Joriku dai-ippo (1932)

movie

(29)

Country: Japan
Genres: Drama
Release: 1932-04-14
Director: Yasujirō Shimazu
Writers: Komatsu Kitamura
Language: Japanese
Stars: Yaeko Mizutani , Jôji Oka , Shin’yō Nara , Ureo Egawa , Reikichi Kawamura , Chōko Iida , Mitsuko Yoshikawa , Ranko Sawa , Shintarô Takiguchi , Sôtarô Okada
Runtime: 88 min
Awards: N/A
AKA: Joriku dai-ippo , 上陸第一歩 (Japan) , First Steps Ashore
Plot: For decades, film buffs have been told that until Kurosawa's RASHOMON, Japanese cinema was a forbidden kingdom, bearing little relationship to the cinema of the West. Of course, that was nonsense. Early Ozu looks looks like Leo McCarey with Japanese actors and this one starts out exactly like von Sternberg's DOCKS OF NEW YORK. It doesn't end that way. However, it is clear that Shimazu, who within a few years would be telling elegant little stories disguised as rural travelogues, was very much influenced by American movies.It's also pretty good on its own terms, even though the lead actors seem a bit uncomfortable with dialogue on a movie sound stage. While sound techniques were settled by this time, Japanese studios would continue to make silent movies for another four years. Still, if you get a chance to see this transitional film, you should find it enjoyable, if not as a work of art, then as an historical artifact.
IMDB:tt0272615