Tokyo Story

TOKYO STORY
TÔKYÔ MONOGATARI
Japan
1953
136 Min
Black and White
1.33:1
Japanese
DIR Yasujiro Ozu
PROD Takeshi Yamamoto
SCR Kogo Noda, Yasujiro Ozu
DP Yuharu Atsuta
CAST Chishu Ryu, Chieko Higashiyama, Setsuko Hara, So Yamamura, Kyoko Kagawa, Haruko Sugimura, Nobuo Nakamura, Kuniko Miyake
ED Yoshiyasu Hamamura
MUSIC Kojun Saito
My Rating : 5/5 (Great Movie)



I had been reluctant to watch this movie for quite some time mainly because of the predictable story line and the countless adaptations of the same in Hindi cinema, but thankfully I watched this and learnt an important lesson; A masterpiece will remain a masterpiece and no adaptation can ever come close to the essence of the original.
The movie feels like a wistful breeze with Ozu’s characteristic stationary camera shots and remarkable continuity. Ozu’s minimalistic style effectively conveys the essence of the movie, leaving out all the melodrama which I have seen in most of the adaptations. Most importantly, the movie is firmly rooted in realism with its backdrop of postwar Japan and the efforts of the common people to come to terms with the new industrialized nation, trying to forget their past and moving ahead in life. The characters are very convincing. I was especially pleased to see that the daughter in laws of the old couple were the most warmhearted creatures in the movie. The children although less sensitive, aren’t exactly vicious but have simply become extremely rational in their approach towards life which as the old man himself points out, isn’t so easy anymore. The movie is hence not about children disrespecting or not loving their parents but simply about the changes that have taken place in family values in the modern world due to various socio-economic reasons which although disappointing, are a fact of life that has to be accepted. The old man highlights this fact in the end when he says that he will have to get used to the loneliness because life, in spite of all its hardships and changes, must go on and so it has.

Pyaasa

THIRST
PYAASA
India
1957
146 Min
Black and White
Hindi
DIR Guru Dutt
PROD Guru Dutt
SCR Abrar Alvi
DP V.K. Murthy
CAST Guru Dutt, Mala Sinha, Rehman, Waheeda Rehman
ED Y.G. Chawhan
MUSIC Sachin Dev Burman
My Rating : 5/5 (Great Movie)

Pyaasa is a landmark film, not only for the film maker but also for Indian and world cinema. Here was a commercial movie director trying something that was beyond just entertainment. He refused to give up the Bollywood structure of film making because he believed in reaching the common audience rather than make films for the art houses. Songs and lyrics are hence an important element of this movie that the viewer must not ignore. This film was different from the subjects explored by socialist cinema pioneers like Raj Kapoor and Bimal Roy. Unlike them Guru Dutt was concerned with the plight of the individual who tried to tread a path less taken.
Pyaasa is a movie that does just that. The protagonist of this movie happens to be an Urdu poet who unlike the fashionable romantic poets, wrote revolutionary style poems that highlighted the malaise of society. His poems are naturally rejected by all publishers but the poet refuses to change his style. Through the struggle of a poet, the film has depicted most of the ills that plagued the young republic. The film is full of villains, who until recently were only the colonial oppressors. The world according to Guru Dutt was not worth living in, and this view point must have been largely rejected by the society as being too cynical.
Commercially Pyaasa generated decent profits and that is probably the reason why Guru Dutt decided to go ahead with another strong and almost personal subject that was Kaagaz Ke Phool which turned out to be a huge box office disaster. Although commercially unsuccessful these two films are two of the finest films ever made in the history of cinema. Pyaasa in particular is widely regarded as an institution in itself. I have attended film making workshops where this film has been literally dissected scene by scene for its merits in screenplay,acting, continuity,editing, shots and almost all aspects of direction. Sahir Ludhianvi’s lyrics are the thoughts of the poet in this movie which combined with S.D Burman’s music and rendered most memorably by Mohd Rafi and Hemant Kumar, are the soul of this movie. Like most Guru Dutt films, this movie has several memorable moments that will remain etched in the minds of viewers forever.
Pyaasa is a mirror showing the ugly face of this world, that unfortunately, will never be cleansed.

Kaagaz Ke Phool

PAPER FLOWERS
KAAGAZ KE PHOOL
India
1959
148 Min
Black and White
2.35:1
Hindi
DIR Guru Dutt
PROD Guru Dutt
SCR Abrar Alvi, Kaifi Azmi
DP V.K. Murthy
CAST Waheeda Rehman, Guru Dutt, Kumari Naaz, Johnny Walker, Mahesh Kaul
ED Y.G. Chawhan
MUSIC Sachin Dev Burman
My Rating : 5/5 (Great Movie)

It is sad that I took so long to watch this movie. Unfortunately, like the movie, Guru Dutt has been more or less forgotten by the people. He is highly revered by film makers in India and his films are often taught to film making students but amongst the common people he is just a figure from the past.
Paper Flowers is pretty much Guru Dutt’s own story and reflects a time in his life when he must have been already on the road to disaster. The movie reeks with emotions and is beautifully shot in black and white. In many ways this movie could be compared to Billy Wilder’s Sunset Boulevard which is equally tragic in its portrayal of forgotten artists. Dutt has effectively captured the loneliness and despair of the forgotten director through shadows, the empty studios, the montages, the protagonists reduction to poverty and most importantly, S.D Burman’s moving music.
There are too many memorable moments in this movie but I would like to point out one particular scene that beautifully depicts the essence of this movie. The protagonists feet appear walking on a wet beach leaving footprints, but almost immediately they are washed away by the waves. It is moments like these that define Guru Dutt’s greatness. In a single scene he has conveyed the fleeting nature of success and the fact that nothing is permanent in this world. The title of the movie refers to the fact that stardom is like a garden of paper flowers which only appears beautiful but in essence is lifeless and odorless paper.

The Insect Woman

THE INSECT WOMAN
NIPPON KONCHUKI
Japan
1963
123 Min
Black and White
2.35:1
Japanese
DIR Shohei Imamura
SCR Keiji Hasebe, Shohei Imamura
DP Shinsaku Himeda
CAST Keiko Aizawa, Masumi Harukawa, Sachiko Hidari, Emiko Azuma, Daizaburo Hirata, Seizaburo Kawazu, Teruko Kishi, Tanie Kitabayashi, Kazuo Kitamura, Asao Koike, Masakazu Kuwayama
ED Mutsuo Tanji
MUSIC Toshiro Mayuzumi
My Rating : 4/5

This is my second Imamura movie after The Pornographers which was a kind of a revelation to me. Imamura continues to amaze me in this movie which is truly a difficult experience. Stylistically, this movie is superb. It makes use of still images, montages,singing and voice overs in a unique manner apart from the realistic form of camera work and screenplay which had also impressed me in The Pornographers.
The movie is about the struggle of a woman in post war Japan and takes place over a period of 50 years. It showcases the decadence of morality and the greed for money. Religion has become a source of psychological relief for people who confess their sins before a group of strangers to be absolved and continue to sin again. All the people are lecherous and greedy. In fact there is a constant running joke about the protagonist being a devil. Giving birth to bastards seems to be the protagonists family tradition. The movie is so unabashed in its display of immorality that some sequences are difficult to digest and border on the outrageous (a la Godard’s Weekend).
Even though the movie shows immorality, there is no penance at the end. The protagonist is remorseless and refuses to give up her way of life in this hell on earth where humans crawl like insects and this is brilliantly conveyed through the montage of an insect crawling at the beginning of the movie and the protagonist similarly moving on her bare feet at the end

Samurai Rebellion

SAMURAI REBELLION
Japan
1967
121 Min
Black and White
2.35:1
Japanese
DIR Masaki Kobayashi
SCR Shinobu Hashimoto
DP Kazuo Yamada
CAST Toshirô Mifune, Yoko Tsukasa, Go Kato, Shigeru Koyama, Masao Mishima, Isao Yamagata, Tatsuyoshi Ehara, Tatsuo Matsumura
PROD DES Yoshiro Muraki
MUSIC Tôru Takemitsu
My Rating : 5/5 (Great Movie)

I think Kobayashi could have been a freedom fighter if he wasn’t a filmmaker. Rebellion against injustice is a concept that seems to have been close to Kobayashi’s heart and Samurai Rebellion does full justice to it. This movie is similar to Harakiri in many ways but one, and that is that in Samurai Rebellion we empathise with the protagonist’s anger, much more than in Harakiri. Mifune’s anger is so pronounced that when he is demolishing enemies we seem to join him in his effort. Mifune doesn’t die easily like most of Kobayashi’s protagonists who test the levels of human endurance and even in death appear unvanquished.
A special mention of Nakadai’s character in this movie which has a significantly short screen presence and would almost appear to be wasted but strangely he has one of the most interesting characters I have ever seen in cinema. He is Mifune’s friend and also a person who seems to read into people’s actions much better than anyone else. He advices Mifune, not directly but through little nuggets of wisdom that seem to impress Mifune, like this one:
Push and you step back.
Push, you step back farther.
But at the last moment you change from defense to offense.
You never attack. You wait till your opponent tires and quits.
Mifune gets talkative only in his presence and shares his deepest feelings with him; and through him, with the audience. In the end the two friends face off against each other in a fight similar to the one in Harakiri except that here there is no sense of triumph but only defeat.
Nakadai and Mifune have acted together in several movies but this movie appears to me their best collaboration.

Take Six : Guru Dutt - Johnny Walker - Rafi

There have been several hit actor-singer combination's in Indian film history but nothing compares to the magic of Rafi-Walker songs. Here is a list of 6 of my favourites, all of which are from films by Guru Dutt :

Drunken Angel

DRUNKEN ANGEL
YOIDORE TENSHI
Japan
1948
98 Min
Black and White
1.33:1
Japanese
DIR Akira Kurosawa
PROD Sojiro Motoki
SCR Keinosuke Uekusa, Akira Kurosawa
DP Takeo Ito
CAST Takashi Shimura, Toshirô Mifune, Reizaburo Yamamoto, Michiyo Kogure, Chieko Nakakita
ED Akikazu Kono
MUSIC Fumio Hayasaka
My Rating : 5/5 (Great Movie)



Drunken Angel is an important movie in many ways. It is Tishoro Mifune's debut movie as well as the first in which Shimura and Mifune have acted together. Most importantly, this is Kurosawa's take on the American film noir genre which, in a way, highlights the soft corner that he had for Hollywood, for which he was often criticized by other Japanese directors as well as the audience. It is safe to say though, that Kurosawa's Drunken Angel, not only redefined the film noir genre but also made American film noir biggies look like midgets in comparison.

Drunken Angel is an oxymoron and so are the various characters and locations in this movie. The credits roll out at the beginning of the movie against a back drop of a garbage infested pond devoid of life but right beside this pond stays a doctor who seems to give life. There is also the guitarist who plays soft melodious music beside this obnoxious pond that appears beautiful in the moonlight with the music playing in the background. Then comes the doctor himself. He is the Drunken Angel, blunt in his criticism but honest to his work. Although he has taken to his bottle he advocates a rational approach to life because in his opinion, it can not only cure diseases but all other problems as well. The person who fails to understand this is the other protagonist, Tishoro Mifune. A dapper yakuza who is in charge of a certain area of a Tokyo slum in which our doctor also happens to live. Although tough and arrogant externally, he seems to have a conscience that seems to suggest that he still has hope for a better life.

It is the meeting of these two oxymoron's that generate the fireworks that are the highlight of this movie. The doctor hurls abuses at the yakuza for being stupid and not paying heed to his health. He diagnoses a life threatening disease which the yakuza isn't ready to believe initially and literally bashes the doctor just short of serious physical harm. The doctor doesn't pay any heed to this and continues to provoke the yakuza who cant help but control his anger against him because he knows that the doctor is always right.

This movie ends up becoming a character study of these two protagonists. There are other characters that fit the bill and the whole movie effectively traces the important tenets of the film noir genre but it is Kurosawa's use of metaphorical imagery and the strength of his character actors that make this a genre defining film. Takashi Shimura delivers a performance that I personally consider his finest. What can I say about the debutant Mifune? Many actors would have given up their lives to deliver such a performance even in their last movie.