The blossoming of Etsuko Kamiya (Kamiya Etsuko No Seishun)

Cast: tomoyo harada,masatoshi nagase, shunsuke matsuoka, mamami honjo,kaoru kobayashi
Director: kazuo kuroki
Screenplay: kazuo kuroki, hiediki yamada
Cinematography: kouichi kawakami
Editor: yoshiyuki okuhara
Language: japanese
Running Time: 113min.

Kazuo Kuroke's 'The blossoming of Etsuko Kamiya' starring Tomoyo Harada and Masatoshi Nagase is a WWII film that is low in budget but rich in thought and emotions.

Look at the following conversation that happens when Tomoya, his wife Nagese and his sister Etsuko sit down to have their supper.

Etsuko: "thats a great supper you prepared"

Nagese: "Mrs. Yamana says that eating red bean rice and cabbage will make sure that bombs stay out of our way"

Etsuko: "why?"

Nagese: "cabbage rhymes with damage, so eat cabbage to cancel out damage."

Etsuko: "do you believe her? why red bean rice?"

Nagese: "Mrs. Yamana didn't tell me why, but I will eat anything to save myself from airrides"

Later, when her husband gets angry at her for saying that she doesn't care who wins the war, she replies with tears in her eyes, "I just want to eat my reb bean rice and my cabbage for what they are, not to save myself from the airrides. I just want to spend some good time with my family" The husband keeps to himself.

"The blossoming" offers a wonderful snapshot into the lives of the Japanese, fighting a war that they all know they are losing. Still, men offered themselves to the emperor to protect their land. "there are not many men around", Nagese comments once. Nagese is a pragmatic and witty woman, her husband is an Engineer helping the army making bombs for the war. Etsuko is his sister and she likes her brother's junior arachi but arachi himself has brought a proposal for Etsuko, a friend of his named Nabayo. Tomayo is in favour of it as he knows that Arachi is a kamakazi fighter and would die any minute. Nabayo is a safer bet as he is a mechanic and wouldn't have to fight the war.

When Tobayo and his wife are discussing Etsuko's marriage, a visitor comes with a message from his factory. The atmosphere grows tense. When the visitor tells Tobayo that he is ordered to work in some other factory, Tobayo sighs in relief saying" I thought they are drafting me". Nobody likes war. It is a theme that has interested late Kazuo Karuki san who is the director of this beautiful film all his life. Love and Peace are apparently what he wanted to talk about in his Film, his producer told us at the beginning of the Film.

When Arachi visits his friend's home for the last time(he is part of the force ordered to take Okanowa back from the Americans), they all know that he is not coming back. The silence, the suppression of emotions, the good sense to downplay the gravity of the situation, they broke my heart. Karuki san had music only at the beginning and the ending of the Film. He didn't need to do that either. When the emotions are so pure on the screen, you dont need any support. This is a film made by a true master. Karuki san left this world in the April of this year, he was in his 70s. His films will live on though. Man is mortal but his art is not. This film will live in my memory for a long time. Going by the tone of my commentary, do not mistake this Film to be a serious one, it is rich in humor as well and has some very witty conversations. It is worth every cent that you spend on it.

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