Cinema year book of Japan (1937)

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NANIWA ELEGY A Shochiku Production Works in Japanese literature that base their subject matter on the city of Osaka have increased in recent years. This is an interesting phenomenon when one considers the fact that in years past there were more novels that chose Tokyo as the subject of their theme, due to its having been the centre of progress in Japan since the advent of the Meiji regime. Osaka* has an urban tradition of more than a thousand years. It is true that, compared with Tokyo of the years from the Tokugawa era onward, Osaka possesses something far more significant with respect to Japanese culture. To this extent, therefore, a story laid in Osaka arouses a deeper interest. And it is to the contemporary life of this deeply interesting city that the director of this screen play, Kenji Mizoguchi, whose forte lies in creating the atmosphere of the Meiji era, has applied the measure of his talents. In his previous productions, Mizoguchi proved, for the most part, to be a poet who had built up an atmosphere out of the emo¬ tions of an age. But in “Naniwa Elegy” he has shown himself to be first of all a realist, rather than a poet. This is because, to begin with, there are stern realities of life in Osaka which do not permit him merely to exercise his capacities as a poet. Osaka is not a city that is conducive to the creation of ideas, but a city that is given to action. What is more, action here is dominated by the purely commercial tradition of its inhabitants. The heroine of “Naniwa Elegy” is the daughter of an impoverished family that makes its living in this city of traditionally blind action. She strives to lead a self-assertive life, and is in the end wounded, as it were, by the claws of the great beastlike city. Mizoguchi, the director, instead of giving us a sentimental dramati¬ zation of the life of the individual, has shown, as an actuality, the position of a young girl vis-a-vis the mighty power of mass humanity which is controlled entirely by in¬ stinct. Motion pictures up to now have been pampered and spoiled by worthless senti¬ mentalism. Mizoguchi has done a great service if merely in casting off this pet in¬ dulgence. We say this for the reason that patrons of the movie theatre who view this film play are affected by and reflect upon an emotion which is more significant than forced sentimentalism. Isuzu Yamada is cast in the role of the heroine who becomes the city’s victim. T ADASI IlZIM A * Osaka was called Naniwa in olden times, hence the title of this picture. 20