24 eyes

I just watched an old japanese film - 24 eyes 24隻眼睛 by Keisuke Kinoshita on DVD last night... it is more than 2 hrs long but really absorbing and engaging...

What is good about this film is that it succeeds in capturing the tragedy of life without intensifying or turning it into some cheap melodrama.

There is no judgement or direct criticism but just presentation... life is bad but there is nothing you can change, the only thing you can do is to let it be... so cruel yet realistic.

Another nice thing is certainly the female lead Hideko Takamine 高峰秀子, one of my all time favorite japanese actresses.. a really charming and charismatic face, her smile is just so irresistible... anyone who is familiar with old japanese cinema should probably recognize her name or her face, as she is a regular in both Kinoshita and Mikio Naruse's films...

in this film, she is playing a role that spans 20 years... from 25 to 45 something, absolutely brilliant performance.. so real and so powerful!

I heard there is a remake of this film, and im trying to get a copy.. but then i am sure it is very hard to surpass this original...