 years.
Kinoshita’s direction is entrancing for the way it plays into the life of a farmer’s daughter who is forced into the marriage of a landowner’s son. Shot on rural locations near mountains and farmland areas in Japan, Kinoshita would use a lot of wide shots of not just the locations but also in some of the intimate compositions to show how disconnected Sadako and Heibei are in their marriage. There are also some medium shots and close-ups to play into the intimate aspects of the family life as well as compositions where Kinoshita would have the camera placed at a certain position towards the door of Heibei’s home. The direction also has some intense moments as it play into a tragic event that would cause a brief reunion between Sadako and Takashi as it play into their longing but also where they’re at in this point in their lives.
The final two episodes set in 1960 and 1961 isn’t just about these revelations into this loveless marriage but also a decision that Sadako and Heibei’s daughter Naoko (Yukiko Fuji) would make that would raise more tension between the parents as well as revelations about Sadako’s own feelings for Takashi who copes with his own health issues as his own scars from the war would return. All of which play into this tense and tumultuous marriage and puzzlement of what could’ve been if these two had never gotten married. Overall, Kinoshita crafts a compelling yet haunting film about a woman who is forced into a loveless marriage that eventually becomes torture both man and wife.
Cinematographer Hiroshi Kusuda does brilliant work with the film’s black-and-white photography to play into the sunny look of the exterior locations along with its usage of low-key lights for the scenes at night. Editor Yoshi Sugihara does terrific work with the editing as it is largely straightforward in terms of its lack of style in order to capture the intensity of the drama in some of the long shots in the film. Art director Chiyoo Umeda and set decorator Hachiro Soda do fantastic work with the look of the house Heibei’s family owns as well as the rooms and the more modest home of Takashi upon his return. The sound work of Hisao Ono is superb for capturing the atmosphere of the home as well as the locations to play into the changing times in the world outside of the country. The film’s music by Chuji Kinoshita is phenomenal for its flamenco-based score as its usage of acoustic guitars and songs that are played between chapters add a sense of dramatic urgency and foreshadowing that would occur as it’s a highlight of the film.
The film’s incredible cast feature some notable small roles from Eijiro Tono as a policeman in third act of the film, Kiyoshi Nonomura as Takashi’s brother who would tell Sadako news about him, Yasushi Nagata as Heibei’s father, Akira Ishihama as Takashi’s son Yutaka, Yukiko Fuji as Sadako and Heibei’s daughter Naoko, Masakazu Tamura as Heibei and Sadako’s eldest son Eiichi, Yoshi Kato as Sadako’s father who bears regrets over putting his daughter into a terrible marriage, and Masaya Totsuka as Sadako and Heibei’s middle son Morito who appears late in the film with revelations about the truth of what his father and his father’s family had done forcing him to take on a path of his own. Nobuko Otowa is fantastic as Takashi’s wife Tomoko who is in a similar situation as Sadako in her marriage to Takashi yet would endure a worse fate as she coped with being raped by Heibei that lead to her own descent.
Keiji Sada is excellent as Takashi as Sadako’s lover who is angry over what Heibei did yet makes a decision that would impact everything as he copes with the choices he makes as well as dealing with an illness that he would carry for much of his life. Tatsuya Nakadai is brilliant as Heibei as a farm owner’s son and revered military officer who would force himself on Sadako and marry her only to become tormented by the marriage as well as being extremely needy. Finally, there’s Hideko Takamine in an amazing performance as Sadako as the daughter of a farmer who is forced into a loveless marriage as she deals with the chaos of being a wife of a man she hates as well as the loss of her own chance at true love where she also deals with family chaos and tragedy as it is a riveting performance in the film.
Immortal Love is a phenomenal film from Keisuke Kinoshita. Featuring a great cast, gorgeous visuals, an eerie score, and a gripping story about a tumultuous marriage, it’s a film that showcases the idea of a forced marriage and the impact it would have on many including two people who hate each other. In the end, Immortal Love is a sensational film from Keisuke Kinoshita.
Keisuke Kinoshita Films: (Port of Flowers) - (The Living Magoroku) – Army - (Jubilation Street) - (Morning for the Osone Family) – (Carmen Comes Home) - (A Japanese Tragedy) - (Twenty-Four Eyes) - (She Was like a Wild Chrysanthemum) - (Yorokobi mo kanashimi mo ikutoshitsuki) - The Ballad of Narayama (1958 film) - (The River Fuefuki)
© thevoid99 2018
Directed by Yasujiro Ozu and screenplay by Komatsu Kitamura and Kogo Noda, Tokyo Chorus is the story of a working man hoping to get his pay in the chance to give his family a moment of happiness as he deals with the reality of his life. The film is an exploration into the look of the working class in Tokyo as it revolves the story of a man and others dealing with day-to-day life during the Great Depression. Starring Tokihiko Okada, Emiko Yagumo, Hideo Sugawara, Hideko Takamine, Tatsuo Saito, and Chouko Iida. Tokyo Chorus is a touching and engaging film from Yasujiro Ozu.
The film follows a man who is fired from his job after turning down a bonus after learning that an older co-worker is fired prompting him to struggle in finding work and raise his family. It’s a film that explores life during the Great Depression in Tokyo as a man is trying to uphold some honor for those he work for as well as trying to do good for his family as he promises his son a bicycle. The film’s screenplay by Komatsu Kitamura and Kogo Noda doesn’t just explore a man dealing with unemployment but also the need to do what is right as he would wander around Tokyo trying to find work at a time when jobs were becoming scarce. The film does open in an unconventional manner as it revolves the protagonist Shinji Okajima (Tokihiko Okada) causing trouble as he is being disciplined by his teacher Omura (Tatsuo Saito). The narrative would fast-forward years later where Okajima is working for an insurance company as he is to receive his bonus but his actions would later lead to trouble as he puts the livelihood of his family at great risk.
Yasujiro Ozu’s direction is definitely simple in terms of the compositions he creates as there isn’t very much movement with the camera other than a few tracking shots and a zoom-out as much of it remains this simple static shot in either close-ups or medium shots. Ozu’s direction captures the life of middle-class Tokyo and nearby areas as it shows a world that is struggling with the Depression where a man in his prime tries to help a co-worker who is older than him. Ozu showcases these struggles with an air of realism and doesn’t go for any kind of visual style to play into this realism. Even in some of the interiors as he captures a family struggling to get by as one of the children is ill as Okajima’s wife Sugako (Emiko Yagumo) is forced to sell a cherished possession. It would all play into Okajima having to wander around Tokyo to find work as he would have to swallow his pride as he would finally get help from someone from his past who would show him the means to fight for what he wants. Overall, Ozu creates a compelling and heartfelt film about a man trying to find work during the Great Depression in Tokyo.
Cinematographer/editor Hideo Shigehara does excellent work with the film’s cinematography and editing as the photography is straightforward in its black-and-white look while the editing is also simple with straight cuts to play into the drama. Set decorators Minzo Kakuta, Tsunetaro Kawaski, Beijiro Tanaka, and Yonekazu Wakita do fantastic work with the look of the home that Okajima and his family live in as well as the office he worked at in the films’ first act. Costume designer Ko Saito does nice work with the costumes from the look of the kimonos as well as the clothes of Okajima as he tries to present himself to get a job. The film’s wonderful score by Donald Sosin from the 2008 release from the Criterion Collection’s Eclipse series is a jovial piano score that help play into some of the film’s humor but also provide the right tone for the dramatic moments.
The film’s brilliant cast include some notable small roles from Kanji Kawara as a doctor, Reiko Tani as Okajima’s boss who would fire him, Ken’ichi Miyajima as the boss’ secretary, Takeshi Samamoto as the elderly employee who would be fired, and Choko Iida as Omura’s wife. Hideo Sugawara and Hideko Takamine are terrific in their roles as Okajima’s children with the former as the son wanting a bike and the latter as the daughter who would get sick during the film’s second act. Emiko Yagumo is excellent as Okajima’s wife Sugako as a wife trying to understand what her husband is doing as well as cope with the severity of his unemployment. Tatsuo Saito is amazing as Omura as a teacher of Okajima in the film’s opening sequence who disciplines him in how to conduct oneself at the work place as well as be someone that would help Okajima regain his confidence. Finally, there’s Tokihiko Okada in a marvelous performance as Shinji Okajima as a man working for an insurance company who tries to defend the rights of a fired co-worker as well as do what he can to give his family a good life while finding a job during one of Japan’s most trying times in the Great Depression.
Tokyo Chorus is a remarkable film from Yasujiro Ozu. It’s a silent film that explore Japan during the Great Depression that is filled with bits of humor as well as drama that has a realness as well as something that is engaging to a wide audience about the struggles to provide for one’s family. In the end, Tokyo Chorus is an incredible film from Yasujiro Ozu.
Yasujiro Ozu Films: (Sword of Penitence) – (Days of Youth) – I Was Born, But... - (Dragnet Girl) – Passing Fancy – (A Mother Should Be Loved) – A Story of Floating Weeds - (An Inn in Tokyo) – (The Only Son) – (What Did the Lady Forget?) – (Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family) – (There Was a Father) – Record of a Tenement Gentleman – (A Hen in the Wind) – Late Spring - Early Summer - (The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice) – Tokyo Story - Early Spring - Tokyo Twilight – (Equinox Flower) – Good Morning - Floating Weeds - Late Autumn - The End of Summer – (An Autumn Afternoon)
© thevoid99 2017
Based on the novel series by Junpei Gomikawa, The Human Condition is a film trilogy that explores the life of a young man with socialist and pacifist views of the world who endures oppression and terror during the era of World War II Japan. Directed by Masaki Kobayashi and screenplay by Kobayahi and Zenzo Matsuyama, the film is set into three parts that plays into the journey of a young man who goes from labor camp supervisor to serving as part of the Imperial army in World War II and becoming a POW for the Soviet Union as he questions the journey of his life. Starring Tatsuya Nakadai, Michiyo Aratama, Iseko Ariama, Chikage Awashima, Keiji Sada, Taketoshi Naito, Minoru Chiaki, Yusuke Kawazu, Tamao Nakamura, Chishu Ryu, and Hideko Takamine. The Human Condition is an astonishing and tremendous study of humanity in the era of war from Masaki Kobayashi.
The film is a three-part story told in the span of nearly three years from 1943 Japan to early 1946 as a man named Kaji (Tatsuya Nakadai) would endure a series of events and moments that would shape his view of humanity as he tries to hold on to his views of socialism and pacifism thinking that there’s some good in the world of war. Since it is a three-part movie with a total running time of 574-minutes (nine-hours and forty-seven minutes without intermission), it is a film that plays into Kaji’s view on the world from trying to change things and then be pushed to the edge over how the world works. In the first film, he starts out serving as labor camp supervisor in Japanese-occupied Manchuria in China where he is challenged by corrupt men who want to punish and rule over the Chinese. Due to his actions in trying to maintain some peace and civility, he would be punished into becoming a soldier in the second film where he endures brutality in his training and later tension with soldiers as he tries to train older recruits.
The third film would have Kaji trying to survive once his platoon has been overwhelmed where he is eventually captured by Soviet forces as he contends with everything he endures and encounters. The screenplays by Masaki Kobayashi and Zenzo Matsuyama explore not just Kaji’s evolution as a man trying to find some kind of hope and humanity during a horrific period of war. In the first film, Kaji starts out as a man of great intelligence as he is exempted from military service where he would take a job in Manchuria as a labor camp supervisor where he brings his new bride Michiko (Michiyo Aratama) as she tries to understand the work that Kaji is trying to do in his work where he has to deal with corrupt officials despite the support of a camp officer in Okishima (So Yamamura) and a young Chinese officer in Chen (Akira Ishihama). While he tries to appease prisoners including a few troublesome Chinese prisoners like Kao (Shinji Nanbara) as well as offering prostitutes to ease their troubles.
Things don’t go right because of the way the Japanese wants to control things and to ensure the increase production in ore as trouble would ensue where Kaji’s actions into helping the Chinese and ensure that they’re treated humanly would lead to his path in the second film. By being forced to serve in the military as punishment where there are those watching over him, Kaji would survive training though he longs to be with his wife. Yet, some of the tactics of veteran soldiers and such would create trouble and tragedy where Kaji tries to make things right as his actions would get the attention of his old friend Kageyama (Keiji Sada) who would have Kaji train older recruits during the final moments of war. Yet, his attempts to make things easier and deal with things behind the scenes only trouble him as Soviet forces would arrive. The third film would be about Kaji’s attempt to survive with the few allies he has left as he would encounter a group of lost refugees, soldiers without leaders, and eventual capture by the Soviets. All of which leads to him trying to comprehend the idea of war and what it means to live.
It’s not just the development of Kaji that is important but also in the environment and people he encounter in his journey from being this idealist pacifist with socialist views on the world to a soldier who saw a world that is very troubled and dark in the days of war. In some ways, it is an anti-war film that is being told but one that plays into a man trying to hold into the idea that there is good in the world of war as he ponders if the enemy are just as humane as he is. While there are those who are baffled by his idealism and determination, they would admire him for sticking to his beliefs as he would be tested. Even in moments where Kaji would be forced to see people who are good be harmed either by their own selfishness or by some event as it add to Kaji questioning his own ideals as his capture by the Soviet would only create more confusion from within.
Kobayashi’s direction is nothing short of grand in terms of its visuals as well as the length to tell the story with such ambition. For the first film entitled No Greater Love and its subsequent films, Kobayashi does maintain compositions and images that do play into Kaji’s struggle with the world that often include slanted camera angles as if Kaji is either walking up or down a hill or a mountain. Shot on location in northern Japan (due to strained Chinese-Japanese relations at the time), Kobayashi’s usage of mountains and barren landscapes play into the world of the labor camps where the Chinese are imprisoned along with these intricate usage of tracking shots that would become a prominent factor for much of trilogy. Notably for scenes in the second film Road to Eternity where Kobayashi would use these intricate tracking shots to play into the sense of tension that emerges in the training camps and at the barracks where soldiers sleep as it makes things uneasy.
The direction also Kobayashi maintain a sense of intimacy through his usage of close-ups and medium shots for scenes at the camp and brothels in No Greater Love and at the camps in Road to Eternity. Much of it would play into not just Kaji’s sense of longing but also his struggle to hold on to his beliefs and the semblance of humanity around him. The close-ups wouldn’t just play into Kaji’s own state of mind but also in the characters who would become attached to him as the final days of the war is emerging. In the second half of Road to Eternity where Kaji and his platoon would have to battle it out with the Soviets. It does become a very different film where Kaji is in the middle of a battlefield knowing that he might die but manages to survive but its aftermath would play into a growing sense of disillusionment. It then leads to the third and final film of the trilogy in A Soldier’s Prayer where Kaji and a few soldiers he had befriend are fighting to survive where they would encounter refugees and others on their way back to Manchuria. The third film does become much broader in terms of its visuals and in its suspense as well as the sense of drama where Kaji is trying to maintain some dignity despite the fact that he knows that Japan has been defeated.
Kaji’s encounter with different types of refugees would play into his own resolve where Kobayashi’s direction is quite vast in its compositions that include some very wide shots of the farmland where Chinese militia farmers are taking watch. By the time the film moves into the Soviet camps, it does become more grim where Kaji would endure labor work as punishment but also a sense of disillusionment in the way he sees the Soviet as who they really are from their view of socialism. It’s in these moments where Kobayashi would definitely heighten the tension and drama for an ending where Kaji and everything he had encountered would force him to make a decision for what is right in the world. Overall, Kobayashi creates what is truly an astronomical and gripping trilogy of films about a humanist dealing with war and inhumanity during one of the most horrific periods in world history.
Cinematographer Yoshio Miyajima does brilliant work with the black-and-white cinematography for all three films where he infuses a lot of unique images and lighting schemes with Takaskhi Kato providing some harsh lights for a rainy scene in the first film while Akira Aomatsu does some of the lights for scenes at night and in the interiors for the second and third film as well as some naturalistic images for the latter for scenes set in the woods as the photography is among one of the film‘s highlights. Editor Keiichi Uraoka does amazing work with the editing in not just creating rhythmic cuts for some of the dramatic and active moments in the film but also some dissolves and stylish cuts to play into the drama including the usage of flashbacks and freeze-frames for the third film.
Production designer Kazue Hirakata, with set designers Yoji Maru (for the first film) and Takamasi Kobayashi (for the second and third films) and set decorators Kyoji Sasaki (for the first film) and Seiji Ishikawa (for the second and third films), does fantastic work with the set design from the look of the Manchurian villages where Kaji and Michiko would live to the labor camps, training camps, and other places that Kaji would encounter throughout his journey. Sound recorder Hideo Nishizaki does excellent work with the sound to capture the atmosphere of the labor camps and ore mines in the first film as well as the scenes set in the training camps, battlefields, and at the Soviet prison to play into the world that Kaji is at. The film’s music by Chuji Kinoshita is great as it features an array of compositions from somber string arrangements to play into the drama to bombastic orchestral numbers that add to the tone of war as well as cadence drum arrangements to play into that world of the military.
The casting for all three films are incredible as it is a large yet well-crafted ensemble in the many roles that were assembled for the film. From No Greater Love, there’s notable small roles from Nobuo Nakamura as labor camp manager, Akitake Kono as a camp captain, Eitaro Ozawa as a brutish camp official in Okazaki, Masao Mishima as the camp manager Kuroki, Seiji Mizoguchi as the prisoner Wang Heng Li, Shinji Nanbara as the prisoner Kao, Koji Mitsui as the abusive camp officer Furya, Ineko Arima as the prostitute Yang Chun Lan who falls for Kao, Akira Ishihama as the Chinese officer Chen, So Yamamura as the sympathetic officer Okimshima, and Chikage Awashima as the brothel madam Jin Tung Fu whom Chen would fall for.
From Road to Eternity, there’s small roles from Kokini Katsura and Jun Tatara as a couple of first-class privates, Michio Minami as the abusive private first-class Yoshida, Fumio Watanabe and Shoji Yasui as a couple of officers at the camp, and Susumu Fujita as an older recruit Kaji is training. From A Soldier’s Prayer, there’s noteworthy small roles from Tamao Nakamura as a refugee Kaji and his fellow soldiers encounter, Ed Keene and Ronald Self as a couple of Soviet officers, Koji Kiyoumura and Keijiro Morozumi as a couple of soldiers, Kyoko Kishida as a prostitute refugee that Koji meets, Reiko Hitomi as a young woman who joins the soldiers on a journey, Hideko Takamine as a woman in a refugee camp, and Chishu Ryu as an old man in the refugee camp.
From the second film, Kei Sato is terrific as the veteran recruit Shinjo who would make a drastic attempt to escape the military while Kunie Tanaka is superb as the poor-sighted and cowardly Obara who would endure horrific abuse in the hands of supervisors. Keiji Sada is excellent as Kaji’s old friend Kageyama who appears in the first and second film where he becomes a lieutenant in the latter who would appoint Kaji to train a group of older officers. Taketoshi Naito and Yusuke Kawazu are brilliant in their respective roles as the soldiers Tange and Terada who both admire Kaji for his determination with the former being the cynic and the latter being a young man. Nobuo Kaneko is fantastic as the corrupt officer Kirihara who would also be captured by the Soviets where he is able to sway things in their favor much to Kaji’s disgust.
Michiyo Aratama is amazing as Kaji’s wife Michiyo who copes with her husband’s activities and his absences as she would visit him during his training as a soldier while becoming an object of determination in the third film where she would appear as an apparition of other women to remind him what he needs to return to. Finally, there’s Tatsuya Nakadai in a performance for the ages as Kaji as an idealistic young man who would endure some of the most horrific events in history. It’s a performance where Nakadai maintains a sense of humility and drive into his performance where he starts off as determined to make a difference in a world that is very cruel only to be pushed and pushed to face the harsher side of reality. Even as he contends with some of the actions he had caused and his attempts to do good during the time of war as it is a very haunting yet exhilarating performance from Nakadai.
The 2009 four-disc Region 1 DVD set from the Criterion Collection presents the films in their 2:35:1 theatrical aspect ratio on an enhanced 16x9 widescreen format with 1.0 Dolby Digital Mono sound as both sound and image are remastered for this release. Three discs contain the three different films in the trilogy as well as a fourth disc of special features. The first is a fourteen-minute excerpt of a rare 1993 interview with Masaki Kobayashi by filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda made for the Japanese Director’s Guild. Kobayashi talks about his collaboration with cinematographer Yoshio Miyajima and their methods as well as aspects on the production along with the first film’s initial reception, despite winning an award at the Venice Film Festival, where it wasn’t well-received.
The 18-minute interview Tatsuya Nakadai has the actor talking about the film and his performance where he was just a newcomer who had worked with Kobayashi prior to making the trilogy. Nakadai also talks about the production as it was a tough one that spanned over three years as only he and Kobayashi were the only ones that didn’t get sick throughout the production. Nakadai also talks about how some of his performance was based on Kobayashi’s own experience as a POW which he added into the film as well as talking about seeing the film over the years which he is proud of as he also thinks it’s one of the finest anti-war films ever made.
The 25-minute appreciation video about the film and Kobayashi by filmmaker Masahiro Shinoda has the filmmaker discussing a lot of the film’s themes and how it would relate to the films Kobayashi would make throughout his career. Shinoda also talks about Kobayashi’s life as a POW which would reflect on some of the scenes shown on the film where Kobayashi wanted a realistic depiction of what it was like. Shinoda also talks about the novelist of the stories who, like Kobayashi, was also part of the military that refused to serve as an officer where the two both shared their own experiences of war which would play into the film. Shinoda also talks about the romantic elements in the film that he felt was overlooked as he revealed much of the influence of late 1930s French cinema that had an impact on Kobayashi as a filmmaker.
The DVD set includes the trailers for all three films which displays its sense of ambition and importance to the Japanese cinema. The DVD set also includes an essay by film historian Philip Kemp entitled The Prisoner where Kemp talks about Kobayashi’s film career but also the state of Japan during the time the film was made. One of which where Japan was struggling with the actions it caused as well as be in denial about what they did where the film’s release did spark some controversy despite the international acclaim it would receive. Kemp also talks about the film and its narrative along with some of its irony as it concerns Kaji’s socialist views which would add to Kaji’s own downfall and disillusionment. It’s a very compelling essay that serves as a fine accompaniment to a towering trilogy.
The Human Condition trilogy is truly an outstanding achievement from Masaki Kobayashi that features a spectacular performance from Tatsuya Nakadai. While each film do stand out on their own, it is far more powerful and exhilarating as one entire piece thanks to a great ensemble cast and amazing technical work. It is also an intriguing study about humanity at a point in time where human kindness and decency are swayed away by something as senseless as war. In the end, The Human Condition trilogy is a magnificent trilogy of films by Masaki Kobayashi.
Masaki Kobayashi Films: (Black River) - Harakiri - Kwaidan - Samurai Rebellion - (Hymn to a Tired Man) - (The Fossil) - (Tokyo Trial)
© thevoid99 2015
