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Humanity And Paper Balloons video
Ninjō kami fūsen (AKA Humanity and Paper Balloons AKA 人情紙風船) (1937) (English Subtitles, Hardcoded)
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AKA Ballad of the Paper Balloons
Directed by Sadao Yamanaka (山中貞雄)
Written by Shintarō Mimura (三村伸太郎)
Cinematography by Akira Mimura (三村明)
Music by Tadashi Ota (太田忠)
Starring:
Chōjūrō Kawarasaki (河原崎長十郎), Kan'emon Nakamura (中村翫右衛門), Tsuruzō Nakamura (中村鶴蔵), Chōemon Bandō (坂東調右衛門), Sukezō Sukedakaya (助高屋助蔵), Emitaro Ichikawa (市川笑太郎), Noboru Kiritachi (霧立のぼる), Shizue Yamagishi (山岸しづ江), Rakusaburō Ichikawa (市川楽三郎), Kikunosuke Ichikawa (市川菊之助), Chōbee Yamazaki (山崎長兵衛), Daisuke Katō (加東大介)
Synopsis:
The film is set in feudal Japan during the 18th century, an era known as the Edo period. It depicts the struggles and schemes of Matajuro Unno (海野又十郎), a rōnin, or masterless samurai, and his neighbor Shinza (新三), a hairdresser.
Synopsis/Review by Masters of Cinema:
Widely regarded as Yamanaka's greatest achievement, Humanity and Paper Balloons was, tragically, his last film, and only one of three that survive today. In a short, six year, 22 film career Yamanaka quickly earned a reputation for exceptionally fluid editing and a beautiful visual form likened to the paintings of Japanese masters. The story develops in the Tokugawa era of the 18th century, in a poor district of Tokyo, where impoverished samurai live from hand to mouth among equally poor people of lower social classes. One such ronin (masterless samurai) Matajuro, spends his day looking for work whilst his wife, Otaki, makes cheap paper balloons at home. One rainy night, Shinza, a barber, and equally penniless, impulsively abducts the daughter of a wealthy merchant, hiding her at Matajuro's home. Their desperate plan has grave consequences when a ransom attempt backfires. The film, which starts and ends with suicide, is deeply pessimistic, insisting that life in feudal Japan was hellish and short for those at the foot of the social ladder. Humanity and Paper Balloons premiered the day Yamanaka was drafted to the frontline at the start of WWII. He died in Manchuria, 1938, aged just 29. Boasting naturalistic performances and fine ensemble playing (from the left-wing theatre troupe Zenshin-za).
Directed by Sadao Yamanaka (山中貞雄)
Written by Shintarō Mimura (三村伸太郎)
Cinematography by Akira Mimura (三村明)
Music by Tadashi Ota (太田忠)
Starring:
Chōjūrō Kawarasaki (河原崎長十郎), Kan'emon Nakamura (中村翫右衛門), Tsuruzō Nakamura (中村鶴蔵), Chōemon Bandō (坂東調右衛門), Sukezō Sukedakaya (助高屋助蔵), Emitaro Ichikawa (市川笑太郎), Noboru Kiritachi (霧立のぼる), Shizue Yamagishi (山岸しづ江), Rakusaburō Ichikawa (市川楽三郎), Kikunosuke Ichikawa (市川菊之助), Chōbee Yamazaki (山崎長兵衛), Daisuke Katō (加東大介)
Synopsis:
The film is set in feudal Japan during the 18th century, an era known as the Edo period. It depicts the struggles and schemes of Matajuro Unno (海野又十郎), a rōnin, or masterless samurai, and his neighbor Shinza (新三), a hairdresser.
Synopsis/Review by Masters of Cinema:
Widely regarded as Yamanaka's greatest achievement, Humanity and Paper Balloons was, tragically, his last film, and only one of three that survive today. In a short, six year, 22 film career Yamanaka quickly earned a reputation for exceptionally fluid editing and a beautiful visual form likened to the paintings of Japanese masters. The story develops in the Tokugawa era of the 18th century, in a poor district of Tokyo, where impoverished samurai live from hand to mouth among equally poor people of lower social classes. One such ronin (masterless samurai) Matajuro, spends his day looking for work whilst his wife, Otaki, makes cheap paper balloons at home. One rainy night, Shinza, a barber, and equally penniless, impulsively abducts the daughter of a wealthy merchant, hiding her at Matajuro's home. Their desperate plan has grave consequences when a ransom attempt backfires. The film, which starts and ends with suicide, is deeply pessimistic, insisting that life in feudal Japan was hellish and short for those at the foot of the social ladder. Humanity and Paper Balloons premiered the day Yamanaka was drafted to the frontline at the start of WWII. He died in Manchuria, 1938, aged just 29. Boasting naturalistic performances and fine ensemble playing (from the left-wing theatre troupe Zenshin-za).