Every-Night Dreams
| Every-Night Dreams | |
|---|---|
| Directed by | Mikio Naruse |
| Written by | Mikio Naruse (story) Tadao Ikeda (screenplay) |
| Starring | Sumiko Kurishima Tatsuo Saitō Mitsuko Yoshikawa |
| Cinematography | Suketaro Inokai |
| Music by | Masao Koga |
| Distributed by | Shochiku Company |
Release date |
|
Running time | 64 minutes |
| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
Every-Night Dreams (夜ごとの夢, Yogoto no yume) is a 1933 Japanese drama film directed by Mikio Naruse.
The film follows a single mother who works as a Ginza bar hostess and her struggles to provide for her son in Depression-era Japan.
Plot
Omitsu (Sumiko Kurishima) works as a hostess in a Ginza bar entertaining docked sailors. She is single and supporting her son Fumio (Teruko Kojima). She shares a room with a couple (Jun Arai and Mitsuko Yoshikawa) who babysit for her.
Her estranged husband Mizuhara (Tatsuo Saitō) shows up one day to see his son. He convinces her to reconcile. Mizuhara declares his intention to take care of his family, but is of a sickly constitution and unable to find work.
Fumio, out playing one day, gets hit by a car. He is injured and needs hospital care beyond the family's means. Mizuhara commits a robbery, but when he returns home Omitsu tries to convince him to turn himself in. He hands her the money and leaves.
The morning after, Omitsu learns that Mizuhara has drowned himself.
Omitsu is disgusted by his cowardice, rips Mizuhara's suicide note apart with her teeth and screams, "Weakling!" She then pleads with Fumio to grow up to be a strong man.
Cast
- Sumiko Kurishima as Omitsu
- Tatsuo Saitō as Mizuhara, Omitsu's husband
- Teruko Kojima as Fumio, Omitsu's son
- Jun Arai as Neighbor
- Mitsuko Yoshikawa as Neighbor's wife
- Takeshi Sakamoto as Captain
- Kenji Oyama as Sailor
- Shigeru Ogura as Sailor
- Choko Iida as Proprietress
Reception
Keith Uhlich of Slant Magazine gave the film four out of four stars, saying: "Like many Naruse films of the '30s, Every Night Dreams is somewhat stylistically unhinged, yet the constant rapid push-ins and frenetic cutting (particularly during a striking montage of running legs) feel more to the psychological point than in comparatively showier works like Not Blood Relations and Street without End."[1]
Reviewer Roger Macy stated that Every Night Dreams "is arguably one of the most famous Japanese films of the silent era and has had considerable attention in the literature." He said "[t]he story develops with superbly measured pace, with scenes of great comedy and others of much pathos, depicting the world of the great depression for those at the bottom of the heap."[2]
Release
Home video
In 2011, Every-Night Dreams was released on a five-film DVD set by The Criterion Collection's Eclipse label. Titled "Silent Naruse", it collected five silent films made between 1931 and 1934.[3]
References
- ^ Keith Uhlich (12 March 2006). "Every Night Dreams". Slant Magazine. Retrieved 30 October 2012.
- ^ Roger Macy (1 June 2010). "Every Night Dreams". Midnight Eye. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
- ^ Dave Kehr (18 March 2011). "A Master's Baby Steps". The New York Times. Retrieved 5 November 2012.
External links
- Every-Night Dreams at IMDb
- Every-Night Dreams at Japan Movie Database
- Every-Night Dreams at AllMovie
- Every Night Dreams review by Craig Keller at Cinemasparagus (10 September 2011)