I was happy to see that Criterion brought out Eclispe Series 41: Kinoshita And World War II (Flowering Port 1943, Living Magoroku 1943, Jubilation Street 1944, Army 1944, Morning in the Osone Family 1946) since there are so few Keisuke Kinoshita films available remastered or with subtitles. In fact the only other film I have seen is his anti-war masterpiece Twenty-Four Eyes (1954). He worked for 10 years as an assistant to Yasujiro Shimizu, an early master of film, before getting his first chance to direct for Shochiku. He is known in Japan and among critics as one of the great postwar humanists along with Akira Kurosawa, Masaki Kobayashi, and Kon Ichikawa, but seems to have the least familiarity abroad. In fact he formed a production company following Kurosawa's failure with Tora!Tora!Tora! with him, Kobayashi, and Ichikawa. Kinoshita seems to have dabble in a variety of genres like Ichikawa and is hard to pin down. Kurosawa was a fan of his comedies (Carmen Comes Home 1951), but it is safe to say that Kinshita also had success with other genres such as dramas like The Ballad of Narayama (1958), which Shohei Imamura would find great success with his version of the film.
The first film Kinoshita directed was Flowering Port (1943) which was a comedy/propaganda film that promoted selfless values attempted to stir up national pride. It is the story of two con men who travel to a remote Kyushu town to swindle the population with a shipbuilding ruse, but they are charmed by the location people, and national pride so they abort their plans. It's somewhat distressing to see Chisu Ryu, in a supporting role as a town leader. cheering the victory at Pearl Harbor after seeing him in so many Ozu films as the kindly father. Already, his humanist leanings can be seen in his first film. Second in the series is The Living Magoroku (1943), which can be seen as a war propaganda film in its didactic message of doing one's best (int his case cultivating food) for the country while at war and overlook ancient customs (the sanctity of the ancient battlefield). Other ways of seeing this message can be: pragmatism vs. superstition or collectivism vs. individuality. The surprising five minutes cold opening depicts the 1573 clan war on the field. there are several other subplots within the film and again Ken Uehara has a starring role as the local militia commander who helps get everyone in the right frame of mind by promoting that everyone do their par to for the nation. The next film, Jubilation Street (1944) is another family drama about wartime evacuees with messages about uniting and staying strong for the nation. However, these sentiments aren't expressed until the conclusion, throughout we have the distinct problems of several different families face as they prepare for evacuation in lieu of American bombing. The action takes place in a small neighborhood, which has inspired Kinoshita to use a variety of camera techniques: close ups, tracking shots, overhead, as well as other innovative visual techniques. Once again Ken Uehara is featured as one of the main characters. Army (1944) is yet another propaganda film from Kinoshita, but epic in scope-it is a multinational that follows Japanese military forays from the Sino-Japanese War to the Russo-Japanese War and into WWII. Again, there are urges for ordinary to suppress their individual desires put everything behind their striving for the nation to win at war. The ultra nationalistic Tomohiko, is the most unlikeable role I've seen Ozu regular Chisu Ryu in, also stars Kinuyo Tanaka (know for her work with Mizoguchi) as the worried mother gives a subversive performance as she sees her son off to war fervently praying with a worried face as the other onlookers cheer the soldiers on. According to Michael Koresky's noes, Kinoshita was reprimand (his next project was summarily cancelled) and he wasn't allowed to direct another film for the rest of the war. The last film in the series, Morning For The Osone Family (1946) is the first Kinoshita directed after the surrender and gives him the chance to promote liberal values more along his own. Here he has a chance to dish out blame for the war and the sacrifices that were made. It ends on a hopeful note, with the surviving family members coming together and pledging got build a new democratic country. Kinoshita would revisit this theme in his greatest success Twenty-Four Eyes (1954).
I think Kinoshita has early on mastered the technical aspect of film making,however, I think these films would be only of interest to academics, people interested in Japan, and complete-ists. My understanding is that Kurosawa preferred his comedies and it seems he was known for his eclecticism. If I had the choice I would have started here for an overview of Kinoshita, however, I am grateful that Criterion has made these available since it does gives a good idea of how many people in Japan thought during the war. The series is know for their bare-bones approach, but the essays by Koresky were illuminating.
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