Ani imôto

"Ani imôto" (Older Brother, Younger Sister, 1936) is an adaptation of the story by Muro Saisei, that was later filmed by Naruse Mikio (1953) and Imai Tadashi (1976). Though the director of this first version, Kimura Sotoji, is by no means as famous a filmmaker as Naruse or even Imai, I would call this the definitive take. Kimura was not one of Japan's more prolific filmmakers, as he made a relatively modest 26 films between 1930 and 1962. 1930's was his busy decade, and this early sound film is a positive introduction to him. Kimura had previously worked as an assistant director for the famous proletariat-film "Nani ga kanojo o sô saseta ka" (What Made Her Do It?, 1930) and whereas "Ani imôto" is not as scandalous or as overtly dramatic, it does show some similarities and features cinematography heavily inspired or reminiscent of the Soviet films of the era.

I had previously seen the Naruse film and thought it was good, but not great. You could clearly see that Naruse was working with old material, as the characters felt thin for post-war individuals and the plotline felt more dramatic than it had any need to be. I prefer the Kimura version because it feels more fresh with its material. Another winning ingredient is that this is more of a class depiction, full of social realism about the conditions of Japan's poorest workers. It does still have the same story about the sister getting pregnant and the brother hating her for it, but it is mixed in with other elements which makes the film feel more fulfilling than the Naruse version, which is one third longer. I did not recognize much of the actors in the Kimura film, and possibly that is a win for Naruse, but all in all I was surprised about the quality of the 1936 film, considering that it is by such an unknown director.

So I would recommend this to fans of 1930's Japanese films and for people who want to see Soviet style depiction of workers. I think the way this film has been put together technically resonated with me more, than the narrative material it has going for it.

A rich young man gets one of the daughters of a poor family pregnant; everyone reacts in a confused manner, except for the father, who continues to work hard.

It is the behavior and relationships between the girl, her lover and her brother that appear to form the basis of the story. Each of them states in turn how they feel and why they are behaving in a particular manner. However, their actions belie their words.

I can't tell if this seeming nonsense is a failure of the film maker, a peculiarity of Japanese story telling or myself. Sorry for that.

The bucolic camera-work by Mikiya Tachibana is very beautiful.