Hottoceame The Age of Commercialism

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Lollivan It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

WILLIAM FLANIGAN Viewed on DVD. Editing = 2.5 stars; restoration = 2.5 stars. Director Keisuke Kinoshita's lyrical outing suffers from an attempt to blend epoch drama with an all-purpose (Swiss-army-knife) children's choral concert. The mash up is quite effective when the Director sticks with cute first-grade school songs. Not so much when his children's chorus sings lyrics that: consist of blank-verse nonsense (a phenomenon often found on the sound track of films from this era); take on an unrealistic adult perspective; provide expository information (voice-over singing); deliver travel logs; provide third-party points of view; etc. In short, this incessant "racket" rapidly becomes an irritant especially when it keeps interrupting the very engaging story line. The film needs a good scrub by an experienced musical director (which would also shorten a too long film and keep the focus squarely on the unfolding high drama). It is amusing to see that school classes seem to be limited to--you guessed it--singing! No less interesting is the lack of continuity when 12 first-grade children (24 eyes) suddenly become 20 or more (40 eyes!). Kinoshita makes effective use of very long scenes by ensuring they remain engaging. Acting, however, is uneven due to limitations in script and direction. The talents of leading actress Hideko Takamine (playing a "modern" school teacher) are squandered with dialog along the lines of "I don't know what to say" and "I can't say anything now" and ever present sobbing (more than half of Takamine's performance is limited to crying!). Distinguished actor Chishû Ryû is both miscast and misdirected playing a clueless first-grade music teacher. Director Kinoshita also over doses on cute (but hammy and obviously staged) mug shots of children (the same shots are repeatedly shown). Subtitles do not translate hand writing and some singing bouts. Cinematography (narrow screen, black and white) uses an antique format (perhaps due to budging issues and/or fear of updating?). Editing errors and restoration that does not correct for same occur with each inter-scene dissolve in the first third of the movie. Linked scenes go out of focus just before and immediately after each dissolve (could at least be replaced with jump cuts during restoration?). Sound dubbing is OK. Nonchoral music consists of a rich score that include some riffs on Steven Foster and Auld Lang Syne. Enjoyable, especially if you are into choral music big time! WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.

Luis Angel Gonzalez First film I watch from Japanese director Keisuke Kinoshita and I'm definitely glad I decided to do so, as this film has resulted in a really staggering, completely beautiful experience. However, it might become heavy going at times, on account of its running time which almost draws near to three hours. Nevertheless, there are plenty of gorgeous scenes brimming with both happiness and sadness that will undoubtedly evoke emotions in you, whether liking the film or not. Moreover, if you are accustomed to black and white Japanese films, I don't think you will find any obstacles in order to fully appreciate it.It all takes place in a sparsely populated, small island called Shodoshima, where in order to continue their studies, the children had to make a long walk to school. In one of those rather large walks, they come across their former teacher (she had just quit teaching) who tells them to treat the new teacher well. Then the new teacher (Isokichi Okada) arrives, impressing everyone on her way to school with her suit and bicycle, both of which were highly innovative in those times. From there on, both the teacher and the children would forge an unbreakable bond that would last for many years. As the plot slowly unravels, the teacher will gradually get into many of her students' lives as they grow up, and the problems they will tend to encounter in their way, which might prevent them from keeping on studying. There were as well the persistent thoughts of war; later in the film, when some of the male students were in sixth grade, they would think of getting drafted into the army to serve their country.The acting is superb, there's absolutely nothing to reproach it. Every single person delivers an amazingly credible acting, they really resemble real people. The camera-work is nothing short of praiseworthy, whit static cameras and angles reminiscent of those of Ozu's, allowing a much better appreciation of the already astonishing film. I for one loved the scene when they go on a trip and travel by ferry. One of the female students would stand up and sing beautifully a song, while the rest remained seated. She would do the same at the end of the film, which brings back many memories of the old days.This film is, without no doubt, the best student-teacher movie I've seen, and it will more than likely remain the best. Do not hesitate to get this one if you even have the remotest desire to watch it. If it did not get a perfect rating from me, that would be because of some scenes I consider somewhat unnecessary to the plot. However, the film is still a masterpiece.Beware of the abundant emotional content, it might bring you to tears.My score: 9.5/10

lyrast Before I watched 24 Ey"es, I prepared myself for what I thought would be a Japanese version of Goodbye, Mr Chips" {a film I have never really enjoyed despite my appreciation of Robert Donat}. What I experienced was something much more realistic and emotionally moving. Rather than being a sentimental tale of the dedicated teacher earning the life-long love of her pupils, it is the greater and deeper saga of a loving woman who happens to be a teacher and who is also a moral mentor for those who need her devotion, guidance, example, courage and love during the lean, desperate, and sometimes frightening years during which she works. That time context is the difficult period beginning with the Depression and including the terrible years of the Second World War.Naturally a human focus is necessary because of the large time span covered in the film and the director chooses the twelve pupils who are part of Oishi's first experiences and with whom she relates at various times through her life. Kinoshita skilfully manages the contrast between the time and the person throughout the film. Everyone has the right to their own opinions which must be respected, but I can only disagree with the viewer who criticised the film as "unshaded and unshaped to the point of tedium". Yes, the film is long. But every incident has a function and the totality is far from "unshaped". Likewise the criticism that the heroine was well named as "Miss Cry Baby" by her students is unfair. I think that this perspective simply misses the fact that the cultural restrictions of the time {which included a major war} were such as made any proactive assault on social attitudes completely impossible.So this film is not at all sentimental in the Mr Chips mode. Miss Oishi has accidents, deals with the problems of unsympathetic and intractable parents, is regarded as possibly being a "Red", and has to watch her clearly well-meaning principal burn a book of literary works by students because they are not politically correct. She leaves teaching for a period, in part out of disillusionment and in part to raise her own family, allowing us to see another dimension to her character.The original twelve students continue to impact in various ways throughout her life, forming a rhythm and pattern which not only brings happiness and sorrow, but helps to inform her vision of life with its stoical, courageous strength—a strength she imparts to them in return.It is quite a beautiful film and the DVD has as an extra a superb interview with the Japanese film historian, Tadao Sato which is revelatory and sensitive. He mentions that when the children grew older, look-alike siblings were chosen by Kinoshita to play the roles! He explains a great deal about the cultural, political, and social contexts which make this film so effective and have made it a cinematic icon for the Japanese people.

crossbow0106 For English speaking people, there are not many movies available on DVD starring Hideko Takamine. This is one, and it is a masterpiece. Ms. Takamine plays a schoolteacher in a small Inland Sea village in Japan. The movie's time line is twenty years, from 1928 to 1948. These turbulent times affect the students she teaches, some of whom went off to war. There are many tears in this film, from the children and Takamine's character. The fact that "Auld Lang Syne" is used at times for background music heightens the feelings of loss & sadness, which does make up some of the story. This is somewhat of an anti-war film, but only as it affects the children and the teacher. Ms. Takamine is luminous in this role, as she is in every movie I've ever seen her in. The fact that the director Kinoshita Keisuke also directed her in "Carmen Comes Home" (the first ever Japanese film in color), a film light years away from this one, shows off their versatility in their craft. The only complaint I have is small, that the subtitles are somewhat annoying, since they are sometimes out of sync. However, a great movie is a great movie. This film won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. It is a richly deserved honor.