Kinema Junpo featured Tetsuwan Namida Ari twice in 1953, once as an upcoming film and once as a review after it had been released. These two issues are the ones I've been most exited about among the stack of Kinejun issues I recently bought. It's absolutely thrilling to me to be reading a review from someone who actually watched Tetsuwan Namida Ari in a theater when it first came out.
Late November issue
The text reads, or at least Google Translate claims that it reads:
"Bunjiro Asakura's original work is adapted by Motosada Nishikame, director of 'Goro Shusse', and directed by Eisuke Takizawa, director of 'Yudachi Kangoro'. The photo was taken for 'Kenkago'. Harumi Fujii and the Takarazuka Music Club are in charge of the music. The performers are Shozo Sugiyama of 'Kuro-obi Arashi', Noboru Kiritate of 'Kekuto'[?], Akihiko Hirata, a newcomer who made his debut in 'Hōyō' on the recommendation of Yoshiko Yamaguchi, and Kahoru Uji of the Takarazuka Revue, as well as Shirayuki Shikibi, Jūshiro Kobayashi, Jiro Ohara, and Sachio Sakai, among others.
Ryusaku Nishikawa, a student at Kanto University, and his love in the chaotic period immediately after the end of the war. On their way back from seeing a movie, Katsuko is attacked by the town's yakuza. Ryusaku is beaten to the ground due to the sadness of being powerless, and Katsuko is also robbed of her chastity. Ryusaku joins his university's karate club in order to resist the unjust violence in this world.
After three years of struggle, Ryusaku, who has turned into a demon of revenge, is now competing with Jonan University as a vice-commander[?]. It was about to be a competitive match. Professor Higashino's daughter Sachiko, who works in the academic research lab, looks with fond eyes at Ryusaku's heroic figure.
Ryusaku, who started working as a part-time disinfectant with [his friend] Koibuchi, meets Katsuko again in a drinking district, but Katsuko's attitude is different from that of Yasuda's mistress, who is a subordinate of Himasa. Ryusaku had a fight with Yasuda and withdrew from school, and he lived a life that was in ruins, remembering the old figure of Katsuko who never returned. However, he was lonely.
Koibuchi and Sachiko's hard efforts in order to welcome Ryusaku to the school's match bore fruit, and Ryusaku, who had shed his unhealthy lifestyle, prepared enthusiastically for the game. The competition was bright; the crown of victory shining above Ryusaku's head, and with cheerful praise and words of encouragement, he took the first step towards rehabilitation.
After learning the details, Katsuko desperately ran to Ryusaku. It was an explosion of her anger, which had been deceived until the very end, and Ryusaku's 'iron arm' gradually became filled with murderous intent in front of Himasa and the others. The cowardly Himasa pulled out a pistol. Katsuko tried to stop this and was struck by a bullet, but Katsuko also shot [Himasa] to death. Ryusaku survives, and is welcomed by Sachiko's warm hands, where he works hard on karate and schoolwork."
NB "Akihiko Hirata, a newcomer[...]" my lord. All of this was just about a year before Godzilla came out, so this was the kind of stuff people knew him from.
Early December issue
This issue included mentions of two other relevant films, which I will put up photos of as well. We've got not only Tetsuwan Namida Ari but also Girls in the Orchard (which very recently got subtitled for the first time - gorgeous film, go watch it!) and Tonight for One Night.
But first let's look at that review. This was written by one Yukichi Shinada. Shinada was NOT a fan, to say the least.
"I think 'Sengoku Gunto-den' [1937] is the oldest work by Eisuke Takizawa that I have seen, but when I saw 'Tetsuwan Namida Ari', I realized that it was very different from the work of the same director who made 'Sengoku Gunto-den'. [...] And since the beginning of this year, Takizawa seems to be on a downward trend, with 'Tetsuwan Namida Ari'. This movie is a third-rate work.
There is a university student whose lover was taken away by violence. He seemed to think that he had no choice but to rely on his own strength to retaliate against violence. This idea is fine, but he learns karate in order to develop his own strength. Violence is called violence. It's a childish and simple way of thinking that doesn't seem like a university student, does it?
In the first part of the movie, I learned about this university student's way of thinking, and I thought it was stupid. Therefore, based on this major premise I had no interest in the unfolding story.
The story itself is also sloppy. Watching this movie, it seems like there is only one organized crime group in Kobe. Everywhere the protagonist goes, even the thugs who happen to appear all belong to the same group. In other words, the script is poor.
What struck me most about Takizawa's direction were the pointless throwaway shots that served only to slow the movie down. The ending of the episode with the depiction of malnutrition was accompanied by a thoughtful shot, but it ended up confirming the blandness of the episode.
The Takarazuka Revue plays many roles, including the lead role, but the acting in all of them is poor. Akihiko Hirata, who plays the main character, is as unattractive as a stone and it seems strange that he is attracted to two women. The acting is awkward, as if it has just been added. This is what I think every time I watch a Takarazuka movie.
However, if Takarazuka films continue to produce stupid works like this one, the notoriety of Takarazuka films will only get worse. I hope that the leadership will be inspired.
Depth value: A small accessory item with no merit. Karate is the only sacrifice."
Absolutely BRUTAL. Wow. Yukichi Shinada, we have beef now. Meet me in the pit.
After reading that, I'm wondering in the back of my mind... is this the reason why he never got any lead roles? Because the one time that happened, the movie got torn apart? I'll have to try to dig up other contemporary reviews to see if the critical reception was unanimously this bad or if that was just one guy who was really not vibing with Tetsuwan Namida Ari.
Okay, okay, let's move on. Girls in the Orchard. Not an introduction or review, just a mention among Toho's upcoming pictures. The rest of the article also mentions "the highly-anticipated Seven Samurai" having been delayed to the next year.
 |
| in my head I refer to this film as "the flute one" |
And Tonight for One Night. There is no information about this film in English as far as I'm aware, but doing internet archaeology rewarded me with this two-minute clip from the film. There's no home media/streaming release of this that I know of, so I'm not sure where this person recorded the clip from. (The account who tweeted it says "I want to watch this the whole way through" - me too, buddy, me too.)
"Adaptation of Kazuo Hirotsu's '[The Town of the Inlet]'. Directed by Toshiro Ide of 'Nigorie Machi' and supervised by Yasuki Chiba of 'Kofuku-san'. Seiichi Endo of 'Seishun Zenigata Heiji' was the cinematographer. Kaoru Yachigusa, Sadako Sawamura, Kunitaro Sawamura, Shoji Nakayama, Akihiko Hirata, Mistuko Miura appear. Starring Nobuo Nakamura and others.
There is a restaurant and inn called Kotobukiya in a beautiful inlet town on the Seto inland sea. Who are Kiyosaku and Ohama, husband and wife?
Kiyosaku is a good-natured man who moved to Hawaii to work, and his only son, Seiichi, is attending university in Tokyo. Okei, an older maid, is the daughter of a poor fisherman who works hard to save up money to open a haberdashery shop, while Omiyo is a twenty-seven-year-old woman who likes men and is currently flirting with Koizumi, a salesman, but she also has feelings for the young master Seiichi. The young Oharu recently started working in the tatami room, and she is a pure and innocent girl who also seems to like Seiichi. Kotobukiya is frequented by the town bosses, including Yamacho, Maruhachi, Umino, and Ikezu. They all secretly have their eye on Oharu, but she is firm in her position.
Omiyo, who had run away with Koizumi, came back when she found out that the man was a salary earner with a wife and children. Oharu and Omiyo are heartbroken when Seiichi comes home for school vacation. Okei had enough money and left town.
One day, a showy young couple arrived and became the envy of everyone, but soon a detective arrived and led them away. Traveling actor Uzaemon has feelings for Oshima, who resembles his old mistress, but she doesn't believe in men's love. The relationship between Oharu and Seiichi progresses rapidly, and Omiyo is filled with jealousy, but changes her mind and tries to let the two escape to Tokyo.
When Uzaemon shows his love to her for the second time, Oshima joins in, knowing that it will be difficult.
Will happiness come to young Oharu and Seiichi?"
Hope this was as interesting for you as it was for me. Because for me it was extremely interesting. As per usual, nobody but me bid on these on Yahoo! Auctions, and they were going for the equivalent of $2.50. I'm not going to stick any of these in a scanner, they're already falling apart, but as always if anybody out there wants more extensive pictures of other sections of the magazines (like the features on foreign films) I can provide those.
No comments:
Post a Comment