Mikio Naruse

[FilmSnob]

So I'm watching all Naruse's films now, and having seen a few of his postwar films before -- and only liked one of them -- I'm surprised by how much I'm liking his 1930s films.

The silents are all on Criterion Channel ... I think I liked his last silent best. But the movies as a whole start getting good around 1935. Three Sisters With Maiden Hearts was the first Naruse I wholeheartedly liked (although the two flashbacks went too long imo) and then The Girl in the Rumour was just excellent. By far my favorite Naruse I've watched so far, including his postwar films.

[Michael Kerpan]

Well, my favorite silent Naruse is Apart from You (with Everynight Dreams a close second) -- but that might because I wrote about it. The 30s talkies are fun/interesting (and there ARE some great early 40s ones as well) -- but I think only a portion are available on Criterion Channel -- and last I looked some of MY favorites weren't there.. I have to say I've only NOT liked a handful of the 69 (I think) Naruse films I've seen. I think it is a matter of getting acclimated to his style (and the changes in his style).

[fiendishthingy]

Unless something is failing to show up when I filter by director, it looks like all of Naruse's sound films available on the Criterion Channel are from the '50s and '60s. The only pre-1951 films I'm seeing are the five silents.

[Michael Kerpan]

fiendishthingy -- Check Youtube. Lots of things come and go from there....

[vsski]

I have to say I've only NOT liked a handful of the 69 (I think) Naruse films I've seen.

I wish I had access to the Criterion Channel and be able to see more of his movies with English Subs - the good news I have a lot to look forward to as my Japanese is still not good enough to understand everything in a movie.

[FilmSnob]

If your country is the limiting factor, I think you can use a VPN to access Criterion Channel with U.S. or Canada IP address. They have a free trial and then you can choose monthly or yearly subscription or not.

Personally, I think it's the best streaming site available. Some of the best money I'll ever spend.

fiendishthingy -- Check Youtube. Lots of things come and go from there....

Yes there are lots of Naruse titles on Youtube. I don't remember the exact laws, maybe MK knows, but something or another pre-1953 Japanese films if the director has been deceased for more than 30 years are in the public domain. Anyway, you'll often find lots of pre-1950s Japanese films, sometimes even a few 1950s or 1960s films on Youtube that are in the public domain.

[FilmSnob]

The 30s talkies are fun/interesting (and there ARE some great early 40s ones as well)

I watched Wife! Be Like a Rose! (1935) tonight. This film was the first of two in Naruse's career that won the prestigious Kinemo Junpo award as the best film in Japan in 1935. I think it's fascinating to compare with Ozu's 1934-1936 films. Wife! Be Like a Rose! clearly draws inspiration from A Story of Floating Weeds, the endings are almost the same (just a slight variation), Naruse manages to throw in a performance of the Kagamijishi which Ozu was directing a documentary on with the Ministry of Education at the same time, and then Ozu clearly lifts some scenes and ideas from Wife! in his first talkie the following year-- The Only Son.

Noticed the same thing with some of Naruse's silents too... he directly steals the opening from Walk Cheerfully in No Blood Relation, but may have inspired Shimizu's Japanese Girls at the Harbor just a little bit.

Just my opinion but I'm finding that I like Naruse more when he goes with a snappier, more modern tempo. Not to say I don't like slow films, Ozu is by far my favorite director after all but I think he handles slower tempo in a much more profound and elegant manner than Naruse; whereas I just loved The Girl in the Rumour, I think I might like that one even more than Repast, which is the one post-war Naruse I really enjoyed.

[Michael Kerpan]

Repast was the film that made me finally totally fall in love with Naruse.

I think an argument could be made that Ozu and Naruse would not have developed into the same Ozu and Naruse we know if not for each other. Their creative interaction (sort of alternating calling and responding to each other) seems to have been essential to making them into what we know. I am sure that, on their own, they still would have been wonderful -- but their "co-existence" made them better.

I hope you can find things like Morning's Tree Lined Streets and Spring Awakens. And also visual wonders like the (set in the past) The Song Lantern.

[Michael Kerpan]

vsski -- There are still a LOT of Naruse films I've only seen unsubbed.

[jegharfangetmigenmyg]

@Michael Kerpan, having seen so many Naruse's I would love it if you could suggest a good entry to his work. I mean, a handful or two of films. Maybe some of them are interconnected or are informal trilogies, or maybe one should go with a handful of Fumiko Hayashi adaptations? I went through all of Ozu's and Mizoguchi's sound films some years ago, and I was planning to continue with Naruse, so I watched Ozu's favorite and (probably?) his most acclaimed one, Floating Clouds, but it didn't really catch my interest, so I stopped again before I got started. Almost always, when I chew my way through filmographies, I find that the most celebrated films are seldom the ones I like the most, so I'm looking for your advice because you've seen so many and know best (at least better than many others) what's up and down in his work. Would be much appreciated. I'd like to start with his sound era and then take samples of his silent films afterwards, I should note. I see in this thread that your personal favorites by him are actually silents...

[NABOB OF NOWHERE]

I'd like to start with his sound era and then take samples of his silent films afterwards, I should note. I see in this thread that your personal favorites by him are actually silents...

At the risk of seeming to be masquerading as Michael , to which heights I cannot aspire .my favourites are When a woman ascends the stairs and Yearning . After that the choices are endless. I rue the day that the promise of the BFI and MOC box sets went sour.

[Michael Kerpan]

jegharfangetmigenmyg -- While I now love Floating Clouds, I must admit I did not love it on first viewing. The two films that made me a big fan (as opposed to just an interested pre-fan) were Sound of the Mountain and Repast. I also think Lightning and Hideko the Bus Conductor might be good films to see early on. Wife! Be Like a Rose! is an early sound film that is lots of fun. As to Nabob's recommendations, I am sad to say that When a Woman Ascends the Stairs, which was my very first Naruse film did not inspire instant love -- though it did certainly interest me. Same for Mother. I like both much more now (like most Naruise films). Yearning is a gorgeous film, one of his best late films. But maybe I would save it. My sense was that I needed to see enough films to reach critical mass -- and begin to recognize his distinctive style and tone. And once that happened, I begin liking almost everything (and could re-assess the first films WAY up as well).

At this point, it is actually a bit hard for me to give recommendations, because I like too many of the films so much.

[jegharfangetmigenmyg]

Thanks, Michael - and Nabob! I forgot to add that I have both the MOC and BFI sets which have been sitting on my shelf forever. As far as I understand quite a few of his films have become available in HD online in the meantime? I think I'll try Repast, Lightning, Hideko and then maybe When a Woman Ascends the Stairs. Would Yearning be one of your faves too, Michael? Also: Is Naruse funny the same as Ozu funny? I never got around to liking Ozu's early straight comedies, but I love the subtle humor in his later work.

I'll give another Naruse a shot this fall, for sure. I'm sure I'll get accustomed to his style quickly if I like what I see. I had the same experience with directors like Hou and to a lesser extent Ozu (when I got around the Late Spring, of course his genius became obvious, but I was glad I had watched all his sound films leading up to it beforehand). Mizoguchi, on the other hand, had me at first try. I guess having gone through long-take directors such as Angelopoulos, Tarkovsky/Sokurov and to a lesser extent Antonioni and Dreyer, his style didn't at all feel foreign to me.

[swo17]

I second MK's suggestion of Sound of the Mountain from the MoC set

[Michael Kerpan]

jegharfangetmigenmyg -- As a general rule, Naruse's humor is quite a bit different from Ozu's. It is dryer (almost always), sharper/harsher (often), and dark (no infrequently). It was like that of my maternal grandfather, he could tell a humorous anecdote with no trace of a smile (as if he were deadly serious). Quite funny at times -- but only if you knew him well enough to be able to tell. I feel that getting on Naruse's wavelength takes considerably more effort (and acclimation) than is the case with Ozu's work. Naruse's work is superficially close enough to Ozu's to cause some confusion -- and if you expect it to work just like Ozu's, one might be disappointed.

I think Yearning (with its great train scene) should be watched only after Apart From You (with its great train scene). But that's just my feeling.

I think Mizoguchi takes more work for me than Ozu or Naruse or the other important shomingeki film makers of the era.

[jegharfangetmigenmyg]

Thanks, Michael - and thanks swo17. I'll try a handful, including your suggestions and see if I like it. Re. the silent comedies: That sounds promising, Michael. Ozu's comedies are too whimsical for my taste. I never got what the I Was Born, But fuss was all about, but I did like Good Morning, though, because it's so off-beat, almost deadpan, compared to his early work. It's really interesting to compare how his style evolved in those 30 years.

I think I'll give Naruse's silents a shot first, and then continue from there. I'll check back here with thoughts when I've begun. And I'll make sure not to compare him too much with Ozu when watching.

With regards to Mizoguchi, I meant that he was the easiest for me to enjoy on a purely cinematic level, because his films are so amazingly shot and dreamlike. I didn't mean to say that they were easier to follow than, say, Ozu. Also, almost all of the films I've seen from him have been masterful. His early stuff might be more mature than his peers, maybe? I mean, I found films like Osaka Elegy and Sisters of the Gion to be truly groundbreaking, both cinematically and themetically. Almost feminist films.

[Michael Kerpan]

jegharfangetmigenmyg -- Among Naruse's surviving films, there are very few outright comedies. Even his first surviving film, which starts out as farce, veers into melodrama before it ends. Like most of his sound films, the other surviving silents may have comic moments (perhaps) here and there, but are definitely not comedies. And even in his sound films, something that seems like a comedy throughout, can have a shocking bleak ending.

I consider Mizoguchi a master of exploiting female suffering (rather like Puccini in opera) rather than genuinely feminist. He always has a decidedly male gaze (sympathetic, but maybe patronizing -- or something like that). I like most of his films nevertheless. Much of Naruse's best work has the closest thing to a woman-centric perspective as one can expect from a male director (it helps that he relied on women screen writers after the war -- but even some of his early work has this characteristic).

[T!me]

I, too, started with his silents and worked my way chronologically through his body of work after I got to see (and love) Yearning a few years prior. I think that close to all of his films are at least interesting to watch with the majority of his work ranging from good to immaculate.

The first “early” Naruse I really loved was Wife! Be Like A Rose which I also believe to be a great start to dive into his filmography with its tone balancing the drama and the funny banter quite well. Oftentimes, a Naruse can leave one feeling fairly dejected (ignoring his comedic work for now) so starting with a more light-hearted film might really be a good start.

If I had to name my favorite Naruse, I would probably refer to Lightning closely followed my When A Woman Ascends The Stairs and Yearning. When A Woman Ascends The Stairs was actually the last of all the Naruse I have watched so I cannot really say whether it is a good starting point or not.

[Michael Kerpan]

Time --The first Naruse films (chronologically) that I love are Apart From You and Every Night Dreams, but neither is "light-hearted". Traveling Actors is another comparatively light (but quite good) film -- and good to pair with Ozu's Story of Floating Weeds. I am mystified that Lightning has never gotten a subbed release. I would think lots of folks would find it pretty delightful.

[Mr Sausage]

I consider Mizoguchi a master of exploiting female suffering (rather like Puccini in opera) rather than genuinely feminist. He always has a decidedly male gaze (sympathetic, but maybe patronizing -- or something like that). I like most of his films nevertheless. .

You are, as ever, right. Something that’s always been a barrier for me with Mizoguchi is how content he was with the old martyr/dragon lady binary when it came to female roles. He seemed less interested in women as people or even social roles than as dramatic objects for conventional emotion. His prostitutes for example are far less persuasive than either Naruse or Imamura, but are nevertheless invested with far more pathos than the latter two directors ever felt comfortable with. I get the sense he was drawn to female weakness (physical, emotional, societal) because it could produce pity and generate tragedy, but that he wasn’t much interested in female strength, and punished or depicted negatively female characters with designs and aspirations outside of family, especially husband and children. Women whose strength was directed elsewhere tended to become greedy, manipulative dragon ladies, tho’ they only seem to want to improve their own circumstances.

I prefer Mizoguchi when he’s more fantastical than as a social dramatist, where the conventional side of him gets in the way.

[Michael Kerpan]

Perhaps Mizoguchi's most feminist-like film is one that has never been available in subbed form (or even decent-quality unsubbed form) -- Aien kyo (Straits of Love and Hate). I know someone who said there was at least one good-quality print once upon a time (in the 70s?) Perhaps there is no surviving non-rubbishy print at this point.

[Mr Sausage]

Not that a film needs to be feminist to be good. Were that the case, much of art would be consigned to the dust bin. But when you're making serious social dramas meant to explore the role of women in history and society, and yet your view of women is both sentimental and deeply conventional, your movies are going to come off as inauthentic, full of stereotypes and received wisdom rather than precise social observations. So I think Mizoguchi gives a good account of how Japanese society traditionally viewed women, but only because he evinces those views himself, not because the films address those traditional view points as content. They are rather taken for granted.

Would it be fair to say that Mizoguchi was more interested in poverty than in the poor?

[Michael Kerpan]

I prefer Mizoguchi's attitude to poverty/the poor to that of Kurosawa's (which I find "deeply problematic"). While Ozu came from a fairly well-off background, he seemed to do a much better job at dealing with poverty (at his best). But Naruse (due to his background and life experiences) shows the greatest level of understanding.

I watch Mizoguchi's films mainly because they really are just so undeniably beautiful to see.

[Mr Sausage]

Kurosawa was good at degradation, in a Dostoevskian manner. The trouble was he often used that to represent the under classes. So...yeah.

In A Woman Ascends the Stairs, do you think Keiko fits the martyr role so common in Japanese film?

[Michael Kerpan]

I don't think Keiko is a "martyr" -- she is someone with almost no alternative options left, she has a job she is able to do (though she wishes she could finally stop doing it), and she is determined to do the best she can, given her circumstances-- and to do it with as much dignity as she can muster. (She recognizes she has neither the education nor the training nor the connections to get a better job).

As to Dostoyevskian degradation, I think this works great when Kurosawa focuses on the upper tier (rather than the lower ones). Thus my love for his Idiot (for example). But I'd note his attempts to celebrate ordinary people (see One Wonderful Sunday) are no prizes either.