← Back to Reviews
in
Humanity and Paper Balloons (1937)
Ninjô kami fûsen (original title)
Director: Sadao Yamanaka
Writer: Shintarô Mimura
Cast: Chôjûrô Kawarasaki, Kan'emon Nakamura, Tsuruzô Nakamura
Genre: Drama
Language: Japanese
I liked this quite well as it was done in a relaxed, slice of life way and the people were shown to be very human. I got a kick out of the various colorful characters: the shifty hair dresser, the meek man with a letter for the big boss, the blind man who could 'see' very well, the landlord...and my favorite was the goldfish seller. Totally neat that we see the fish he has when he nets them and puts them into barrels.
It seemed like the kidnapping of the bride to be was kind of glossed over. I thought that might be the big dramatic part of the film. But then I realized this isn't a highly dramatic film, it's intended to be a study of a cross section of working poor people who live in little apartments...as shown in that photo.
I thought the first part was fascinating in that these people seem to live in little apartments inside another building...at least I think it was a building? It looked like the back wall had huge clay pots and was a couple of stories tall. At one time you could see people moving on that back wall. That set was something I've not seen in a vintage Japanese film before. All the sets were well done in that they looked to be in a crowded run down section of Edo.
I'm not so sure about the accuracy of the English translated sub titles, some of the phrases were definitely modern, like 'having balls', broads' etc. But oh well, I still liked the movie even if the subs vernacular was more modern than the time period of the film.
Ninjô kami fûsen (original title)
Director: Sadao Yamanaka
Writer: Shintarô Mimura
Cast: Chôjûrô Kawarasaki, Kan'emon Nakamura, Tsuruzô Nakamura
Genre: Drama
Language: Japanese
"The lives of two slum neighbors, one of a happy-go-lucky gambler and the other of a poor ronin, converge when the two get involved with the affairs of a powerful samurai official and his gangsters."
I liked this quite well as it was done in a relaxed, slice of life way and the people were shown to be very human. I got a kick out of the various colorful characters: the shifty hair dresser, the meek man with a letter for the big boss, the blind man who could 'see' very well, the landlord...and my favorite was the goldfish seller. Totally neat that we see the fish he has when he nets them and puts them into barrels.
It seemed like the kidnapping of the bride to be was kind of glossed over. I thought that might be the big dramatic part of the film. But then I realized this isn't a highly dramatic film, it's intended to be a study of a cross section of working poor people who live in little apartments...as shown in that photo.
I thought the first part was fascinating in that these people seem to live in little apartments inside another building...at least I think it was a building? It looked like the back wall had huge clay pots and was a couple of stories tall. At one time you could see people moving on that back wall. That set was something I've not seen in a vintage Japanese film before. All the sets were well done in that they looked to be in a crowded run down section of Edo.
I'm not so sure about the accuracy of the English translated sub titles, some of the phrases were definitely modern, like 'having balls', broads' etc. But oh well, I still liked the movie even if the subs vernacular was more modern than the time period of the film.