Historically speaking, many are used to looking at Japan during World War II for the more notorious aspects, such as the atrocities committed by the Imperial Japanese Army or the dictatorship rule of a militaristic government that regularly promoted ultra-nationalistic notions. It seems unreal to some that Japanese citizens had differing mindsets during this historical period of waging aggression. Yet, it would be unwise to label every individual in Japan as standing for the same values, as there were also plenty of pacifistic perspectives that were seen as controversial at the time. One can only imagine what it must have been like for children growing up during the Showa period with constant clashing mindsets. These elements would play into the narrative of Keisuke Kinoshita's “Twenty-Four Eyes,” a beautiful film that promotes love and pacificism during a time of nationalism and war.
Twenty-Four Eyes is screening at Nippon Connection
“Twenty-Four Eyes...
Twenty-Four Eyes is screening at Nippon Connection
“Twenty-Four Eyes...
- 6/12/2023
- by Sean Barry
- AsianMoviePulse
Keisuke Kinoshita’s 1958 classic The Ballad of Narayama gets the Criterion treatment, an experimental film featuring the use of one of Japan’s signature cultural styles, Kabuki Theater, despite its cultural popularity still on the wane post-World War II. But with its exaggeration and extreme stylization, Kinoshita taps into the tragic, melancholy heart of this fable concerning abandonment of the elderly as a socially sanctioned tradition of necessity, as developed by poverty stricken ancestors.
Based on a novel by Shichiro Fukazawa, a subsequent adaptation from new wave Japanese auteur Shohei Imamura was released in 1983, a more horrific and grisly treatment of the source text. But Kinoshita’s kabuki opera, with its grand flourishes and over the top nature still manages to touch on the horrors of inhumane practices, made all the more powerful with a moving lead performance and the haunting score and narration, reminding us constantly of impending death...
Based on a novel by Shichiro Fukazawa, a subsequent adaptation from new wave Japanese auteur Shohei Imamura was released in 1983, a more horrific and grisly treatment of the source text. But Kinoshita’s kabuki opera, with its grand flourishes and over the top nature still manages to touch on the horrors of inhumane practices, made all the more powerful with a moving lead performance and the haunting score and narration, reminding us constantly of impending death...
- 2/19/2013
- by Nicholas Bell
- IONCINEMA.com
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