Viewed July 5, 2019
Every-Night Dreams (1933) directed by Mikio Naruse
Synopsis
On the docks, Omitsu meets two men who try to pick her up. She tells them that they can see her at the bar where she works. She travels by boat to the place where she lives. The couple who have been taking care of her son, Fumio, are her landlords, but they are fond of her and don't mind, even though she had been away for almost two weeks. The landlady suggest that she should find a better job or a man to marry, but Omitsu is willing to work anywhere to support her son. She returns to work, where she tries to get an advance from the owners, but she is new and, even though she is a good employee, they won't help her. A captain, who clearly has ulterior motives, gives her money to help her out.
When she returns home, she finds that her husband, Mizuhara, has returned, having abandoned her several years earlier. She is angry at him, but he pleads with her to allow him just to see his son. She eventually relents, and he begins to form a relationship with his son, playing with him and forming a close bond. He is disturbed by Omitsu's unseemly work, even showing up one evening to confront the captain who is hitting on his wife. He vows to find work, so she can quit her job. He tries, but because he is a weakling, he is unable to find work, even as an apprentice at a factory.
He tells Omitsu that he is unable to find work and that they are better off without him. She convinces him to keep trying. Suddenly, news arrives that Fumio has been hit by a car. The doctor tell them that their son is not in danger, but his arm will require extensive care to recover. It seems that Omitsu may have no choice but to accept the captain's aid, but Mizuhara tells her he will borrow the money they need from friends. Instead, he goes out that night and commits a robbery. Fleeing, he is shot in the arm. He eludes the police and returns to Omitsu. She is shocked to find out what he has done and refuses the money. She pleads with Mizuhara to turn himself in, but he leaves.
Word arrives that Mizuhara has drowned himself. Omitu runs to the docks, where she is given a suicide note stating that they are better off without him. She returns home, angry at him for being such a weakling and a coward.
Commentary
This is a beautiful and precisely realized film. It uses a number of motifs to unify the film:
1) Images of feet: The contrast between Umitsu and her husband is emphasied through repeated shots of their shoes walking. That Mizuhara's soles are worn through is a potent image reflecting his destitute situation.
2) The dolly in: Naruse frequently uses a repeated camera movement dollying in from long shot to closeup, often of Umitsu in moment of decision or crisis. This movement is often repeated within a scene, sometime one right after the other.
3) The mirror: The difference between Umitsu's job as a mother and her job in the bar is emphasized through the mirror. In one sequence, he looks into the mirror at home, and the image dissolves to her in her fancy bar makeup. She then walks out of the room and straight into the bar.
4) The toy truck: Early in the film, Umitsu is playing with her son. There is a cut to a truck rolling upwards in the frame that turns out to be a toy. Later in the film, Fumio's accident is depicted in a series of quick cuts of the toy truck rolling along. The accident itself is not seen (though it is foreshadowed earlier when an actual truck comes close to hitting Fumio.)
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