The Neighbor’s Wife and Mine and more

Thu. May 7, 2015 at 4:00pm EDT
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The Neighbor’s Wife and Mine

1931. Japan. Directed by Heinosuke Gosho. With Atsushi Watanabe, Kinuyo Tanaka, Satoko Date. "Made at Shochiku, this was the first feature-length Japanese talkie to win unequivocal critical praise and broad commercial success. The film’s innovative exploitation of the new medium, including imaginative use of offscreen sound, helped to earn it the top spot in that year’s Kinema Junpo critics’ poll. Significantly, the plot actually revolves around sound: an author struggling with writer’s block is further distracted by a series of noises, including the jazz music emanating from a nearby house, which he determines to silence…. This contribution to the then popular nansensu-eiga (“nonsense film”) genre, a form of comedy oriented primarily towards slapstick humour, displays the wit and lightness of touch which characterised director Heinosuke Gosho's 1930s work at Shochiku, while Arthur Nolletti, Jr. praises the director’s efforts to imbue the comedy with 'gravity and realism,' and its 'incisive' observation of a traditional Japanese marriage." In Japanese; English subtitles. 56 min.

Shining Love

1931. Japan. Directed by Hiroshi Shimizu, Yoshio Nishio. With Shoichi Nodera, Teruyo Hayami, Shoichi Kofujita. "Created by Shochiku’s cultural film department on behalf of the Ministry of Education, this film tells an ironic anecdote juxtaposing the fate of a cooper’s son with that of the son of a middle-class salaried worker, and championing the virtues of honest poverty and diligence. An educational film preaching a fable-like message, it is however filled with humorous scenes that offset the film’s didacticism. Original director Yoshio Nishio fell ill and was replaced halfway through the shooting by the admired filmmaker Hiroshi Shimizu; though finished in May 1931, the film was shelved and never given a general release. Shot as a silent film, this version of the film features musical accompaniment, sound effects, and a spoken commentary track by a benshi narrator, thus bearing witness to the variety of forms taken by sound film during this transitional period." In Japanese; English subtitles. 38 min.

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Venue Details
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The Museum of Modern Art Theater 2 11 West 53 Street
New York, NY 10019