|
|
SUMMER 2004 SERIES ~ COMEDY AND CRISIS IN A GROWING JAPAN: THE FILMS OF YAMADA YOJI
The Center for Japanese Studies presents six films hand selected for CJS by Academy Award nominee director, Yamada Yoji.
Fridays at 7:00 PM
Lorch Hall Auditorium, 611 Tappan Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
(at the intersection of Tappan and Monroe)
Admission FREE
Parking is free after 6:00 p.m. at the University parking structures on Church Street and Hill Street
Please click here for a map of the location.
For written directions, please click here.
LIST OF FILMS
July 9 — Natsukashii Furaibo (The Lovable Tramp) (1966) 90 min., color, drama
The series opens with Yamada's relatively little-known eighth film as director, The Loveable Tramp. Co-written with Morisaki Azuma (Tora-san) and starring Hana Hajime and Arishima Ichiro, the film is an underappreciated early example of the kinds of themes and characters Yamada continues to develop to this day. Ban Gengoro (Hana) and Saotome Ryokichi (Arishima) are an odd couple who hit it off after drinking together at an oden cart late one night. While Ryokichi performs the lifestyle of a thoroughly modernized salaryman, Gengoro labors as an uncouth construction worker. Despite their differences, and to the dismay of Ryokichi's wife and children, Ryokichi brings Gengoro home to spend the night. In the following days Gengoro gradually becomes closer to the Saotome family, and soon the laborer begins to help around the home and even invite some unexpected guests into the family's care. One such guest is Aiko, a depressed young woman on the verge of ending her own life (played by Baisho Chieko, Tora-san's sister in the Otoko wa tsurai yo series). Aiko begins to work at the Saotome home as a helper, but when a certain misunderstanding puts Gengoro under suspicion of inappropriate behavior the unlikely class-crossing friendship starts to come under tension. In Japanese with English Subtitles
July 16 — Otoko wa Tsurai yo (Tora San, Our Lovable Tramp) (1969)
91 min., color, comedy
Following a fight with his father in middle school and a resulting 20-year absence from home, traveling salesman Torajiro (Atsumi Kiyoshi) returns to his aunt and uncle's house in Shibamata, Tokyo to restring his remaining family ties. The earthy and optimistic Tora-san's flamboyant arrival causes a minor stir in town, but soon his old-fashioned attitudes and bad manners throw a damper on the celebration. After his dirty jokes spoil his younger sister Sakura's (Baisho Chieko) dinner party with a potential marriage partner, the salesman's loud mouth becomes an increasing nuisance to the folks around him. With this first installment in the Otoko wa tsurai yo series, Yamada and co-screenwriter Morisaki Azuma created an adorably despicable character that comically embodied the tensions and contradictions of postwar Japan and captured the hearts of movie viewers across the country. The delightful Tora-san formula was eventually so popular that it became the backbone of the Shochiku Film Studio's production and stretched to a total of 48 films, ending only with Atsumi Kiyoshi's death in 1996. Features supporting roles by Ozu veteran Ryu Chishu and Seven Samurai leader Shimura Takashi. In Japanese with English Subtitles
July 23 — Kokyo (Home from the Sea) (1972) 96 min., color, drama
While continuing to direct the Tora-san series at an average rate of two films per year, Yamada also branched out during the 1970s with a handful of award-winning non-series films like Where Spring Comes Late (1970) and The Yellow Handkerchief (1977) that took a more sentimental approach to depicting the trials of mid-lower class Japanese in difficult times. Home from the Sea is one such success, detailing the life of a family trying to keep abreast of the wave of industrialization surrounding a small island in the Seto Inland Sea. The Ishibashis make a modest living hauling rocks on their private boat, but the rickety old ship's engine is dying and father Seiichi (Igawa Hisashi) wants desperately to buy a new vessel. Unfortunately, Seiichi is unable to find sufficient financial support and engine repairs remain beyond his reach. He turns to his friend Matsushita (Atsumi Kiyoshi) for help, but Matsushita has nothing to offer either. Seiichi and his wife Tamiko (Baisho Chieko) have no choice but to continue working on the unsafe boat, but one day a strong storm forces the family to count their blessings and make a major change in their lifestyle. Co-starring Ryu Chishu as Seiichi's father. In Japanese with English Subtitles
July 30 — Kinema no Tenchi (Final Take) (1986) 135 min., color, drama
Yamada's 55th film takes a nostalgic look back at the early days of Japanese cinema. Set in the early years of the Showa period, just before Shochiku studios moved their production facilities from Kamata to the Tokyo suburb of Ofuna in 1936, Final Take depicts the developing career of (fictional) budding actress Tanaka Koharu (Arimori Narimi). Shochiku director Ogura (Suma Kei) scouts Koharu and gives her a chance as a film extra, but the untrained aspiring star fumbles in her small role and returns home, scolded and dejected, to give up acting. Ogura's assistant director Shimada Kenjiro (Nakai Kiichi) arrives unfazed at Koharu's tenement house and convinces the girl to try again. Koharu's career slowly develops as she grows over the months, but when the chance comes for her to play her first major role—in what is apparently the 1934 Ozu film The Story of Floating Weeds—she realizes that she's not quite ready for the performance and again runs from the stage. Koharu's father (Atsumi Kiyoshi), himself a failed actor, shares a revealing story about her late mother to cheer her up and helps the young actress to finally gain the courage and inspiration to succeed at her role. Co-starring Baisho Chieko (Tora-san series), Maeda Gin (Tora-san series) and Emoto Akira (Dr. Akagi, Zatoichi). In Japanese with English Subtitles
August 6 — Gakko (A Class to Remember) (1993) 128 min., color, drama
Nearly 25 years after Tora-san embarked on his travels, Yamada started yet another serial look at the changes in contemporary Japan with the tear-jerking Gakko series. Now in it's fourth installment (as of 2000), the first Gakko film centered on the figure of Mr. Kuroi, a slightly awkward but devoted night-school teacher [Nishida Toshiyuki—a comic actor perhaps best known for his role as the fishing-crazed Hamasaki in the 15-part and growing Free and Easy (Tsuri baka nisshi) comedy series, which Yamada also co-scripts]. Kuroi, like Tora-san, struggles to navigate the awkward social territory of contemporary Japan. However, this time the challenges are characterized less by the hero's own personality quirks and more by the complexities of the people around him. A Class to Remember traces Kuroi-sensei's thoughts on the eve of graduation as he recalls his nights with the hodgepodge of delinquent, learning-disabled and non-Japanese students who fill the seats of his evening class. Includes a charming performance by prolific yakuza, Kurosawa Akira and Takakura Ken movie expatriate Tanaka Kunie (Battles Without Honor series, Dodesukaden, Sword of Doom, Kita no kuni kara TV series) as an aging laborer and horseracing fan who struggles to learn how to read under Kuroi's tutelage. n Japanese with English Subtitles
August 13 — Tasogare Seibei (Twilight Samurai) (2002)
129 min., color, samurai drama
Yamada's most recent film swiftly took the lead in the recent string of revisionist samurai movies in Japan and earned a nomination for best foreign film in the 2003 U.S. Academy Awards as well as the number one spot in the prestigious film journal Kinema Junpo's 2002 Best Ten list. Far from the nostalgic humanism and comedic lightheartedness of the Tora-san series, Twilight Samurai presents a darkly thoughtful allegory of the stressful economic conditions for male office workers in current-day Japan. Ex-1980s sci-fi movie heartthrob Sanada Hiroyuki (The Last Samurai, Ring, Satomi Hakkenden) plays Iguchi Seibei, a straight-laced, rice-counting widower who struggles to pay off his many debts and keep his children and aging mother from sinking into poverty at the end of the Edo Period. When Seibei skillfully defends his childhood friend Tomoe (Miyazawa Rie) from her violent ex-husband (Osugi Ren), his clan learns of his outstanding sword fighting skills. The humble samurai father is soon enlisted to kill an impoverished renegade samurai (Tanaka Min). Against his better judgment and the fears of his loved ones, Seibei reluctantly follows orders. The encounter however proves to be much more challenging than the unlikely swordfighter expected. In Japanese with English Subtitles
This series was made possible by a Title VI grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Shochiku Co. Ltd., and Empire Pictures.
|
|
