Sunday, June 17, 2012

Every-Night Dreams (1933)

Shochiku
Directed by Mikio Naruse
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Criterion Eclipse)

Naruse seems to be making variations of the same film over and over in his silent career. This time, a young mother working in a bar waiting on drunk sailors tries to adapt to the return of her long-lost husband. At first she is reluctant and skeptical, but she accepts him and tries to make it work. He's a bit of a loser and seemingly has no job skills. Hopes are raised when a neighbor promises to find work for him, but in the end they are dashed. He turns to robbery to raise money for his son's hospital rehabilitation after getting hit by a car, leading to more misery and tragedy. Naruse is still in love with the truck-in, close-up maneuver, there might have been ten in a row in some of the more dramatic scenes.

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