#989 The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice お茶漬の味 1952 // Japan // Yasujiro Ozu 小津安二郎 Criterion Collection (LINK) / Letterboxd (LINK) Rewrote by Kogo Noda and Yasujiro Ozu from a script originally written by Ozu in 1939 before he was drafted for the military service, THE FLAVOR OF GREEN TEA OVER RICE revolves around a childless,… Continue reading #989 The Flavor of Green Tea over Rice お茶漬の味 (Yasujiro Ozu 小津安二郎, 1952)
#189 The White Sheik 1952 // Italy // Federico Fellini Criterion Collection (LINK) / Letterboxd (LINK) Fellini’s first solo feature possessed the dreamy emergence of illusory fantasy and satiric reality in one unity, which would grow to be more sophisticated with the innocent naivety slowly being replaced by sentimentality and carnivalesque temperament. At the central spotlight… Continue reading #189 The White Sheik (Federico Fellini, 1952)
A Wife’s Heart 妻の心 1956 // Japan // Mikio Naruse 成瀬巳喜男 Letterboxd (LINK) Filming the unspoken words, capturing the uneasy glances, sketching the stiffing traditional family structure, demonstrating the passionless loyalty and fanciful platonic love, celebrating the perseverance of a wife’s heart, Mikio Naruse’s family drama is at once melodramatic and delicate, striking the tenuous… Continue reading A Wife’s Heart 妻の心 (Mikio Naruse 成瀬巳喜男, 1956)
#81 Variety Lights 1950 // Italy // Federico Fellini & Alberto Lattuada Criterion Collection (LINK) / Letterboxd (LINK) Federico Fellini‘s directorial debut is a collaboration with Alberto Lattuada, an established Italian director whose fame is still largely limited within his home country. Likewise, I’m unfamiliar with Lattuada‘s works, but had watched the majority of Fellini’s oeuvre, so… Continue reading #81 Variety Lights (Federico Fellini & Alberto Lattuada, 1950)
Street of Shame 赤線地帯 1956 // Japan // Kenji Mizoguchi 溝口健二 Criterion Collection (LINK) / Letterboxd (LINK) Kenji Mizoguchi’s last film before his death of leukemia at the age of 58 is a critical social indictment and a sympathetic lament of the ‘fallen women’ that have been the leitmotif in Mizoguchi’s filmography. STREET OF SHAME,… Continue reading Street of Shame 赤線地帯 (Kenji Mizoguchi 溝口健二, 1956)
#5 The 400 Blows 1959 // France // François Truffaut Criterion Collection (LINK) / Letterboxd (LINK) THE 400 BLOWS was premiered at Cannes Film Festival 60 years ago, announcing the complete transformation of François Truffaut from a film critic to a film director. It’s also the first screen appearance of the legendary French actor Jean-Pierre Léaud, who… Continue reading #5 The 400 Blows (François Truffaut, 1959)
Thousand Cranes 千羽鶴 1953 // Japan // Kozaburo Yoshimura 吉村公三郎 Letterboxd (LINK) 1969 // Japan // Yasuzo Masumura 増村保造 Letterboxd (LINK) It seems logical to write about both films in one review since they’re adapted from the same novel of the same name by Nobel Prize laureate Yasunari Kawabata. Moreover, Kaneto Shindo, the renowned scriptwriter and director,… Continue reading Thousand Cranes 千羽鶴 (Kozaburo Yoshimura 吉村公三郎, 1953; Yasuzo Masumura 増村保造, 1969)
Sunset Boulevard 1950 // USA // Billy Wilder Letterboxd (LINK) ‘All right, Mr. DeMille, I’m ready for my close-up.’ When the aged silent film star Norma Desmond (Gloria Swanson) descends ‘the staircase of the palace,’ raising her arms and curling her hands, enjoying her triumphant moment of camera and lights pointing at her again, she… Continue reading Sunset Boulevard (Billy Wilder, 1950)
Young Man with a Horn 1950 // USA // Michael Curtiz Letterboxd (LINK) Kirk Douglas‘s performance as the ardent, obstinate trumpet player Rick Martin, along with Michael Curtiz‘s lucid direction, deserves better recognition as a whole. YOUNG MAN WITH A HORN is flawed, but the central conflict is nonetheless engrossing. The film opens with a young kid… Continue reading Young Man with a Horn (Michael Curtiz, 1950)
Un chant d’amour 1950 // France // Jean Genet Letterboxd (LINK) Still look daringly bold today, Jean Genet’s sole film he ever made is at once obscure and poetic. The homosexual eroticism could be easily condemned as pornographic, but there’s an undertow of unflinching sexual desire breaking out from oppression and undaunted acknowledgment of homosexuality which… Continue reading Un chant d’amour (Jean Genet, 1950)
The Films in My Life (OnCriterion) 