Viewed on Streaming. Cinematography = four (4) stars; restoration = four (4) stars; subtitles = four (4) stars; sound = two (2) stars. Director Keisuke Kinoshita mounts a low-budgeted potboiler that looks at Japan's radical changes in cultural traditions following WWII. Extensive (and gratuitous) expository text precedes the opening scenes (never a good sign) combined with dubbed stock shots of political campaigning and violence that could cause the viewer to initially think (1) Japan is in the midst of a violent revolution (which, of course, it isn't), and (2) the film is a pseudo documentary (which is not the case either). Aside from padding, Kinoshita's intent seems to be to try to set the stage for a B-level soap opera about the impacts of changing times. This is an under-financed endeavor not that far removed from a glorified home movie. It is less than successful in many ways, but primarily it lacks creativity in its scenario (packed with repetition), acting (leading actress Youko Mochizuki just sobs her way through the film), and directing (prodding as well as energy deficient). The film could use some serious re-editing to cut back on overly long scenes and remove those that are repetitious (of which there are many). Most exteriors were shot without sound and left that way. The movie seems to be photographed in various shades of gray (not in black and white) which could be the result of intentional filtering, inferior film stock, aging, lack of restoration, or all of these factors. There are wear lines through out, and the sound track contains continuous static (or popping) with an occasional thumping sound (like somebody hit or dropped the microphone). Each actress and actor seems to wear the same costume through out the film (did they wear their own clothes?). Cinematography used an antiquated (even for Japan at the time) narrow-screen format. But there are some spectacular dolly (tracking) shots. Subtitles need an informed grammatical scrub to enable the viewer to read them and watch the film at the same time! (Currently it's next to impossible to do both in a single viewing). Not recommended. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD.
Review of A Japanese Tragedy
