Here's the thread for requesting participation in the informal circulation of copies of "The Only Son" prior to voting for the 1936 Fixing.
MEK
I got from lee that Choko Iida is the mother- what are the names of the son and his wife? I can't tell!
Thanks.
"It's got to look real. This isn't a movie!" -Pierrot le Fou
If anyone still needs a copy, I'll be able to send mine out tomorrow afternoon.
I didn't ask for the anal probe.
howard.schumann might want to see this. I think he lives in British Columbia -- so you would have to fill out a green customs form (the short version) to send it to him (otherwise it would probably not get delivered).
MEK
I'd like to see it. I will PM you my address.
"Some are born to sweet delight. Some are born to endless night" - Wm. Blake
Anyone wanting a copy, please PM him.
My favorite new film -- Take Care of My Cat:
http://www.kino.com/takecareofmycat/
SPOILERS
(1936) The Only Son
This is probably the 6th film by Ozu that I have seen, and it is one of my favorite thus far. The quality that we have come to associate with Ozu is as present as ever in the acting, set decoration, and composition. "The Only Son" is about a mother and son from a very poor mountain village, and the son is soon to finish his grade school education. He is a bright student and his teacher believes that it would be best for him to go to Tokyo for further education. The mother manages to scrimp up enough to be able to pay for it in hopes that her son can one day have a better life and become a good man. Life in Tokyo is harder than it seems though, and by the time that his mother comes to pay him a visit after not seeing him for many years, he has only managed to become a night school teacher, which only pays enough for him to rent a meager house on the outskirts of town.
The son feels great embarrasment at his percieved failure, and feels completely hopeless and lost in his current state, and feels that though he is young he has already achieved all that he will ever hope to. He is discouraged even further when he see that his former teacher had to give up his job and become a lowly cook, because it pays more than teaching; and we see that the dreams of both men are shattered.
His mother is most dissappointed by the fact that he seems to have given up, and encourages him to strive for more, the way that she did to be able to send him to school. After his mother has left he resigns himself to go back to school and earn a certificate, and she heads back to the factory in the hills. In the end its hard to tell if she is really as proud of her son as she tells her co-worker(especially after his kind act toward his neighbor) or not, as she goes for a rest and sits in contemplation. Such is Ozu.
And Choko Iida's performance is simply extraordinary.
She doesn't sit "in contemplation" at the end -- but in near despair -- the music played here (as in a few earlier spots) is hauntingly (and bitingly) apropos -- Stephen Foster's Old Black Joe.
MEK
Every dream is a prophecy: every jest is an earnest in the womb of Time.
And Choko Iida's performance is simply extraordinary.I couldn't agree more.
Another fine actress -- most of whose work is inaccessible (and not even listed on IMDB). She is also the younger actress in "Story of Floating Weeds", however. (and she has a part in "Late Spring" -- but I'm not certain who she is, offhand).
MEK
Every dream is a prophecy: every jest is an earnest in the womb of Time.
How do you mean, not listed, kerpan? --> http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0875208/
Yeah, I first spotted her in "Story of Floating Weeds". Will have to check her out in "Late Spring".
IMDB lists 26 film roles for Yoshiko Tsubouchi, JMDB lists 143 -- going all the way through 1969 (while IMDB lists nothing after 1955).
MEK
Every dream is a prophecy: every jest is an earnest in the womb of Time.
I don't really have anything to add, but I'm glad this thread still exists! What a neat little time capsule, going back over a decade.
"[Cinema] is a a labyrinth with a treacherous resemblance to reality." - Andrew Sarris
This was about the only way to see/share rare films back in the olden times. ;-)
Actually this sort of non-trade based sharing was an innovation. The previous norm was film/tape trading -- wherein one could only get rarities if one had a rare item the other party wanted, the prior system was mostly rigidly trade-based.
MEK
Analyze only when necessary.
fortune cookie, 4-24-2010