1960s List Discussion and Suggestions (Lists Project Vol. 3)

[YnEoS]

Speaking of Japan in the 60s, does anyone have any favorites for 60s Naruse? At the moment, Yearning will probably be getting a vote from me. But I haven't seen much else from his 60s output.

[Michael Kerpan]

Top 60s Naruse (in addition to Yearning) -- When a Woman Ascends the Stairs; As a Wife, As a Woman; Wandereer's Notebook; Scattered Clouds. Autumn Approaches (a rare Naruse film with children as protagonists) is quite interesting (but Naruse wasn't as good at handling kids as Ozu or Shimizu). Daughter, Wife, Mother (or Daughters, Wives, Mothers -- take your pick) has lots to like, but is a bit diffuse.

[swo17]

MK actually already prepared this good overview of Naruse's work in the '60s.

[YnEoS]

Ah, many apologies. Now that I'm starting to get more time to put into this list I should go back and re-read the thread, so I don't ask any more redundant questions. And thanks for the recommendations!

I also forgot that A Wanderer's Notebook is eligible for this list, and it will easily make my top 50.

[Tommaso]

I agree with both of thirtyframesasecond's and knives' posts. If the decade wasn't the richest since the 20s and 30s, I think I would put absolutely every Pasolini film on my list, but unfortunately the competition is more than strong, so it seems only three Pasolinis will make it for me, with "Medea" placing the highest.

About Japan: I still hope I'll find the time to say something in detail about the films of Yoshishige (Kiju) Yoshida, but in the meantime I would definitely recommend that everyone who can get an English subbed copy (or French, for that matter) of "A story written in water" and "The Affair" should watch these films. Imagine something by Antonioni or Bergman seen through the eyes of Oshima, and you have a first and probably misleading idea...

[Cold Bishop]

Though collectively Japan easily wins the race. Even just limiting to Oshima, Imamura, and Suzuki you have more great films than nearly any other national cinema this decade.

The only other contender I can see is Czech/Slovakia, who, the more I collect titles that I've seen or need to see, is surprisingly robust for such a relatively small country with such a brief window of "thaw".

The only question is how many of these "deep cuts" are readily available with subtitles.

[domino harvey]

Lately I just don't understand this board and this isn't helping

[swo17]

Do you mean because no one's mentioned France? Obviously the Nouvelle Vague was a significant movement, and will no doubt be well represented on the final list, but a lot of those films are old news, so to speak.

[domino harvey]

I always mean France

[Cold Bishop]

France has some great films, but the Nouvelle Vague really doesn't roll all that deep. The big names are, for the most part, the deservedly big names. The biggest argument for the sake of this project is probably not who is making the list, but which of their films.

On the other hand, every time I try to research the Japanese films of the period, I come up with two or three new auteurs potentially worthy of study. And I already felt I had a pretty good grasp on the Japanese Sixties... you can't help but get giddy like a child researching Eastern European cinema and you start to discover all these promising leads beyond the Wajda's, Jancso's and Forman's, or even the Skolimowski's, Makk's and Vlacil's.

The problem is whether I'll have to time to make a dent in my hemorrhaging list of films-to-watch.

[TMDaines]

There's so many great films from Italy in the first half of the decade too, but unfortunately only the same few films have been released over and over again with English subtitles. Luckily the majority of the good stuff has fan subtitles though. 1960 alone for Italy was an incredible year.

[swo17]

I always mean France

Well, my shortlist at present has more French films on it than anything else (though it's entirely likely that you would think I've picked the wrong ones!)

[knives]

I always mean France

Well, my shortlist at present has more French films on it than anything else (though it's entirely likely that you would think I've picked the wrong ones!)

I'd have to double check, but damn near every Demy film is in consideration for me. Going back to the deep cuts thing it seems really only Rivette is in a poor situation on home video and even then he's at least a pretty big name.

[zedz]

About Japan: I still hope I'll find the time to say something in detail about the films of Yoshishige (Kiju) Yoshida, but in the meantime I would definitely recommend that everyone who can get an English subbed copy (or French, for that matter) of "A story written in water" and "The Affair" should watch these films. Imagine something by Antonioni or Bergman seen through the eyes of Oshima, and you have a first and probably misleading idea...

That's a good starting point for considering Yoshida, though his visual sense is more radically stylized than any of those directors. So much so, in fact, that there's no really useful comparison to be made - you just have to see the films for yourself.

As for France vs Japan, the Nouvelle Vague generation is a remarkable burst by any measure, but it's not enough to compete with Japan, which not only had its own Nuberu Bagu that was just as vital (and, I'd argue, a lot more adventurous) but also had the previous generation of post-war filmmakers operating at the height of their powers (Kurosawa, Kobayashi, Ichikawa); some key pre-war masters still putting out masterpieces (Ozu, Naruse - much as I love Renoir, I don't think any of his sixties output measures up to that level); ridiculously vibrant genre cinema, both mainstream and exploitation; plus world-class experimental filmmaking (Terayama, Matsumoto). France had traces of all of these things, but just not on the same scale as Japan. I can't think of any worthwhile French filmmaker of the sixties who was working at the pace of Suzuki (29 features that decade) or Masumura (34) - and let's not even contemplate the bunny-rabbit-in-heat productivity of Wakamatsu. It's a rather singular historical moment, and it almost immediately collapsed at the start of the seventies, when practically all of the filmmakers that made the sixties in Japan so amazing - even a lion like Kurosawa - suddenly lost their economic capacity to make films.

[Michael Kerpan]

I have a new contender for my list -- Susumu Hani's "Te o tsunagu kora" / Children Hand in Hand (1963). Seen tonight (with electronic subbing) -- with the utterly delightful 84 year-old director on hand to answer questions afterwards. There were a few adults in supporting roles -- but children (all amateurs) held center stage in this. This was fictional -- but done as if it were a documentary. It doesn't sound like there is much hope for any sort of DVD release (even unsubbed).

(Oh -- zedz -- how did you manage to forget Imamura?) ;~}

[OnOnt]

My list will probably be dominated by Nuberu Bagu. One I don't see mentioned much is "Silence Has No Wings" by a director I find to be incredibly underexposed in the West, Kazuo Kuroki. The beautiful Mariko Kaga stars in a Denis Lavant/Alec Guinness role that sees her play a multitude of characters throughout. The story is of a caterpillar's journey from the South of Japan to the North, stopping in historical locations which result in a range of vignettes from one centering on an A-bomb survivor, to a full blown Nikkatsu Action parody. On viewing the film Pierre Braunberger actually invited Kuroki to work in France, however Kuroki declined and continued into the 70s making some of my favourite ATG productions.

[swo17]

I can't think of any worthwhile French filmmaker of the sixties who was working at the pace of Suzuki (29 features that decade) or Masumura (34) - and let's not even contemplate the bunny-rabbit-in-heat productivity of Wakamatsu.

These are precisely the kinds of directors that could most use director guides (if anyone is adventurous enough to prepare some!) to help the uninitiated know how best to navigate some of these more daunting filmographies.

[knives]

I'd help, but with only ten from both together I'd be the wrong choice. Obviously though the Crit Suzuki's are a good place to start. I particularly love Youth of the Beast though naturally Branded to Kill is the popular choice (oh the irony). Red Angel is the must see for Masumura in my opinion being arguably the best movie about war in any definition ever made. It doesn't hit as hard as Come and See but in a sense that only helps to play with the audience's sympathies in a more complex way. Afraid to Die is also a treat if just for seeing Mishima as a gangster.

[zedz]

I can't think of any worthwhile French filmmaker of the sixties who was working at the pace of Suzuki (29 features that decade) or Masumura (34) - and let's not even contemplate the bunny-rabbit-in-heat productivity of Wakamatsu.

These are precisely the kinds of directors that could most use director guides (if anyone is adventurous enough to prepare some!) to help the uninitiated know how best to navigate some of these more daunting filmographies.

Yeah, I don't know if anybody here will have seen all 48 (!) of Wakamatsu's 60s films. And I have no idea how watchable the early ones are. And I'm a long way off seeing all of Suzuki's, but 12 are available on DVD.

(And don't worry, Michael, I was lumping Imamura in with the New Wavers. Certainly not forgotten, and I'm sure Profound Desire of the Gods and A Man Vanishes will end upon my list.)

[Michael Kerpan]

MK actually already prepared this good overview of Naruse's work in the '60s.

I had forgetten that I did this overview. ;-}

[Cold Bishop]

From my own list, the 13 Suzuki films that are really worth seeing (and mostly readily available):

Take Aim at the Police Van (1960)
Everything Goes Wrong (1960)
Kanto Wanderer (1963)
Youth of the Beast (1963)
Detective Bureau 2-3: Go to Hell, Bastards! (1963)
The Flower and the Angry Waves (1964)
Gate of Flesh (1964)
Tattooed Life (1965)
Story of a Prostitute (1965)
Carmen from Kiwachi (1966)
Fighting Elegy (1966)
Tokyo Drifter (1966)
Branded to Kill (1967)

The filmography also makes something of a gradient scale, with the first two being typical - if completely superior - Nikkatsu genre stuff, but showing the knack that ultimately distinguished him from his peers at the studio; 1963 seems to be the pivotal year where his reputation became such that Nikkatsu could no longer treat him like another studio hack; and the latter two being perhaps his most delirious, flamboyant and surreal films (making him Nikkatsu's scapegoat in the process)

Obviously the focal point will be his two "trilogies" - the Yakuza trilogy of Youth of the Beast, Tokyo Drifter and Branded to Kill, which is its own mini-gradient, the first being more of a genre film with art-film splashes (my recommended entry point), the latter being a full on art-film with genre-film conventions (my recommended must-see masterpiece).

The other trilogy (and more recognized as one) is his Flesh Trilogy, concerning prostitution: Gate of Flesh, Story of a Prostitute and Carmen from Kawachi. The first is probably his most Fuller-esque, mixing a pulpy, lurid story with palpable social outrage and flamboyant visual flair. The middle entry is often pegged as his most "mature" film, playing it relatively straight (for the era), and showing he can make a damn good "normal" film if he so pleases. The latter is my favorite, and of course, the only one not available in any English-subbed manner, hitting the sweet spot between the approach of the two other films, and mixing in a dollop of formal experimentation and surrealism that would explode in his last few films.

The only two titles that may be absent from my list: his 1961 Trucker Western The Man With the Hollow-Tip Bullets, which to my understanding used to have something of a cult following, but has since fallen off the face of the earth. Also, while it use to be assumed that his post-'67 TV work was basically work-for-hire, everything I've read and seen about Good Evening Dear Husband: A Duel makes it look like vintage Suzuki.

[thirtyframesasecond]

There will be a Masumura in my list, though it probably will be Blind Beast.

[FerdinandGriffon]

I can't think of any worthwhile French filmmaker of the sixties who was working at the pace of Suzuki (29 features that decade) or Masumura (34) - and let's not even contemplate the bunny-rabbit-in-heat productivity of Wakamatsu.

These are precisely the kinds of directors that could most use director guides (if anyone is adventurous enough to prepare some!) to help the uninitiated know how best to navigate some of these more daunting filmographies.

Well, most of these early, independently produced and distributed Wakamatsus are now lost films. So a proper director guide is an impossibility. Of the earliest available features, I would recommend The Embryo Hunts in Secret as a great (if unpleasant) starting point.
Although Matsumoto was a studio man, I'd be very surprised if all of his sixties output was accessible.

[swo17]

A director guide doesn't necessarily have to be comprehensive, especially if such a thing is impossible. It can merely focus on what's most recommended out of all that's currently available, like Cold Bishop's recent post on Suzuki.

[zedz]

Although Matsumoto was a studio man, I'd be very surprised if all of his sixties output was accessible.

I think you mean Masumura here?

Masumura:


Matsumoto: