正在同步电影信息
“Thislatesilentfilmislittlemorethananhourlong,andachievesanarrativeconcentrationandemotionalintensitywhichplaceitamongtheneglectedgemsoftheJapanesecinemaofthe1930s.ThestoryfocusesonthewidowerNemoto,ostensiblyabusinessman,whohasoneson,Kanichi,theheroofthetitle.Nemotoremarries;hisnewwifeisawidowwithasonanddaughterofherown.However,Nemoto’sbusinessturnsouttobeoutashadyscam,andhedisappears,leavinghiswifetoraisethethreechildrenalone.Inordertosupportthefamily,sheisobligedtobecomeabarhostess.Sheconcealsthisshamefulemploymentfromthechildren,butthetruthcomesoutyearslater,afterherdaughterisrejectedbyherhusband’sfamilywhentheyinvestigateherbackground.ThefilmcontainspowerfulperformancesfromMitsuguFujii,heremakingthelastofhisregularappearancesforShimizu,andMitsukoYoshikawa,aspecialistinthehaha-mono(“mother-film”)genre.ContemporarycriticscommentedonthedarknessofShimizu’sworkatthisperiod,andindeedthedirectorisunsparinginhisdepictionoftheJapanesefamily,andtrenchantinhiscriticismofthesocialassumptionsthatdestroyitfromoutsideandfromwithin.Moreover,thefilmalsohasabroaderpoliticalapplication:WilliamM.Drewhasdrawnattentiontothefilm’smetaphoricalcritiqueoftheimperialistactivitiesofthemilitarygovernmentofthetime.HecallsTokyonoeiyuShimizu’s“mostemotionallyoverwhelmingfilm,unsparinginitsdepictionofhumantragedy,withitsvisionprobablythebleakestofallhisworks”.Perhapssurprisinglygivenitssubversiveelements,thefilmwasbothacriticalandacommercialsuccess.ALEXANDERJACOBY&JOHANNORDSTRöM.”
