The finale of Yearning (apparently the word translates more as something like "feeling anguished confusion") takes place at a mountain onsen village, but I have never found out where precisely.
As to Scattered Clouds ... Spoiler
Are we told that our heroine is _definitely_ pregnant? Or is this just a possibility that needs to be checked at the clinic? If she _was_ pregnant, one can safely assume she lost the baby, due to shock and subsequent illness following the death of her husband. Given the love she had for her husband, it is unlikely she would have had an abortion -- and his family would have had some right to object to any such plan.
The location for the finale of Midareru might be Ginzan Onsen near Obanazawa, Yamagata Prefecture. See: https://togetter.com/li/612915" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(info relayed by another member of the KineJapan mailing list)
A 35mm print of Floating Clouds (courtesy of the Japan Foundation) is actually screening at Lincoln Center on January 2 at 8:30pm. (There was apparently a screening of the same print this afternoon.) Sorry that I'm missing these as I've yet to see this film. Does the streaming version on Filmstruck look fine, or is it worth tracking down the BFI DVD?
hearthesilence wrote:A 35mm print of Floating Clouds (courtesy of the Japan Foundation) is actually screening at Lincoln Center on January 2 at 8:30pm. (There was apparently a screening of the same print this afternoon.) Sorry that I'm missing these as I've yet to see this film. Does the streaming version on Filmstruck look fine, or is it worth tracking down the BFI DVD?
It depends on what your standards are. The Filmstruck version has your standard pops, hisses and scratches (Although it's certainly not what I would personally consider egregious) so it's certainly not a mind-blowing version that's streaming but I wouldn't consider it an agonizing experience. I'd say serviceable is most accurate description in my mind.
Floating Clouds pretty much knocked me out for the first third of the film. As Michael mentioned:
it really captures changes in Japan's economy and culture in the post-war years.
Furthermore the editing is incredible, a precursor to Resnais's own innovations in his first narrative films. This is filmmaking of the highest order, anchored by an actress whose face is a gift to cinema in how much it expresses with the subtlest movement.
While the film never loses its way (or diminishes the stakes), it did settle into something a bit more conventional in style and form, so the rest felt a little disappointing coming on the heels of a brilliant opening flourish.
The structure of that film strikes me as unconventional, since it largely refuses expected dramatic turning points. A lot of the later scenes play like variations on earlier ones, albeit more despairing and sordid as the woman's self-abnegation becomes almost total. For that reason it strikes me as one of the most genuinely depressing stories of all films I've seen (although the wonder of Naruse's filmmaking, his control of tone and pacing, is anything but depressing).
Floating Clouds is depressing on one level -- but on another it is about a woman who never gives up on seeking her goal (and gets it, albeit too late). The source novel by Hayashi (Dunlop translation) is also very much worth checking out.
Michael Kerpan wrote:Floating Clouds is depressing on one level -- but on another it is about a woman who never gives up on seeking her goal (and gets it, albeit too late).
Well, yeah, but it's questionable whether her goal was worth seeking. And I understand that in the novel Mr. Goal goes back to his old tricks in the end.
Michael Kerpan wrote:Floating Clouds ... The source novel by Hayashi (Dunlop translation) is also very much worth checking out.
Definitely. It's been years since I read the book, but it still resonates, particularly the dialogue, which seemed true to life. Naruse's adaptation, which faithfully captured the novel's essence, fully showcased the nuances of his talent.
Michael Kerpan wrote:The location for the finale of Midareru might be Ginzan Onsen near Obanazawa, Yamagata Prefecture. See: https://togetter.com/li/612915" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(info relayed by another member of the KineJapan mailing list)
Sound of the Mountain (1954) Flowing (1956) When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960) Yearning (1964) Two in the Shadow (1967)
This is huge, as I don't believe any of Naruse's films are on Blu-ray in Japan or anywhere else in the world. Hopefully, it also means that the same set will be coming from a UK label in the near future.
Wasn't Masters of Cinema's Naruse set among the worst-selling releases in their catalogue to that point? And the BFI's set likewise? If my recollection is true, that wouldn't bode well for an English-subbed Blu-Ray release of those or other Naruse films, alas. Maybe the market has changed since then, or maybe Naruse's stock has risen. One can hope.
As I recall, that's actually why existent copies of the MoC box are so scarce, since the majority were sitting unsold in a warehouse when the London riots resulted in them being destroyed
I imagine a UK label could easily shift a thousand or two copies of a Naruse set as long it was a limited edition and there was little intention of them ever releasing stand alone discs (as Arrow have said they won't in cases like their recent Suzuki films).
peerpee said recently, in response to this announcement, that the Naruse set sold briskly once it was declared as OOP.
As far as I can remember, it wasn't a disastrous seller – it was just slow. So by the time it was in the final year of its licence (2011), we looked at whether to relicence the titles, or licence more, and it was clear it wasn't worth it. I would guess that 2,000 copies were sold over 5 years. I don't think that many were destroyed in the fire. Once it was announced as OOP (because the licence was about to run out and we weren't renewing) I remember Eureka selling the last 100 or so copies they had for £20 or £25 direct. Something like that anyway. Then, when nobody could get hold of it – everyone wanted it.
2019 is apparently my year of exploring prolific directors heretofore unwatched by me. After mini-binges of Fassbinder and Hong Sang-soo, I finally dipped my foot into the Naruse sea. Three films in, I am blown away and enjoying that state of how have I lived my life without these films?
Apart from You - my first, and an instant favorite (aside from wrapping my head around the incongruity of how old Akio Isono looks versus how old his character is supposed to be). Lovely performances by the two lead actresses; I was especially taken with Sumiko Mizukubo. Her ability to command the narrative despite her character in some ways being a supporting role makes me want to see all of her other films. Kicking myself for missing a recent screening of Ozu's Dragnet Girl.
The emotional impact here is definitely cumulative, There are any number of powerful exchanges among the characters, but the parting of ways at the train station is a masterpiece of a finale. Speaking of emotionally powerful payoffs...
Every-Night Dreams was the next film I watched. I really felt for every character here, from the frustrated Omitsu, to her kindhearted neighbors, to her estranged husband. Great empathy all around, which has thus far been the overriding quality of the Naruse films I've watched.
The ending of this one left me a total wreck. When the kid asks where his father is...it took me a long time to compose myself when this was over.
I watched Floating Clouds this morning. Another emotional wrecking ball of a film, and so beautifully composed, paced, written, and performed. Once again, full on waterworks at the end for me.
Has the score for Floating Clouds ever been released? My cursory googling hasn't turned up anything.
Supposedly Mizoguchi was rather miffed at Naruse's success with Apart From You and Ever Night Dreams, which took the 3rd and 4th places on Kinema Junpo's list of best films. I'm guessing he made Osaka Elegy and Sisters of Gion to show he could do this sort of "women's film" better than upstart (and unforgivably low-class) Naruse. Mizoguchi's films are very good, but I don't think Mizoguchi proved he could do these better.
(Mizoguchi doesn't ever seem to have dissed Ozu -- who made films different enough that he didn't seem like a threatening competitor, and was from a well-off family. But he was pretty slighting towards Naruse).
