Awaji, Keiko

The Bridges at Toko-Ri

A powerful study of courage in the face of irrational odds, The Bridges at Toko-Ri (based on James Michener's novel) is no less patriotic than many other war films, but it dispenses with gung-ho bluster to focus instead on the very real and tragic consequences of war. This is also one of the first films to openly criticize the morality of the Korean War while praising the honor and integrity of the men who fought it. Lt. Harry Brubaker (William Holden) is one of those men, with one difference: A lawyer with a loving wife (Grace Kelly) and two young daughters, he's been recalled to duty from the Navy Reserve, and reluctantly accepts his mission to fly with a bomber-jet squadron over one of the Communists' most heavily protected targets--the strategically vital bridges in the Korean canyon of Toko-Ri.

Brubaker has his own noble protection, from his fellow pilots (including Charles McGraw in a fine supporting role), his admiring admiral (Frederic March), and from the helicopter scouts (Mickey Rooney and Earl Holliman) who've saved his life on previous missions. But his ambivalence--and his fear that the Toko-Ri mission will be his last--is what gives the film its potent emotional impact. Holden is perfect in his role, and director Mark Robson steadfastly avoids any false sentiment or macho theatrics that would diminish the film's devastating climax. The Bridges at Toko-Ri is also a superlative showcase for Naval operations; the aerial sequences earned an Oscar for special effects, and complete Navy cooperation assures total authenticity in the "flat-top" aircraft carrier scenes. For these and other reasons, this will remain a timeless classic for anyone seeking to comprehend the emotional maelstrom of warfare. --Jeff Shannon

Stray Dog - Criterion Collection

A classic crime film steeped in the vivid environs of postwar Tokyo, Stray Dog is arguably Akira Kurosawa's finest film preceding the international success of Rashomon. A classic theme--the identification between criminal and crime fighter--is presented here in one of its earliest incarnations, as a promising young detective (Toshiro Mifune) struggles to retrieve his stolen pistol. The missing gun is used in a robbery and murder, and Mifune's superior (Ikiru's Takashi Shimura) is caught in the case's volatile crossfire. As the detective closes in on his lethal alter ego, his own moral compass spins out of control, into a psychological tempest that inspires Mifune to give one of his best early performances. Using real locations and a sense of sweltering heat rivaled only by Do the Right Thing, Kurosawa (who first wrote this film as an unpublished novel inspired by an actual incident) maintains an atmosphere of lurid urgency perfectly suited to this riveting film noir scenario. --Jeff Shannon

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs: Criterion Collection

Although its title is not instantly recognizable in the Great Movies canon, When a Woman Ascends the Stairs qualifies as a modest, graceful masterpiece. This 1959 film by Mikio Naruse has, like the director's reputation in general, slowly gained traction in the decades after Naruse's death in 1969... much like a woman quietly, discreetly walking up a staircase (the film's central and repeated image). The film considers the plight of a hostess in a goodtime-establishment in Tokyo's famous Ginza district; with her youth gone, it is now time to buy a bar of her own or latch onto a husband/benefactor. She is played by Hideko Takamine, a veteran of 17 Naruse films, whose melancholy, indomitable performance is the soul of the movie. The postwar production design is enhanced by the drinks-after-dark jazz music, which really roots in the film in an arena of almost desperate 1950s capitalism. The black-and-white widescreen photography, a jumble of slanting signs and beams and screens, fits Naruse's subtle method, which eschews big melodrama in favor of an incredibly nuanced appreciation for life's quiet disappointments. Naruse can offer no greater triumph than simply placing one's foot on a stair each night and summoning the strength to climb the staircase to work. In this film, that's enough. --Robert Horton

On the DVD
Bonus features are not extensive on Criterion's excellent disc, but they include an informative commentary track with Japanese-film guru Donald Richie and a lovely 13-minute interview with Tatsuya Nakadai, the mighty actor who was still a young up-and-comer when he played a supporting role in this film. A strong booklet includes a touching memorial essay about Naruse by leading lady Hideko Takamine and an appreciative essay by Philip Lopate, who keenly observes of the film, "[T]he preference for enlightened stoicism over glib redemption is pure Naruse." --Robert Horton

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs might be Japanese filmmaker Mikio Naruse's finest hour - a delicate devastating study of Keiko (the heartbreaking Takamine Hideko) a bar hostess in Tokyo's very modern postwar Ginza district who entertains businessmen after work. Sly resourceful but trapped Keiko comes to embody the conflicts and struggles of a woman trying to establish her independence in a male-dominated society. When a Woman Ascends the Stairs shows the largely unsung yet widely beloved master Naruse at his most socially exacting and profoundly emotional.System Requirements:Running Time: 111 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: NR UPC: 715515022521 Manufacturer No: CC1684DDVD

Inugami

The Bonomiya family's women are the protectors of the Inugami (evil spirits). If the Bonomiya women fail to keep watch over the spirits - or worse, if they decide to use them for revenge - then the Inugami will run wild in the village looking for blood. Middle-aged family member Miki leads a lonely life as a traditional papermaker in a remote mountain village. When Miki falls for the handsome new schoolteacher, Akira, her youthful appearance stirs rumors and family problems. But when unexpected tragedy strikes, suspicion and strange events upset the calm community. An eerie fog cloaks the village, but it can no longer hide the secrets of Miki's past . . .

Tragedy of Japan

Asia Exclusive release directed by Keisuke Kinoshita (Osaka Story) starring Keiko Awaji (Inugami, Stray Dog), Yoko Katsuragi (Scandal) and Yuko Mochizuki (Red Lion, Kaidan). Widowed during the Pacific War, she has provided for her children over the turbulent years though the few meager and often disreputable enterprises afforded her gender and social class, black market profiteering of household goods, accepting a benefactor's proposition, working as a prostitute in the pleasure quarters. Now aging and estranged from her adult children. However, she's devoted, idealized images of her children's welfare. NTSC/All Code (printed as region 3). Letter Box. Approx. 115 mins. Dolby Digital Stereo. B/W. Panorama Ent. 2003.

Yotsuya kaidan [Region 2]

The Bridges at Toko-Ri [Region 2]

A powerful study of courage in the face of irrational odds, The Bridges at Toko-Ri (based on James Michener's novel) is no less patriotic than many other war films, but it dispenses with gung-ho bluster to focus instead on the very real and tragic consequences of war. This is also one of the first films to openly criticize the morality of the Korean War while praising the honor and integrity of the men who fought it. Lt. Harry Brubaker (William Holden) is one of those men, with one difference: A lawyer with a loving wife (Grace Kelly) and two young daughters, he's been recalled to duty from the Navy Reserve, and reluctantly accepts his mission to fly with a bomber-jet squadron over one of the Communists' most heavily protected targets--the strategically vital bridges in the Korean canyon of Toko-Ri.

Brubaker has his own noble protection, from his fellow pilots (including Charles McGraw in a fine supporting role), his admiring admiral (Frederic March), and from the helicopter scouts (Mickey Rooney and Earl Holliman) who've saved his life on previous missions. But his ambivalence--and his fear that the Toko-Ri mission will be his last--is what gives the film its potent emotional impact. Holden is perfect in his role, and director Mark Robson steadfastly avoids any false sentiment or macho theatrics that would diminish the film's devastating climax. The Bridges at Toko-Ri is also a superlative showcase for Naval operations; the aerial sequences earned an Oscar for special effects, and complete Navy cooperation assures total authenticity in the "flat-top" aircraft carrier scenes. For these and other reasons, this will remain a timeless classic for anyone seeking to comprehend the emotional maelstrom of warfare. --Jeff Shannon