Travels with Hiroshi Shimizu

Once again, the Criterion Collection's no-frills Eclipse series has opened the vaults of the Janus Films library to bring nearly-forgotten films into the DVD spotlight. This set goes a long way towards restoring Western awareness of Hiroshi Shimizu, a popular and respected director from the Golden Age of Japanese studios in the 1930s who fell into relative obscurity. Unlike his friend and occasional collaborator Yasujiro Ozu, Shimizu preferred taking his camera beyond the confines of the studio to film in villages and mountainous regions, where the director (employing his stylistic trademark of long, graceful tracking shots) found inspiration for his compassionate stories about outsiders on the fringes of society. Tragedy, transition, romance: these are the dominant themes in the four films compiled in this set. In the silent melodrama Japanese Girls at the Harbor (1933), two best friends are torn apart by their love for the same man. In Mr. Thank You (1936), the title character is a mountain village bus driver whose sympathy for a young woman—en route to Tokyo and a forced life of prostitution—ultimately leads to romance. The Masseurs and a Woman (1938) takes place at a remote resort where a pair of blind masseurs, a mysterious city woman, a lonely man, and his rebellious nephew, interact in stories of isolated people seeking connection. The fourth and arguably finest film, Ornamental Hairpin (1941), is a wartime romance about a soldier forced to recuperate at a rural spa after cutting his foot on a hairpin belonging to the spa's owner, a lovely woman with whom he quickly falls in love. For bringing these noteworthy films back from oblivion, the Criterion folks deserve appreciation and applause. Highly recommended. (J. Shannon)