Minato no Nihonmusume

Although the movie was made in 1933, the visuals are shockingly contemporary. In some ways the streets are cleaner and in better order than the streets of present day Yokohama. Aren't we supposed to be evolving ? I don't see any sign of that in terms of beauty of the city and the behavior of the people in this movie.

I don't know much about the film's director, but I understand that he's supposed to be one of the greats of early Japanese cinema. I can see that. There's sharpness, and vivid quality to every scene. It's almost breath taking.

Some things changes while others remain timeless. I got to reevaluate my life's value after watching this movie. So many things that I thought were important now looks silly. The people in this movie have already lived it.

Great movie to put your life into perspective, and behold at how advanced it was in 1933. With a little change in clothing and furniture, it's exactly like the life we live today.

The director of this movie had an impeccable taste.

...this time from director Hiroshi Shimizu. Sunako (Michiko Oikawa) is a teenage girl in the port city of Yokohama. When she discovers that her older boyfriend is seeing another woman, Sunako commits a terrible act and leaves the city. After years of drifting about, she returns to Yokohama as a bar hostess and reconnects with her old boyfriend, who has married Sunako's former best friend in the interim. Heartbreak naturally ensues.

Director Shimizu indulges in a number of camera tricks, like rapid tracking shots, fast-edit zoom ins, and having characters dissolve likes ghosts when leaving a scene. While many of these gimmicks are eye-catching, they don't do anything to add to the meager, routine plot. A distinct lack of characterization in the script makes discerning who's who a chore for the film's first half hour, which is bad in a one hour movie. The coastal scenery and some decent performances from Shochiku regulars save this from being a loss, though. (

Relationships are a big part of Japanese novels, and movies, more so, in my opinion than in Hollywood, where plot drives the movies for the most part. Shimizu, Hiroshi is an artist. He is an experienced director in showing the auidence rather than telling them the enduring themes he wants to examine in the film. Lonliness and the seeking of fulfillment is one of the themes here. A second one is the technology and wealth of the society in the 1930's, part of the recovery from the Great Depression. Society is going up. Attraction by Japan toward America and Western society is another theme presented here. There is an interesting acting sytle which is partially familiar from Kabuki gestures and part of the new more natural way of behaving in front of a camera here. Shimizu is intgerested in women's lives , in the 3 movies I have watched, this one, Arigato-San, and Boss's Son goes to College. The women havee the stronger roles. Sunako is the featured woman in this movie. She has a longing for some image of happiness, which means finding a husband. She really has found someone who tgruly loves her, but she doesn't find a peace of mind until the end. There are two Japanese actors with English names, Henry, and Dora. Much of the action is in Yokohama, where 3 girls are in a Catholic? School. Shimizu likes port cities. Ports are points of contact with the outside world. The girls wish to leave their situation, but they really can't go very far, only to Kobe (another port city) . There are few chjoices for them to esxpress their potential. Though we don't know what that potential is. Instead we learn only of an emotional lonliness and restlessness. They might be children of the middle-clkass, they are turning away slowly from the traditoinal modes, and look for something to fulfill them in the Western culture...And yet, they don't have tghe means to purchasse the goods of the West. They are on the edge, and this edge is not so comvortable for any of them. I particularly like the scene in the parking lot at the dock of President Asia cruise ship. This is Sunako searching for her boy friend, who chose Yoko for the big Ball. Youth is spent chasing the new consumer cultuere that is in its childhood here. There are many scene compositions which I enjoy Shimiuzu focusing on.

This story involves two girls, Dora and Sunako, who are best friends in Yokohama. They vow never to separate, but along enters a man (with the Western name Henry). Sunako goes for him, but he's a bad guy, a gangster and a philanderer. She eventually catches him with another woman, and does something rash. In her shame, Sunako runs away only to become a geisha. Later she meets up with Dora and Henry again, now married to each other and feeling guilty for what became of Sunako. Japanese Girls at the Harbor is often a very pretty film, but I sometimes found it to be poorly made. The first half is especially confusing with Shimizu's gimmicky editing. And the transition between the big event of the first half and the second half of the film is never quite clear. I had initially thought I was confused because I watched it tired, but I watched most of the first half over again and still found it hard to put together. Plus, whenever characters who aren't one of the main three enter the film, it's always hard to understand who they are. The second half of the film is much stronger than the first, but I would still complain that Henry and Dora are never especially interesting characters. My attention was focused entirely on Sunako, and I found it hard to concentrate when she wasn't around. This is the earliest film in the Eclipse Travels with Hiroshi Shimizu box set (and the only silent film), and I've read at least one review of the set that claims that it's the weakest. Looking at the better aspects of the film, it's clear that Shimizu is a talented director. I'm confident that the other films will be better. I definitely do not recommend starting with this film if you're just renting them. Skip it all together, or at least come back to it later.

I just watched this film and it is brilliant. The story is about two schoolgirls, Sunako (an amazing Michiko Oikawa) and Dora (Yukiko Inoue) who both like Henry, who drives a motorcycle. He spends time with Sunako, but then its found out Henry has been spending time with the somewhat vampish Yoko. Sunako confronts him, then her and violence is the result. Sunako flees and becomes a prostitute, while Dora marries Henry. Sunako comes back to Yokohama and meets her former friends Dora and Henry, and wants to get out of the world she has made for herself. This film is completely silent, no music track. It is available with English subtitles, being part of a recent domestic release by Criterion films. This film has elements of lust, love, betrayal, hopelessness and regret. It lasts almost 72 minutes, but for me it could have gone on for another forty minutes and I wouldn't have minded. The relationships of the characters are simply told and rather than many fade outs which the director Mr. Shimizu used in "Masseurs And The Woman" he favors tight editing here, with little camera tricks. The story may be simply told but it is fascinating. Michiko Oikawa is so good as Sunako, her expressions are perfect and how you feel about her changes often. I don't find it difficult to follow at all. It has elements of Kenji Mizoguchi's style, but it really is a great film. Buy the box set, even for just this film, though I liked the others in the set. In my opinion, this is the best one in the set and with so many films from Japan criminally lost, this is a grateful find. It really moved me.