Mikio Naruse

[dad1153]

Naruse's "Mother" is the 'TCM Import' feature Sunday overnight at 2:30AM ET (11:30PM PT) on TCM (US).

Get it? "Mother" on Mother's Day (in the States)? Back in 2006 or '07 TCM showed Ozu's "There Was A Father" on Father's Day. It was my introduction to Ozu and it's the movie that hooked me to the director. Will someone else (not me, I'm already hooked on Naruse) make "Mother" their first Naruse movie that will send them of a collecting/tracking binge? Nice going TCM.

[Napier]

I'm very excited TCM is showing this as well. DVR is set.

[Professor Wagstaff]

Great timing and my DVR is set! Still haven't seen a Naruse but I have the Eclipse set waiting for me in a day or two once I finish some work that's been building up. Glad to have so much for my introduction. Thanks for the scheduling heads-up!

[Michael Kerpan]

Mother isn't as sophisticated (perhaps) as some of Naruse's very best films -- but it really has many wonderful moments. The somewhat maudlin narration comes from a prize-winning student essay that served (in a general way) as the inspiration for the film.

[sidehacker]

Can anyone comment on the quality of the print that TCM used? I've only seen it through a Spanish import DVD that was pretty much untouched in terms of restoration. Was there anything before the credits that would suggest a new release? It's entirely possible considering how out of the loop I've been that it has already been picked up by Janus.

[knives]

It did come with a Janus and it didn't look bad, but it did look overly pale.

[Roger Ryan]

It wasn't in great shape, but acceptable. The print quality reminded me of IKIRU which dates from the same period. This was the first Naruse film I've seen and I found it charming. I was most impressed with the little surprise cuts/shots sprinkled throughout such as the upside-down shot and the full-frame graphic of "The End" which appeared on-screen mid-movie (revealed as the end of a film that two of the characters are watching in a cinema); this latter shot really had me wondering for a moment if MOTHER had the most abrupt ending in the history of film. Are these little surprise shots a technique that Naruse favors in his other work as well?

[knives]

While I haven't seen him toy with an audience to the degree of that 'The End' shot before the rest of what you described is indeed purely him from my experience. He's easily the most experimental and consistently out there of the classic directors I've seen. He seems to love editing together quick cuts so that you experience it as one very short shot even as the series of edits is a minute long and consisting of something like ten shots.

[Michael Kerpan]

Naruse throws in little tricks every now and then all throughout his career -- never more outrageously, however, than in his mid-1930s Morning's Tree-Lined Streets. I can't tell you WHAT he does -- because this would be a major spoiler (in the event you eventually get a chance to see this film).

[knives]

Well you've sold to one customer. I'll be seeing that one before night's end.

[Dirk]

Unfortunately I was only able to catch part of "Mother," but, like Roger, it was the first time I've seen something by Naruse and I was completely charmed by it. I was bewildered by the "The End" screen that was in the middle of the film, but then loved that he was able to fool me with something so simple. Naruse is definitely on my radar now, and I hope that I will eventually be able to watch "Mother" in full.

[ambrose]

Naruse throws in little tricks every now and then all throughout his career -- never more outrageously, however, than in his mid-1930s Morning's Tree-Lined Streets. I can't tell you WHAT he does -- because this would be a major spoiler (in the event you eventually get a chance to see this film).

How did you manage to even see this film in the first place? I tried using the calligraphic spelling of the title (朝の並木路) on Amazon:jp to little avail.

[domino harvey]

I assume he clicked on the link for Naruse's name on a title he could recognize and then browsed all available results, or had a direct link, or is a wizard

[JakeB]

Michael most likely got hold of the TV recording that is floating around on specialist film torrent sites.

[Michael Kerpan]

I was part of the team that worked on tracking down all the Naruse film broadcasts (mainly so I could see them myself). I also helped out on translating (albeit only a little bit). I also digitized a few of the films taped of TV (including Traveling Actors). No involvement with things going up on the Internet -- torrenting and such like are WAY beyond my digital expertise.

[ambrose]

Judging by the presence of a film camera shaped logo in the right hand corner, the image from "Morning's Tree-Lined Streets" below must derive from a TV broadcast?

[Michael Kerpan]

The find-and-watch all Naruse film project was aimed solely at films NOT available on DVD (after all, it started before ANY Naruse film -- except maybe Ginza Cosmetics --had gotten released on DVD ). One could find a (very) few long out-of-print (mostly unsubbed) videos, but the most important source turned out to be tapes of Japanese satellite TV broadcasts (starting in 2003). The little logo you seen in the lower right was a feature of many of these taped broadcasts. I believe one or two other channels eventually also presented Naruse retrospectives, so some taped films had different logos.

The original discoveries from 2002/early 2003 (all superseded by better copies) included British, Australian and French TV broadcasts (and some French subbed commercial videos) -- and one subbed in Hebrew!. (I had to get a PAL capable VCR in order to watch some of the things that got tracked down).

I must confess that, ever since completing my Naruse film quest (early last year, I believe), I have found myself drifting (slowly) back to a more even balance between music and movies. A find-and-watch all Shimizu (or Shimazu) project seems too daunting (and is not even remotely possible -- though the Naruse project started back in 2002 or so when the quest seemed impossible -- only the complete TV retrospective and re-showings made completion of the quest possible).

[artfilmfan]

Now that Michael and company have paved the way for the watch-all-Naruse films expedition, how can anyone who was not on that team get there?

[Yojimbo]

The find-and-watch all Naruse film project was aimed solely at films NOT available on DVD (after all, it started before ANY Naruse film -- except maybe Ginza Cosmetics --had gotten released on DVD ). One could find a (very) few long out-of-print (mostly unsubbed) videos, but the most important source turned out to be tapes of Japanese satellite TV broadcasts (starting in 2003). The little logo you seen in the lower right was a feature of many of these taped broadcasts. I believe one or two other channels eventually also presented Naruse retrospectives, so some taped films had different logos.

The original discoveries from 2002/early 2003 (all superseded by better copies) included British, Australian and French TV broadcasts (and some French subbed commercial videos) -- and one subbed in Hebrew!. (I had to get a PAL capable VCR in order to watch some of the things that got tracked down).

I must confess that, ever since completing my Naruse film quest (early last year, I believe), I have found myself drifting (slowly) back to a more even balance between music and movies. A find-and-watch all Shimizu (or Shimazu) project seems too daunting (and is not even remotely possible -- though the Naruse project started back in 2002 or so when the quest seemed impossible -- only the complete TV retrospective and re-showings made completion of the quest possible).

Just watched 'Sudden Rain': I haven't checked have you reviewed it here Michael, but I would rank it firmly in the top rank of his mature Masterpieces.
Its a beautiful blend of drama and humour, not unlike late Ozu films such as 'An Autumn Afternoon', 'Floating Weeds', and 'Good Morning'. In fact it might be the closest in tone to an Ozu film that I've seen.
But dramatically, and thematically, especially in the 'battle of the sexes', its far more mature in its approach than any Ozu I can recall
(I was also reminded, to a certain extent of Bergman's 'Scenes From A Marriage').

What might be Naruse's greatest achievement here is his masterly switching from humour to drama, not least because it never seems artificial, nor does the blend ever jar.

The external scenes, which are beautifully shot, aren't solely as relief to the claustrophobia of the domestic scenes, which tended to hamper Bergman, somewhat, and betrayed his film's television origins, but they help both to provide a broader perspective of the environment of the marriage, and extend the 'arena'.

It goes without saying that Setsuko Hara gives another outstanding performance but Shuji Sano as the husband gives as good as he gets.
Also features an outstanding supporting cast, featuring plenty of scene stealers.
A beautiful final scene; the neighbours comments are telling, albeit unnecessary.

Highly recommended; as with almost every Naruse I've seen, I can't wait to watch this one again
(even with a less than optimum print)

[Michael Kerpan]

Sudden Rain is a film that was generally considered "minor Naruse" -- and it is certainly more relaxed than its predecessor Floating Clouds -- but I really was won over by this even on first viewing. Hara is allowed to exhibit a bit more of her comic side -- and does it well. Her travails due to the neighborhood mongrel are pretty funny. I wouldn't put this in my very top tier of Naruse films -- but it fits into my second (loved almost as much tier).

[Yojimbo]

Her travails due to the neighborhood mongrel are pretty funny. .

That sub-plot is interesting in a number of ways, as well as being a useful plot device: it serves to introduce a host of mostly-humorous characters; it portrays the type of discord it provoked in the neighbourhood, - and that meeting reminded me of neighbourhood meetings I've participated in - ; but it also served to compound her domestic woes

[puxzkkx]

What is your favourite, Michael?

I've seen three. Flowing is magnificent and my favourite so far (the others are When a Woman..., very very good, and Floating Clouds, which left me cold). I'm still waiting to be truly blown away, although I think a rewatch of Flowing might do it.

[Yojimbo]

What is your favourite, Michael?

I've seen three. Flowing is magnificent and my favourite so far (the others are When a Woman..., very very good, and Floating Clouds, which left me cold). I'm still waiting to be truly blown away, although I think a rewatch of Flowing might do it.

Floating Clouds' left me cold, somewhat, also; I think 'Sound of the Mountain' and 'When a Woman....' are hard to separate in terms of the best that I've seen to date
(which are both Region Two box-sets; all but one of the 'Silent Naruse' set and the aforementioned 'Sudden Rain')

[Quot]

I saw a couple more over the weekend (up to 33 now!): Older Brother, Younger Sister (1953) and Daughters, Wives and a Mother (1960). I slightly preferred the lean intensity of the 1953 film, (Ani imôto) over the later film (Musume tsuma haha), tho I'd probably classify both as "must-see's" from the Naruse canon. Both films deal with the filmmaker's usual themes (how the behavior of "flawed" family members impact the family dynamic). One strength of Older... is the effective use of exteriors to emphasize change and symbolize established relationships. The film's rural look is terrific and the many asides to family members working and residing in Tokyo are kept referential in nature.

If I had one criticism of Daughters.., it's just that I found it a bit too ambitious. While there were indeed several striking individual scenes (such as the climactic scenes of the mother helping attend to a crying child, or Setsuko Hara's farewell dance -- and indeed pretty much all her scenes with Tatsuya Nakadai) I felt that, overall, this film was more guilty of what I usually see Flowing criticized for: sprawling, awkwardly paced, and, with the backlog of side-stories, maybe a tad unfocused. For whatever reason, it just didn't really come together for me the way Flowing did. Well, that, and the fact that poor, second-billed Hideko Takamine was given so little to do!

pukzkkx: obviously, I'm not Michael, but I would heartily recommend both Lightning and Yearning. Both films were, I think, somewhat career-defining (for director and star (Hideko Takamine)).

[Michael Kerpan]

My sentimental favorite is Repast, though I actually love lots of other Naruse films as much (e.g., Apart From You, Wife Be Like a Rose, Morning's Tree- Lined Street, Song Lantern, Spring Awakens, Lightning, Sound of the Mountain, Untamed, Flowing -- and Floating Clouds -- plus a good many more). I can not tell a lie -- it took at least three viewings of Floating Clouds for me to begin to really understand and enjoy it. Prior to this, the film also left me a bit cold.