a film that should be known by all
I saw this film first when it came out on DVD in the UK on the 'Masters of Cinema' Eureka release, and it absolutely bowled me over. Since then I have watched it at least another 5 times, and each time I find it deeply moving.
I had previously been familiar with the cinema of Ozu, Mizoguchi, Kobayashi etc. and found such films as 'Tokyo Story', 'The story of the late chrysanthemums','Ugetsu Monogotari' and 'The Human Condition' a revelation, but nothing prepared me for this film by Kinoshita, which I found surpassed even the above masterpieces.
Subsequently, I have seen the 6 Naruse films released by 'Masters of Cinema' and 'BFI', and I would now place Naruse as probably my favourite director in world cinema - certainly alongside such greats as Mizoguchi, Ozu, Max Ophüls, Douglas Sirk, Ingmar Bergman, Jean Renoir, Woody Allen and Michael Powell, but even Naruse's films do not surpass 'Twenty Four Eyes' in my opinion.
I'm very pleased that in addition to the 'Masters of Cinema' release in the UK, 'Criterion' have now also brought out a version for the Region 1 market - I strongly urge people who are familiar with world cinema to invest their time in this film - you will be deeply rewarded.
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"We'll always have Paris"