Spring Dreams

Because his films have been so rarely seen outside his home country, Keisuke Kinoshita has never been as well known internationally as the most acclaimed directors of Japanese cinema, notably Kurosawa, Ozu and Mizoguchi. Even within his own country, where he was very popular with audiences for decades, particularly in the 1950s, critical opinion generally sidelined him as a sentimental crowd-pleaser. It was only in 1991 - three years after his final film and seven years before his death - that he was honored by the Japanese government for his contributions to national culture. In 1999, the year after he died, the country's film critics named a work made during his most successful period, Twenty-Four Eyes/Nijushi no hitomi (1954), one of the 10 greatest Japanese films of all time. Although he was a producer on Kurosawa's Dodes'ka-den (1970), Kinoshita shares more with Ozu, thematically if not stylistically. Both have an affinity for domestic dramas and comedies about the lives of everyday people. Unlike Ozu, he worked in a wide range of styles and was not averse to experimenting with unconventional techniques, such as skewed camera angles, insertion of newsreel footage and the use of elements from Kabuki theater. "Audiences soon forget most controversial films, but they always remember the ones which made them cry," Kinoshita once said. Many of his films bear out this predilection for what were often written off as melodramatic "weepies" designed for a largely female audience. In Spring Dreams (1960), however, Kinoshita shows his equal skills at comedy. The film calls to mind Renoir's Boudou sauvé des eaux/Boudou Saved from Drowning (1932) and Paul Mazursky's remake, Down and Out in Beverly Hills (1986). A wealthy family is thrown into chaos when they take in a poor elderly potato vendor who has collapsed in their home. In addition to some screwball comedy worthy of Preston Sturges, albeit paced more slowly, the story gave the director ample opportunity for social satire. Aficionados of Japanese film will recognize the potato vendor as Chishû Ryû (1906-1993), one of the busiest and most popular actors of the period. He is best known for his work with Yasujiro Ozu (Tokyo Story, 1953; Late Spring, 1949; Record of a Tenement Gentleman, 1947: and about 50 others). He was also in 12 Kinoshita pictures, displaying in them the diversity of characters he played in his 65 year career. Like Mizoguchi, Kinoshita was known for creating notable roles for and stories about women. He often worked with the same actresses over and over, such as Chieko Higashiyama ("Grandma" in this movie), who he directed in 15 films, Yoshiko Kuga ("Zazuko Yasugi"; nine pictures), and Mariko Okada ("Chizuko Okudaira"; five). The crew of this movie is a real family affair. The director's brother, Chuji Kinoshita, composed the score, as he did for dozens of Kinoshita's movies. Cinematographer Hiroshi Kusuda, a frequent collaborator, was the director's brother-in-law. Kinoshita has finally come into his own as an important figure in global cinema. The Criterion Channel on the FilmStruck streaming service currently carries 43 of his pictures. In 2011, the Film Society of Lincoln Center paid tribute to him with a screening of 15 of his works. The Japanese studio Shochiku, where he worked throughout his long career, produced a film about him as part of a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of his birth. Dawn of a Filmmaker: The Keisuke Kinoshita Story/Hajimari no Michi (2013) focused on the director during war time, when he had to move his mother to safety on a handcart and despaired over what he thought was the end of his film career. This TCM screening, then, of Spring Dreams further redresses the long omission of this idealistic, humanist, highly proficient director from world movie screens. Director: Keisuke Kinoshita Producer: Tatsuo Hosoya Screenplay: Keisuke Kinoshita Cinematography: Hiroshi Kusuda Editing: Yoshi Sugihara Art Direction: Chiyoo Umeda Music: Chuji Kinoshita Cast: Eitaro Ozawa (Shobei Okudaira), Chieko Higashiyama (Grandma), Mariko Okada (Chizuko Okudaira), Chishu Ryu (Shinchiro Atsumi), Yatsuko Tan'ami (Tamiko Okudaira) By Rob Nixon