Mikio Naruse

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Mikio Naruse

#551 Post by Michael Kerpan » Thu Jul 17, 2014 11:20 am

Everything available is worth seeing -- as is most of what's NOT available. ;-}

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Emak-Bakia
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Re: Mikio Naruse

#552 Post by Emak-Bakia » Thu Jul 17, 2014 11:50 am

I don't doubt it. I'll start seeking out the "unavailable" stuff once I get through the Hulu offerings.

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Mikio Naruse

#553 Post by Michael Kerpan » Thu Jul 17, 2014 12:14 pm

Some of the best stuff that hasn't been Hulu'd (so far as I know):

Three Sisters with Maiden Hearts
Wife! Be Like a Rose!
The Girl on Everyone's Lips
Morning's Tree-Lined Streets
Tsuruhachi and Tsurujiro
The Whole Family Works
Travelling Actors
A Face from the Past
Hideko, the Bus Conductor
The Song Lantern
A Tale of Archery at the Sanjusangendo
Both You and I (which I prefer to think of as "You and Me, Pal")
Spring Awakens
Ishinaka sensei gyôjôki -- Ishinaka's (being a noted writer -- a stand in for the actual author, Ishizawa) report on (rural, romantic) conduct (with Mifune, in pt. 3 of 3)
Maihime (The Dancing Girl -- Kawabata's story, not Mori's)
Okuni and Gohei
Lightning
Fufu (Husband and Wife)
Older Brother, Younger Sister(s)
Sudden Rain
A Wife's Heart (with Mifune)
Untamed Woman
Anzukko
Summer Clouds
Daughters, Wives, Mothers
Approach (or start) of Autumn
Tsuma to shite onna to shite (As a Wife, As a Woman)
A Wanderer's Notebook
Scattered Clouds

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Re: Mikio Naruse

#554 Post by Stefan Andersson » Wed Dec 09, 2015 7:01 am

Midareru (1964) opens in Paris Dec. 9:
http://www.allocine.fr/film/fichefilm_g ... 24263.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

-Scroll down for trailer (Une femme dans la tourmente)

Distributor: http://www.acaciasfilms.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

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NABOB OF NOWHERE
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Re: Mikio Naruse

#555 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Wed Dec 09, 2015 7:16 am

Great news This has soared to the top of my want-on-blu list. If you haven't seen it the last shot will tear you to pieces. Wish it was coming closer to a screen near me. Ironically it is showing at the Reflet Medicis in Paris where my own film was shown last week in the Paris Indie Fest only wish it had come out a little earlier.

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D50
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Re: Mikio Naruse

#556 Post by D50 » Wed Dec 09, 2015 9:48 am

NABOB OF NOWHERE wrote:Great news This has soared to the top of my want-on-blu list. If you haven't seen it the last shot will tear you to pieces.
Which film are you referring to?

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Re: Mikio Naruse

#557 Post by NABOB OF NOWHERE » Wed Dec 09, 2015 10:36 am

The one Stefan posted about above In english i think it's called Yearning

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Mikio Naruse

#558 Post by Michael Kerpan » Wed Dec 09, 2015 12:11 pm

Yearning is a remarkable film -- really almost a two-parter. The first is part is a somewhat black-comic exploration of the impact of modern western-style grocery stores on tradition, small family businesses. The second part, involving a train journey and a stop at a scenic hot springs resort town is something totally different (and has some extravagantly wonderful cinematography). The train scene here pretty much (but not quite) ties with the one in Apart From Her as my favorite ever.

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D50
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Re: Mikio Naruse

#559 Post by D50 » Wed Dec 09, 2015 2:33 pm

NABOB OF NOWHERE wrote:The one Stefan posted about above In english i think it's called Yearning
ah, Midareru (1964).

48.13 gbp / 73.02 US Dollar on Amazon uk!

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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Mikio Naruse

#560 Post by Michael Kerpan » Wed Dec 09, 2015 2:46 pm

D50 wrote:
NABOB OF NOWHERE wrote:The one Stefan posted about above In english i think it's called Yearning
ah, Midareru (1964).

48.13 gbp / 73.02 US Dollar on Amazon uk!
Looks like the Japanese DVD -- so no subtitles. (I have this as part of a Toho set released 10 years ago).

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Re: Mikio Naruse

#561 Post by colinr0380 » Mon Jun 06, 2016 12:01 pm


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Michael Kerpan
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Re: Mikio Naruse

#562 Post by Michael Kerpan » Mon Jun 06, 2016 12:16 pm

We had a (long-running) little online coffee klatsch where a number of folks watched these films (independently, but in conjunction) and then compared notes afterwards. Dan saved all his posts, but I don't think I kept mine. It was all very exciting and fun. Glad to see his recent publication.

Actually, on one occasion, when Dan visited Boston, I showed him (still unsubbed) Naruse (and Somai's Ohikkoshi), doing my (all too feeble) best to serve as a translator/benshi.

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Re: Mikio Naruse

#563 Post by alacal2 » Mon Aug 21, 2017 3:28 am

I'm surprised and excited that Scattered Clouds is showing at my local French cinema and described as a 'version restauree'. Its playing in the original version but with French subtitles. My French is pretty limited but going by the posts on this Forum I think it's worth the watch. Does this suggest a Blu is on the horizon that might get picked up by Criterion, MOC or maybe Arrow Academy?

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Re: Mikio Naruse

#564 Post by Michael Kerpan » Mon Aug 21, 2017 11:09 am

Looking forward to your report!

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Re: Mikio Naruse

#565 Post by artfilmfan » Mon Aug 21, 2017 1:37 pm

This is probably the best looking of the Naruse films. Excited about the prospect of a Blu-ray release. Also, in my book this is the second-best Japanese movie made in the last 50 years (behind only Maborosi).

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Re: Mikio Naruse

#566 Post by kuzine » Tue Aug 29, 2017 7:50 am

Cinematek in Brussels is screening 20 Naruse films in Sep-Oct.
Free entrance on top. Can probably only make it to a few of these. Which ones should I prioritise? Have seen the titles in the MoC box + Woman ascends the stairs.

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Re: Mikio Naruse

#567 Post by alacal2 » Tue Aug 29, 2017 9:35 am

Caught the third showing of Scattered Clouds at my local cinema deep in south west France. Only one of 15 screenings in the country according to its website. There were only 9 people there. Interestingly the French translate the title in English as "Two in the Shadow". I don't have the advantage of having seen this in its unrestored state and I've no idea how recent this restoration is but it looks lovely. It has a green tinge, and I know there's been a lot of debate about this on the Ozu threads in the past, but I found it matched the pervading mood of melancholy perfectly and the late sixties colour palette. The last shot is quietly devastating, not only in term's of Yumiko's fate but that of Naruse himself.
As I said in an earlier post, it would be amazing if this could be picked up for a Blu-ray release. Criterion is the most likely home but Arrow or MOC would be welcome too. I need to see it a few more times.

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Re: Mikio Naruse

#568 Post by Michael Kerpan » Tue Aug 29, 2017 12:37 pm

kuzine:

Everything being shown in Brussels ranges from interesting and very good to absolutely wonderful. All I can recommend is see absolutely everything you can possibly manage to get to (with precedence given to films you have not yet seen). Your chances of seeing many of these screened again (for at least 15 years) is probably minimal.

What were your preferences of the films you've seen (or did you love them all)?

alacal2:

It is really a shame that Naruse's last film has never gotten an English subbed release. The Japanese DVD looked pretty good color-wise (but I have not watched it for ages). It represented a wonderful return to his roots -- after two rather lurid (not anywhere near great, but still interesting) preceding films. It definitely deserves to be more widely abvailable.

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Re: Mikio Naruse

#569 Post by artfilmfan » Tue Aug 29, 2017 9:12 pm

kuzine,

I second Michael's recommendation that you see as many of them screened as you can. As Michael said, there's very little chance that you'll be able to see them screened again in the foreseeable future. Of those that you've not seen, I recommend seeing (in order of priority):
1. Floating Clouds (don't miss this one)
2. Two in the Shadow (don't miss this one)
3. Late Chrysanthemums
4. Yearning
5. Lightning

By the way, the screen capture at that site with the title Yearning underneath it is not from Yearning. It's from Two in the Shadow. Someone should inform them :)

alacal2,

I've just checked the Japanese DVD. It has the greenish look that you mentioned above.

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Re: Mikio Naruse

#570 Post by Michael Kerpan » Tue Aug 29, 2017 9:22 pm

I would say that Song Lantern also shouldn't be missed -- as it has some of the most beautiful use of light (and shadow) I've ever seen. Traveling Actors, while not so profound, is an interesting (and mostly very funny) variation/expansion on the theme of the kabuki "horse" one sees in Ozu's Story of Floating Weeds. While I very much love Every Night Dreams and Apart From You -- these ARE findable on DVD (the Eclipse set). Aki tachinu is a rare child-centered Naruse film -- and a very moving one (Kobayashi covers somewhat similar thematic ground in his Muddy River) -- even if he does not quite capture Ozu (or Shimizu) level child performances....

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Re: Mikio Naruse

#571 Post by artfilmfan » Tue Aug 29, 2017 9:49 pm

Oh yes, I still remember how lovely Song Lantern looked and how funny some of the scenes in Approach of Autumn were (especially the one with the kids running out of the park) :) Every Night Dreams and Apart from You are very good indeed.

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kuzine
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Re: Mikio Naruse

#572 Post by kuzine » Wed Aug 30, 2017 4:53 am

MK, artfilmfan: thanks!

It's been a while since I've seen the ones I've seen (basically around the time the DVDs were released) so my memories and impressions are quite vague I must admit. Reading the synopsis again, I remember loving Repast most out of the MoC box. Looking things up, I totally forgot I also have the bfi box and from my viewing log it seems I didn't really warm up to Floating Clouds but did really like Late Chrysanthemums, but I should revisit both given my memory blank and single viewing. I also have the silent eclipse still in my kevyip.
Unfortunately don't live right around the corner of Cinematek and have newborn family constraints so as much as I would want to catch the majority of the screenings, realistically I will have to settle for a handful. Giving preference to the ones I don't have access to at home is indeed my current plan and to revisit (or watch in case of the silents) the ones I have on dvd in the meantime as well.

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Re: Mikio Naruse

#573 Post by Michael Kerpan » Wed Aug 30, 2017 1:42 pm

It took me a few watchings of Floating Clouds before I really began to love it. Reading the source novel (which has a somewhat different focus) also helped. ;-)

Repast is probably my most loved Naruse film -- and the one that turned me from an admirere to a fanatic (along with Sound of the Mountain).

I missed a few screenings back when the Harvard Film Archive showed a LOT of Naruse films -- due to family visitors. Shikata ga nai...

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Re: Mikio Naruse

#574 Post by artfilmfan » Wed Aug 30, 2017 6:44 pm

Floating Clouds shares the top spot with Late Spring on my list of favorite (best loved) Japanese films. Occupying the third spot is Maborosi. :)

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Re: Mikio Naruse

#575 Post by ozufils » Wed Aug 30, 2017 6:49 pm

Repast is one of my most beloved films, while I didn't enjoy the pessimistic tone of Sound of the Mountain a lot. After Repast are a string of masterpieces (or near ones at worst): When a woman ascends the stairs, Late Chrysanthemums, Flowing, Floating Clouds, Yearning to name the ones that come very rapidly to my mind. I very much like Scattered Clouds too.

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