MovieChat Forums > Suna no utsuwa (1975) Discussion > Nomura passed away

Nomura passed away

posted 18 years ago by sdsungod
9 replies | jump to latest

Hello, I saw that the director Nomura passed away in 2005, and the obit said that he was best known for directing 1974's "Castles of Sand" which is considered to be one of the greatest movies in the history of Japanese cinema.

Now, I LOVE Kurosawa's films, and I thought to myself, "If this film 'Castles of Sand' is supposed to be BETTER than Kurosawa, it must be pretty great" so I came to this page to see what people had to say about it. And, NO ONE has made ANY comments about the film at all!!! Hasn't anyone SEEN it? Why am I expected to know who Nomura is, and to know about this film, if NO ONE has ANYTHING to say about it? Anyway, if you've seen it, please tell me how much you liked it!

"Enough of that technical talk, Foo!"

[–] cljung-1 18 years ago

My comments are probably a bit too late for the above poster but I just discovered that a DVD version of this movie has been produced. I believe it became available in August, 2006. I just ordered a copy (September, 27, 2006).

As a side note: the death of Japanese actor Tetsuro Tamba, age 84, was announced today. He was probably best known for his role as "Tiger Tanaka" in the James Bond film "You Only Live Twice" (1967) but he also starred in "Castles of Sand" (1974).

I first saw this movie back in 1974 or 1976 (I don't remember the date exactly) in a small theater in Nihonmachi, San Francisco, California. I was so impressed by the haunting tale that I've been searching for a copy ever since. I had improperly translated the movie title from Japanese and had been looking for "Sand Castles" which isn't quite the same thing as "The Castle of Sand" or "Castles of Sand" depending upon the current translation of the title.

I remember the basic storyline. Two detectives trying to unravel a murder case but the two things that I found especially haunting were the music and the scene on the train with the woman. I don't recall her character's name and I don't want to say anymore about the scene because it would give away a vital clue to the crime...

I am looking forward to seeing the movie again, as soon as my copy of the DVD arrives.

cjung

[–] Samanessence 18 years ago

I just saw this movie for the first time last night at the Japanese Film Festival held in Melbourne. It was a re-mastered print and on the huge screen it was magnificant. The flashback scenes with the father and son set to the stunning musical score seemed like a completely different movie to what had preceded. But to me, final scenes are important - a skillful movie ending turns a good film into a great film. A bad ending turns an average to good film into a piece of rubbish. As far as Castle of Sand is concerned, what started out as an interesting detective story ended as a sweeping piece which left me walking out of the cinema thinking "That was incredible!!".

Japanese cinema rarely fails to impress me. I keep discovering more and more gems, usually from years gone by when I was too young to experience them at the time.

[–] LivingTwice 17 years ago

Hi sdsungod,

Believe it or not, I DID watch Castles of Sand. It's profound. The music and the emotions it stirred up are quite powerful. I really like the part close to the ending, in which 3 lines of plot are interwoven - the boy traveling with his father (the past), the detective explicating that story (present), and the concert (present, but replaying the memories of the past). I read a comment from another IMDB user that even though the part on the boy's travel with his father has no verbal dialogue, the music and the picture are enough to set deep feelings into the viewers, and we definitely can empathize with the characters in the movie. I am an avid fan of Tetsuro Tamba, who played the veteran detective. He passed away on 9/24/06. What a loss!

[–] sdsungod 16 years ago

Sweet, thanks for replying!

"Enough of that technical talk, Foo!"

[–] 16 years ago

[deleted]

[–] agera 13 years ago

It's on my Netflix queue. Can't wait to see it.

Edited to add: Just saw it and thought it was wonderful.

"The night was sultry."

[–] hafosdick 9 years ago

Thanks to TCM saw it for the first time
Expected a detective story and got an epic instead
Great movie !

[–] jennysayquaw 9 years ago

I, too, saw the movie recently thanks to TCM. Thought it was a bit boring at first but gradually became totally engrossed in it. The ending was incredible. Yes, great movie!

Who is Keyser Soze?

[–] mdonln 8 years ago

I recorded this movie to DVR back in June when it was on TCM. It was the oldest one on my very long list of movies to watch. For some reason, probably the length and the subtitles, I kept putting it off. Well, today I finally watched it and I was very impressed.

It was a beautifully made movie; the kind I like, flashbacks within flashbacks; and several interwoven tales that came together somehow in the end. I can certainly see why this movie would be so well regarded in Japan. There are strong traditional themes of family, honor, duty, community, etc. I don't think the same movie could be set in the U.S. It would require far too many changes.

I liked most of the movie but the very end in style only. What bothered me was how, after we followed the two detectives around for the whole first part of the movie; never really getting anywhere, they suddenly had all the answers and then some in the end. Through flashbacks we see what happened at crucial points but just how they got to those point is very vague.

Woman, man! That's the way it should be Tarzan. [Tarzan and his mate]