Wife

Wife
Tsuma
Japan
1953
89 Min
Black and White
1.37:1
Japanese
DIR Mikio Naruse
PROD Sanezumi Fujimoto
SCR Fumiko Hayashi, Toshirô Ide
DP Masao Tamai
CAST Mieko Takamine, Ken Uehara, Rentarô Mikuni, Michiyo Aratama, Sanae Takasugi, Chieko Nakakita, Yatsuko Tanami, Hajime Izu, Yoshiko Tsubouchi, Tatsuya Ishiguro, Akira Tani, Noriko Honma, Masao Shimizu
ED Hideshi Ohi
PROD DES Satoshi Chuko
MUSIC Ichirô Saitô
SOUND Choshichiro Mikami
My Rating : 5/5

Naruse gives us a stunningly realistic portrayal of domestic life in this film. Whether it is the man and wife or their tenants in the apartment or neighbours; you are sure to have met similar characters in your life. Essentially we have a story on extra marital affair which by itself isn’t a very novel subject but Naruse makes it very special.

Ken Uehera plays the husband bored with his married life. His wife played by Mieko Takamine is one of those who are used to their mundane life. She doesn’t have any great expectations from her husband and remains busy in her daily chores, gossiping with tenants and worrying about whether her tenants will pay their rent on time or not. Her husbands behavior mildly irritates her but she doesn’t seem to be too bothered about it. Most importantly, she is totally secure about her husband whom she describes as a boring type of a person who would possibly be the last person to get into an extra marital affair. But as it so often happens, she is proven wrong and Ken develops feelings for his office typist( a widow with a young child) and starts contemplating leaving his wife for her, although he never appears too serious about it. In fact, even the scene in which he discloses his affair to his wife happens so unplanned and unexpectedly that even his wife finds it tough to believe. When matters seem to get serious, the wife decides to take matters into her own hands and tells the typist to leave her husband for good. A moment where her resolve not to lose her husband of ten years comes very naturally.

Naruse ends the film with the couple not on talking terms, continuing their daily routine with a disappointed and confused outlook regarding their future. The highlight of this film has to be its casting. Rentaro Mikuni is a delight to watch as the painter gossip monger and strangely enough we have another Takamine fitting the role of the wife perfectly. Ken Uehera is also reliable in his role as the husband. Also, the film keeps its pace without getting too melodramatic and handles this very real life like situation with a mature outlook. In conclusion, this Naruse gem is highly recommended.

Scattered Clouds

Scattered Clouds
Midaregumo
Japan
1967
108 Min
Color
Japanese, English
DIR Mikio Naruse
PROD Sanezumi Fujimoto, Masakatsu Kaneko
SCR Nobuo Yamada
DP Yuzuru Aizawa
CAST Yûzô Kayama, Yôko Tsukasa, Mitsuko Kusabue, Mitsuko Mori, Mie Hama, Daisuke Katô
ED Hideshi Ohi
PROD DES Satoshi Chuko
MUSIC Tôru Takemitsu
SOUND Masao Fujiyoshi
My Rating: 4/5


Naruse ends his film making journey with a premise that we are used to associate with him. Here we have another dysfunctional relationship between a man and a woman whose husband gets killed in a car accident, in which the aforementioned man is involved.

Tragedy hits early in the film and the woman is distraught with the way society reacts to the death of her husband. There is less sympathy but more talk about remuneration. Her husbands family resents her receiving their son’s pension and wants her out. The woman’s sister wants to ensure that her sister gets a good deal out of all this so that she doesn’t have to depend on her. Amidst all this, the woman tries to forget her past and tries to lead a normal life. The man involved in the accident although acquitted, decides to do his part by helping the woman, even if it is through monetary compensation. The two keep bumping into each other at various places, causing discomfort to both, but slowly their resentment and guilt reduces and they develop soft feelings for each other.

As it usually happens in such relationships, they can never blossom, considering that the past continues to haunt them. The two are caught in this complex relationship and eventually Naruse leaves us with a rhetorical question regarding the unfairness of life. On one hand life takes away our loved ones and when we find love, it isn’t as simple as it should be. Life is full of sadness but then, one must accept this reality and move on.

Fires on the Plain

Fires on the Plain
Nobi
Japan
1959
104 Min
Black and White
1.33:1
Japanese
DIR Kon Ichikawa
PROD Masaichi Nagata
SCR Natto Wada
DP Setsuo Kobayashi
CAST Eiji Funakoshi, Osamu Takizawa, Mickey Curtis
ED Tatsuji Nakashizu
PROD DES Tokuji Shibata
MUSIC Yasushi Akutagawa
My Rating: 5/5




Anyone who watches this film after having watched Kobayashi’s The Human Condition(released in the same year as Fires on the Plain) will notice a few important similarities. Firstly, Fires on the Plain tracks the story of a Japanese imperial army soldier who basically tries to survive without surrendering, which is similar to the last few parts of The Human Condition. Secondly, the hero of Fires on the Plain looks uncannily similar to Tatsuya Nakadai (who stars in The Human Condition) albeit a ridiculous caricature of the latter.
Our hero is not a model of virtues but rather a commoner who is trying to survive in the aftermath of war. He is even willing to surrender at a point until he sees a fellow soldier getting killed while trying to surrender. He does have a good heart; he doesn’t mind sharing his food with others and even seems to befriend other Japanese soldiers very easily due to his simple mindedness. Initially, he seems to enjoy killing people until he kills a woman villager, after which he throws away his rifle. Our protagonist doesn’t inspire us(like Nakadai) but rather makes us laugh with his unnatural gait and goofy expressions, but his personality seems to strangely gel with the madness that surrounds him. Ichikawa shoots the horrors of war keeping this rather naive character in the fore front who seems to represent the audience. He is as bewildered, as repulsed and as delirious as we are by the time the movie ends and dearly hopes to see people living normal lives.
I contrast this film with The Human Condition (which happens to be one of my all time favorite films) not only because of its similarities but also because of the difference in approach that the two directors take towards the subject. One focuses on the triumph of an idealistic individual against all odds whereas the other is the survival of an average good hearted human being in the midst of madness, yearning for normalcy.
This film shows us the horrors of war at a very personal level by showing human beings resorting to the gory act of cannibalism, which the director seems to point out as being as horrifying as people killing each other mercilessly on the battlefield, without even knowing their enemy.
The intense revulsion towards the madness of war that the audience experiences through the eyes of the protagonist as well as the intense yearning for peace and normalcy makes this the greatest anti-war film I have ever seen.

The Music Room

The Music Room
Jalsaghar
India
1958
100 Min
Black and White
1.33:1
Bengali
DIR Satyajit Ray
PROD Satyajit Ray
SCR Satyajit Ray, Tarashankar Banerjee
DP Subrata Mitra
CAST Chhabi Biswas, Padmadevi, Pinaki Sengupta, Gangapada Basu, Tulsi Lahiri, Kali Sarkar, Waheed Khan, Roshan Kumari, Sardar Akhtar, Bismillah Khan, Salamat Ali Khan
ED Dulal Dutta
PROD DES Bansi Chandragupta
MUSIC Ustad Vilayat Khan, Asis Kumar, Robin Majumder, Dakhin Mohan Takhur
SOUND Durgadas Mitra
My Rating: 5/5

The Music Room is a stunning masterpiece in black and white that is like a lavish painting on a sprawling canvas that pretty much portrays the story of India. It tells the story of a landlord in Bengal who refuses to give up his lavish lifestyle even in the face of decaying wealth and fortune. He is a connoisseur of art, especially music and doesn’t hesitate to call the most famous musicians in the music room of his palatial house. In the course of the film the landlord loses his near and dear ones which devastate him and put a temporary end to his concerts until he decides to recreate it one final time to show his neighbor Ganguly (a self made industrialist) his place. After all, as he remarks to his servant, its his blood and pedigree that separate him from the self made rich. An idea that pretty much encompasses all the feudal lords that ruled various parts of India. The British colonization brought along with it the mechanization of the world surrounding them which these royals could never digest. They would allow the British to rule their people provided they were allowed to enjoy their wealth and lifestyle as they were used to. But as they say, everything comes to an end and so did the wealth and opulence of these royals. The vanity of their attempt to live in the past is beautifully portrayed by Ray through the life of Lord Roy. It is also ironical to observe Roy’s loyal servants who remain in the background but their presence always emphasizes Roy’s insanity and their disappointment at the plight of their master.

The music room concerts are done so brilliantly that they must be seen to be believed. The fluid camera movement and editing weave a web around you that doesn’t leave you until the end. This is an experience you must not miss.