Product Description
Released onto DVD for the first time. Three films plus one extra DVD, a silent film by Hiroshi Shimizu in a box with English subtitles, also available individually as below. Mr Thank You (1936) Masseurs and the Woman (1938) Ornamental Hairpin (1941) and the silent film, Japanese Girls at the Harbour (Minato no Nihon Musume) (1933). Region Code 2, NTSC, 219 minutes plus 78 minutes (silent film). Hiroshi Shimizu (1903-1966) worked at Shochiku studios and is highly regarded both in Japan and by some critics overseas, but somehow lived in the shadow of another great director and his friend, Yasujiro Ozu. The characters in his films are usally outcasts of society, from whose perspective Japanese society is viewed with a sceptical point of view, during what was a troubled time in Japan's history. Many films convey the conflict between personal happiness and fitting into the strict sense of order, the hyprocises of the time, and the contrast between life in the countryside of old Japan and the developing urban lifestyle, with its corruptive ways compared to the more simple and traditional ways of life. The silent film, Japanese Girls at the Harbour 'Minato no Nihon Musume' (1933) features a cast including Michiko Oikawa, Yukiko Inoue and Ranko Sawa. The story is mainly set in Yokohama and is a Western/Japanese encounter involving two schoolgirls Sunako and Dora who attend a Christian school and a young man called Henry. After Henry and Sunako become involved, Henry joins an underworld gang and takes up with a Eurasian girl called Yoko Sheridan. Sunako shoots Yoko, ends up in prison and on release becomes a prostitute working in various harbour cities. An artist attaches himself to her while Henry eventually marries Dora. Sunako eventually leaves for a new life abroad with the bohemian artist who throws his paintings overbaord from the departing ship. The film is noted for its Japanese poetic imagery, beautiful location shots and creating fresh techniques in silent cinema.
