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Naruse - Episode 8 - Floating Clouds + A Wanderer's Notebook

  On today’s episode we discuss Floating Clouds (1955) and A Wanderer’s Notebook (1962) - also known as Her Lonely Lane. Floating Clouds features another doomed romance, this time set against the ruins of the post-World War II Japanese society. The film is one of Naruse’s most widely seen films, and for good reason. It’s a great film with two towering performances from Hideko Takamine and Masayuki Mori. We then go on to discuss A Wanderer’s Notebook, an adaptation of a stage play based on the autobiography of Fumiko Hayashi, a poet and novelist who wrote the novel that Floating Clouds is based on. Naruse adapted four other Hayashi works prior to Floating Clouds. A Wanderer’s Notebook traces Hayashi’s life from her beginnings trying desperately to find employment in a cutthroat and often chauvinistic environment, to her time in interacting with literary figures of her time and getting her work published.  Discussion of Floating Clouds opens the podcast and discussion of A Wande...
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Naruse - Episode 7 - Summer Clouds + Scattered Clouds

On today’s episode we discuss Summer Clouds (1958) and Scattered Clouds (1967). Summer Clouds centers on a family of farmers dealing with the complications wrought by both legal and social changes. Scattered Clouds is Naruse’s final film and it chronicles a doomed romance of two well-intentioned people who share an unspeakable tragedy. We are presenting this discussion to you in conjunction with the screenings of these films that are set to take place in New York at Metrograph on June 28 and 29. With regard to home viewing, Scattered Clouds is available on Criterion Channel.  Discussion of Summer Clouds starts at (2:06) and discussion of Scattered Clouds starts at (42:37) Our latest episodes on Naruse’s films are being released in conjunction with the retrospective in New York that Japan Society and Metrograph are hosting – “Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us.” The retrospective is also set to travel to Berkeley, where BAMPFA will be hosting the series from July 3 to December 21, 2...
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Naruse - Episode 6 - Flowing + Late Chrysanthemums

On today’s episode we discuss Flowing (1956) and Late Chrysanthemums (1954). Both films depict the lives of current and former Geishas as their way of life becomes threatened by cultural and economic forces. This episode was initially recorded in February 2023 and we are presenting it to you in light of the screenings that are set to take place in New York and Berkeley. Both films are available on Criterion Channel. Our latest episodes on Naruse’s films are being released in conjunction with the retrospective in New York that Japan Society and Metrograph are hosting – “Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us.”  The retrospective is also set to travel to Berkeley, where BAMPFA will be hosting the series from July 3 to December 21, 2025. We include the links to the retrospective schedules below: - New York’s Mikio Naruse retrospective - Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us              - Metrograph Schedule - https://metrograp...
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Naruse - Episode 5 - Lightning

  On today’s episode we discuss one of Mikio Naruse’s greatest films, Lightning (1952). Naruse paints a despairing portrait of a dysfunctional family dynamic whose sourness does not preclude the possibility of transcendent experience. This episode was initially recorded in October 2022 and we are presenting it to you in light of its recent screening in New York. Lightning is not one of the Naruse films on Criterion Channel, but it is available via the Internet Archive. You can find a link to the full film below.  Our latest episodes on Naruse’s films are being released in conjunction with the retrospective in New York that Japan Society and Metrograph are hosting – “Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us.”  The retrospective is also set to travel to Berkeley. BAMPFA will be hosting from July 3 to December 21, 2025. We include the links to the retrospective schedules below: - Link to full film - Lightning (Japanese Title: Inazuma) - https://archive.org/details/inazuma_202104 -...
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Naruse - Episode 4 - Three Sisters With Maiden Hearts and Wife! Be Like a Rose!

  On today’s episode, we discuss two Mikio Naruse films from 1935 – Three Sisters with Maiden Hearts and Wife! Be Like a Rose! We discuss the visual style of Naruse’s early sound era and how he developed his approach to narrative structure.  Our latest episodes on Naruse’s films are in conjunction with the retrospective in New York that Japan Society and Metrograph are hosting – “Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us.”  The retrospective is also set to travel to Berkeley. BAMPFA will be hosting from July 3 to December 21, 2025. We include the links to the retrospective schedules below: - New York’s Mikio Naruse retrospective - Mikio Naruse: The World Betrays Us - Japan Society - https://japansociety.org/film/mikio-naruse-the-world-betrays-us/ - Metrograph - https://metrograph.com/category/mikio-naruse/ - Berkeley’s Mikio Naruse retrospective at BAMPFA - https://bampfa.org/program/mikio-naruse-auteur-salaryman - A Mikio Naruse Companion by Dan Sallitt ...
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Naruse – Episode 3 – Silents

This episode continues our inaugural season, discussing the films of Mikio Naruse. The topics of conversation are 1931’s Flunky, Work Hard! ; 1933's Every-Night Dreams ; and 1933's Apart From You ; which can all be found on the Criterion Channel. In Plain Sight is hosted by Aret Frost and Tony Huang, and produced by Ryan Swen. This episode was co-edited by CZ Jin. A Mikio Naruse Companion by Dan Sallitt - https://mikionaruse.wordpress.com/ Mikio Naruse: A Master of Japanese Cinema by Audie Bock - https://www.worldcat.org/title/17227763 Japanese Film Directors by Audie Bock - https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-film-directors-Audie-Bock/dp/0870113046 Hosted by Aret Frost (@armoscientist) and Tony Huang (@Tghuang) Produced by Ryan Swen (@swen_ryan) Co-edited by CZ Jin Twitter account: @IPS_Pod Email: ipsfilmpodcast@gmail.com
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Naruse – Episode 2 – Yearning

This episode continues our inaugural season, discussing the films of Mikio Naruse. The topic of conversation is 1964’s Yearning , which can be found on the Criterion Channel. In Plain Sight is hosted by Aret Frost and Tony Huang, and produced by Ryan Swen. This episode was co-edited by CZ Jin. A Mikio Naruse Companion by Dan Sallitt - https://mikionaruse.wordpress.com/ Mikio Naruse: A Master of Japanese Cinema by Audie Bock - https://www.worldcat.org/title/17227763 Japanese Film Directors by Audie Bock - https://www.amazon.com/Japanese-film-directors-Audie-Bock/dp/0870113046 Hosted by Aret Frost (@armoscientist) and Tony Huang (@Tghuang) Produced by Ryan Swen (@swen_ryan) Co-edited by CZ Jin Twitter account: @IPS_Pod Email: ipsfilmpodcast@gmail.com
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