|
| |
|
Nightly Dreams (Yogoto
no Yume), plus the short Flunky, Work Hard! (Koshiben
Gambare)
|
|
Written and directed by Mikio Naruse
January 27,
2006
Northwest Film Forum
Seattle, Washington
|
|
Although the recognized equal of
Ozu, Mizoguchi, and Kurosawa, master Japanese director Mikio Naruse
(1905-1969) has slipped into near obscurity in North America. Revered
by Kurosawa, deified in Japan and championed by American critic Susan Sontag,
Naruse finally got a North American retrospective, the first in over three
decades - Weathering the Storm: The
Enduring Cinema of Mikio Naruse.
Northwest Film Forum showed the cream
of this touring tribute, from January 20th to February 26th, 2006, with ten
masterpieces including eight newly struck prints spanning Naruse's career
from the 1930's to the 1960's, as well as two rare, early silent works
featuring the world premiere of new music scores performed live by the Aono
Jikken Ensemble. A deft
blend of toughness and sentiment,
Nightly Dreams
(1933, 64 min.), is considered
Naruse's most visually audacious work with its virtuoso camera, unusual
angles and startling montage. Mitsu (a strong performance by Sumiko
Kurishima) is a young, abandoned mother who supports herself and her small
son by working as a hostess in a Tokyo waterfront bar. When her
unemployed ex-husband reappears, promising to change, Mitsu allows herself
to believe things will get better. The couple's hopes and dreams clash
with the harsh economic realities of the times.
Flunky, Work Hard!
(1931, 30 min.) employs
grandstanding style in a slapstick satire of people at the end of their
financial rope. A meek insurance salesman ducks and hides whenever
conflict arises, and his wife and son grow tired of both his humility and
their poverty. Typical of Naruse, the antics eventually dissolve into
tear-jerking tragedy.
AJE's scores blended traditional
Japanese, klezmer and Latin influences with avant-garde sound
experimentation and Japanese and Western pop songs from the 1930's.
|
Musicians |
|
|
William Satake Blauvelt |
Taiko, snare drum, cymbals, gong, bongos, frame drum,
waterphone, found objects, percussion, voice |
|
Susie Kozawa |
Classical guitar, xylimba, sound toys, found objects, inventions, voice |
|
Michael Shannon |
Guitar, 12-string guitar, chin-chin, erhu, harmonium, voice |
|
Naho Shioya |
Lead vocals, toy xylophone, sound toys |
|
Esther Sugai |
Piano, flute, clarinet, melodica, xylimba,
voice |
|
Marcia Takamura |
Koto, shamisen, voice |
|
|
