For a movie released in 1934, it is very odd that this is a silent film. While I love Japanese cinema and have seen many, many movies from this country, this is about the oldest one I have seen and couldn't understand it being silent. Perhaps they were just VERY far behind in switching to "talkies"--although even in Europe, Sound movies were pretty much the norm by about 1931 or so.
Apart from this odd feature of the film, I found it to be almost a carbon copy of the remake of this film that the director made 25 years later. In fact, they were so similar, I really didn't find it all that necessary to have seen both. This, combined with the better technical merits, make the remake a better viewing experience for the average viewer--though film historians and cinephiles will probably be interested in both versions. Fortunately, the Criterion release includes BOTH versions! What a deal! The story is a melancholy tale of an itinerant actor who owns a troop of small-time actors. After many years, he returns to a small town where his illegitimate son lives with his birth mother. The boy, now nearly a full-grown man, thinks that the actor is his uncle--a ruse that has been perpetuated all his life. While I could discuss this central relationship further and discuss the twists and turns the plot takes, it would be best you see it for yourself. It is a rewarding and sad tale that involves regrets, responsibility and "what might have been"--just the sort of movie that makes you think and doesn't give easy answers. An excellent film well worth seeing.
Apart from this odd feature of the film, I found it to be almost a carbon copy of the remake of this film that the director made 25 years later. In fact, they were so similar, I really didn't find it all that necessary to have seen both. This, combined with the better technical merits, make the remake a better viewing experience for the average viewer--though film historians and cinephiles will probably be interested in both versions. Fortunately, the Criterion release includes BOTH versions! What a deal! The story is a melancholy tale of an itinerant actor who owns a troop of small-time actors. After many years, he returns to a small town where his illegitimate son lives with his birth mother. The boy, now nearly a full-grown man, thinks that the actor is his uncle--a ruse that has been perpetuated all his life. While I could discuss this central relationship further and discuss the twists and turns the plot takes, it would be best you see it for yourself. It is a rewarding and sad tale that involves regrets, responsibility and "what might have been"--just the sort of movie that makes you think and doesn't give easy answers. An excellent film well worth seeing.