WASEDA SHOCHIKU CLASSICS NO. 227
Two Classics Born During Wartime
Venue(s): Waseda ShochikuDecember 28 (Sat), 2024 to January 10 (Fri), 2025
Language: Japanese with English subtitles
Official website: wasedashochiku.co.jp/english
Theater website: wasedashochiku.co.jp/english
Advance tickets: Tickets will be available for purchase starting from 21:00 three days before the screening at the website above. *Website only available in Japanese.
Title: 戦禍の中で生まれた映画たち (Senka no Naka de Umareta Eigatachi)
The historic Waseda Shochiku cinema is renowned for its classics programming, but it almost never features films with English subtitles. That changes this month with three titles in the series Films Born in the Wake of War, the rarely shown Mikio Naruse film A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangendo, the 4K digitally restored version of Sadao Yamanaka’s masterpiece, Humanity and Paper Balloons, and the timeless masterpiece Tokyo Story. (There’s plenty more to explore in the series, and the theater is worth a visit no matter what’s playing.)
A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangendo/三十三間堂通し矢物語
December 28 (Sat) to 30, 2024 (Mon): 11:55, 15:15, 18:35
1945 / 77min / 35mm / B&W
Director: Mikio Naruse
Cast: Kazuo Hasegawa, Kinuyo Tanaka,
Sensho Ichikawa, Akitake Kono, Haruo Tanaka
The Sanjusangendo archery tournament, or Toshiya, is a traditional competition of physical accuracy and mental resilience held annually at the Sanjusangendo Temple in Kyoto. Mikio Naruse shot A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangendo while WWII was still raging, between January and May 1945, and filming was interrupted by frequent air raids. It was a time when the freedom of film production in Japan was severely restricted. Period dramas were a bit easier to make (and get past censors) than contemporary dramas, since they were not directly related to the prevailing conditions of the time.
This tale concerns the son of a man named Daiemon, a samurai who had been a champion at the Sanjusangendo archery tournament, but committed seppuku when he was dethroned, losing his title and honor. Five years later, the son, Daihachiro (Sensho Ichikawa), trains relentlessly to clear his father’s name, but feels he’s being sabotaged. Kanbei Karatsu (Hasegawa), a mysterious samurai, saves him and becomes his mentor. But Kanbei has a secret, and when that’s revealed, the relationship between teacher and student is changed forever, leading to a climactic archery duel.
Humanity and Paper Balloons (4K digitally restored version)/
人情紙風船 (4Kデジタル修復版)
December 28 (Sat) to 30 (Mon), 2024 (Mon): 13:30, 16:50, 20:10
1937 / 86min / DCP / B&W
Director: Sadao Yamanaka
Cast: Kawarazaki Chojuro, Nakamura Wanemon,
Nakamura Tsuruzo,Yamagishi Shizue, Kiridate Noboru
Regularly ranking high on Best-of-All-Time lists from Japanese critics, Humanity and Paper Balloons is set in feudal Japan during the 18th century, and depicts the struggles of Matajuro Unno, a masterless samurai (whose father was a great warrior), and his neighbor Shinza, a hairdresser who also runs an illicit gambling den. Unno lives with his wife, and struggles to find work with his father's former master, stalking him constantly but receiving repeated rejections. Unno's wife supports him by making Japanese paper balloons, but as Unno begins drinking more heavily, their situation inevitably deteriorates, and tragedy is just around the corner.
Tokyo Story / 東京物語
January 4 (Sat) to 10, 2025 (Fri): 14:25, 19:20
1953 / 135 min / DCP/ B&W
Director: Yasujiro Ozu
Casts: Chishu Ryu, Chieko Higashiyama,
Setsuko Hara, Haruko Sugimura, So Yamamura, Kuniko Miyake
Considered Japan’s greatest filmmaker, Yasujiro Ozu (1903–1963) often explored themes revolving around life’s natural rhythms, focusing on family relationships as time passed, capturing unexpected emotions with an empathetic eye, in an unhurried, restrained approach to narrative. His films resonate universally for their humanity and simplicity, making him a cornerstone of world cinema.
His 1953 Tokyo Story follows an elderly couple who travel from their rural home to visit their grown children — a son, daughter and widowed daughter-in-law — in Tokyo. From the moment they arrive, their presence is treated as a burden more than a pleasure. But their daughter-in-law (played by Ozu favorite Setsuko Hara) shows them genuine kindness. Despite the inevitability of aging and the solitude of loss, this is a brilliantly moving film that you will never quite shake off. Nor will you want to.
Waseda Shochiku
Please be sure to check with the theater before going.