黒い雨 (1989)
aka Black Rain
For some reason, I have very little to say about
Black Rain. I do like its retro feel (it doesn't only look like an older film, but the writing feels old, too). I kinda get the Ozu references, but it's more hectic and stylistically mixed than his work (maybe closer to something like Humanity and Paper Balloons). I think it tries to fool the audience to feel like their watching a more immediate response to the bombing than it actually is.
The scenes in 1945 are harrowing (and more brutal than I'd expect from a @
Citizen Rules nomination). They have sort of a horror film feel to them with the shambling ragged forms crowding the ruins. The devastated city is like a setting from a 50s SciFi movie. The vintage style mostly works, and it helps the film to focus on the people.
Black Rain isn't about the bombing but how the lives of these people were changed by it.
The five years later part of the film looks like an Ozu film. The feel is different, though.
Black Rain isn't as introverted as Ozu. Its struggles and crises happen in the real world instead of being just issues of the soul. I think it was easier for me to relate to these people than, for example, the father and daughter in
Late Spring. On the other hand, I didn't like how the PTSD guy was turned into comic relief (those scenes of him attacking the bus just didn't fit the overall tone).
I'm not entirely sure of my rating yet, but I think
Black Rain hovers somewhere between OK and good. If I figure out more to say, I'll just reply to someone else's review, but this is it for now.