Asian Cinema Challenge 2023 | 31/52 | Shoshimin-geki
Shoichi, a farmer, guides horses along the ridge of his farm in Nagano, near Mount Asama. His daughter, Yuki, runs up with a letter from Okin (Kin), who is perfecting her undisclosed art in Tokyo. Kin’s theater will be closed for remodeling for a week, so she hopes to return home and show off how far she’s come. She also signs the letter with her stage name, Lily Carmen. Shoichi, however, has disowned Kin for running away from home, so she asks for his forgiveness, which he denies.
Yuki brings the letter to her husband, Ichiro, who works at the school. Ichiro suggests talking to the school principal, who may be able to persuade Shoichi. After all, a hometown girl becoming an artist would bring honor to the village, right? The principal visits with Shoichi to relay this mentality, which Shoichi reluctantly buys.
Meanwhile, Mr. Maruju, a wealthy local businessman, speaks with his assistant, Oka, as they return from Tokyo. Mr. Maruju plans to build hotels and roads for cars and to increase tourism, all while lending money to locals. He claims to be doing it out of the goodness of his heart, but the suffering locals might say otherwise. They see a welcome party at the Kitakariuizawa Station in Gunma, and think it’s for them. But it is for Kin and her friend, Maya, who draw everyone’s attention with their brightly colored clothing.
Seeing Kin, the principal wonders if he made the right decision in inviting Kin back. Mr. Maruju sees an opportunity to make money from Kin’s return.
This film is Japan’s first color film. But because printing color was still quite expensive and time-intensive, the filmmakers also shot a monochrome version, requiring the actors to perform each scene twice. It’s a shame because most audiences, when this came out, saw it in monochrome, and the color really pays off when we first meet Kin and Maya. Up to that point, the film is muted browns, with the beautiful blue sky. But Carmen is wearing a rich red dress and a striped hat with colorful feathers. Maya is wearing a black-and-yellow striped dress and a straw hat adorned with flowers. It feels like an explosion.
The Asian Cinema Challenge uses the term “shoshimin-geki,” a blend of the Japanese genre “shōshimin-eiga,” meaning “petty bourgeois film,” and “shomin-geki,” a pseudo-Japanese term invented by Global Western film scholars for the genre meaning “common people drama.” The term most familiar to Global Western film audiences (especially anime fans) is “slice-of-life”, which captures the down-to-earth, ordinary people the films intend to convey.
Harou Taguchi, a blind musician, listens to the school children sing songs about their hometown from afar with his young son, Kiyoshi. Tagouchi can no longer play the organ, as he bought it with money borrowed from Mr. Maruju and could not pay it back in time, so Mr. Maruju confiscated it. So, Mr. Ogawa invites him to play a song for the children on the school’s organ, which is a more bittersweet reflection on the hometown.
Because Tagouchi is out of work, his wife, Mitsuko, has become the family’s breadwinner. She ends up giving Kin and Maya a ride to the ranch at Mr. Maruju’s request with her horse, and has to charge a rather steep commission to pay back Maruju. Kin is confused because she thought Maruju was offering a kind gesture rather than pushing a service on her.
Okin is a woman oppressed under a patriarchal system, performing sex work in the form of stripping. The townspeople sexualize her, and men grope at her and Maya. Still, Okin treats stripping as an artform, even saying she is willing to die for it. I’m not saying she should feel any differently, by the way. It’s just a complex subject. Her father, upon learning about her stripping, is ashamed, especially when Maruju encourages her to put on a show in town. And the film appears to be on his side, suggesting the only good that came out of it was the money made.
Though less well-known worldwide than directors such as Kurosawa, Mizoguchi, or Ozu, Keisuke Kinoshita was a household name during his 23-year career. Though he made propaganda films during WWII, his post-war films were all over the map, genre-wise. Having seen The Ballad of Narayama and Yotsuya Ghost Story, I would not have guessed they were by the same director based on appearances and subject matter alone. That said, I imagine someone more familiar with his work could make points of comparison.
Overall, the film takes a lighthearted approach to what could be heavy sociopolitical subject matter. It isn’t the most exciting film, and its politics are iffy, but it offers a perspective on both subject and location that I haven’t seen in a Japanese film before.
Stray Thoughts / Spoilers
- I love the film’s focus on a rural town. I feel like I’ve only seen rural towns in historical dramas, so seeing them in a more modern context almost feels like watching a Western.
- It’s weird seeing Chishū Ryū and Keiji Sada in this, because I associate them with Ozu, who has his directors give much more subdued performances. Apparently, Keiji Sada did multiple films with Kinoshita.
- The movie is also a musical, with songs and dance throughout. It ranges from schoolchildren singing about their hometown to Kin performing a jazz number about being a modern woman.
- The father casually drops that Kin was kicked in the head as a child, believing that she became a stripper because of it.
- Mr. Ogawa plays a valve trombone — I don’t think I’ve ever seen one before!
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