Early Summer

EARLY SUMMER
BAKUSHÛ
Japan
1951
125 Min
Black and White
1.33:1
Japanese
DIR Yasujiro Ozu
PROD Takeshi Yamamoto
DP Yuharu Atsuta
CAST Setsuko Hara, Chishu Ryu, Chikage Awashima, Kuniko Miyake, Ichiro Sagai, Chieko Higashiyama, Haruko Sugimura, Hiroshi Nihonyanagi, Kuniko Igawa, Seiji Miyaguchi, Shuji Sano, Zen Murase, Isao Shirosawa, Kazuyo Ito, Tami Yamamoto
ED Yoshiyasu Hamamura
MUSIC Senji Ito
My Rating : 5/5 (Great Movie)


I am glad to have spent my Sunday morning on this classic by Ozu. I was trying to think of something as delectable as this movie and could find nothing in comparison. This is probably because not only did I watch this movie but also tasted, smelt and touched it. It may sound weird but I could experience this movie with all my senses which is probably the greatest compliment for a director, not that Ozu needs any from me.
I wont get into the nitty-grittys of the plot of this movie but allow my camera to dwell on those quiet meditative moments which Ozu shares with his audience. The shot of a balloon floating up in the sky and the old couple thinking of the child who might be crying for having lost it, clouds scattered in the sky, birds chirping in their cages, characters sitting peacefully and gazing into the expanse thinking of something or the other or simply relaxing and enjoying nature. The shot of empty corridors of a house, a walk on the beach, a quiet smoke, a marriage procession and countless other observations that need no voice overs, dialogues or flashbacks. We know what the characters are thinking, we are enjoying supper with them, we share their joys and griefs; in short, we are part of the story. Ozu knew that the most peaceful yet powerful moments of life are those that are spent in quiet meditations and observations which every person can relate with. It is these moments that he shares with his audience and enraptures them in his world or rather “our” world.
Another observation that I made in this movie is the skill with which Ozu makes use of humour. There are moments in this movie that will make you laugh from the bottom of your heart which is a rare experience; It is a good-natured laughter which isn’t insulting or lewd but simply good wholesome fun. I was also impressed by the deftness with which Ozu makes use of the child actors. These children appear as real as children can be and provide a nice touch of innocent humour.
I will end this review with Setsuko Hara. Her disarming smile even in the face of adversity is probably the greatest inspiration for the audience. It effectively conveys Ozu’s philosophy: We have been happy. We have had a good life. Lets not demand too much from it and enjoy whatever pleasure we can derive from it.

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 :