Black River
Kuroi kawa
Japan
1957
110 Min
Black and White
1.37:1
Japanese
Synopsis
Perhaps Masaki Kobayashi’s most sordid film, Black River examines the rampant corruption on and around U.S. military bases in Japan following World War II. Kobayashi spirals out from the story of a love triangle that develops between a good-natured student, his innocent girlfriend, and a coldhearted petty criminal (Tatsuya Nakadai, in his first major role) to reveal a nation slowly succumbing to lawlessness and violence. —The Criterion Collection
Director
Masaki Kobayashi
Masaki Kobayashi (小林 正樹, Kobayashi Masaaki, February 14, 1916–October 4, 1996) was a Japanese director.
Among his films is Kwaidan (1965), a collection of four ghost stories drawn from the book by Lafcadio Hearn, each of which has a surprise ending.
Kobayashi also directed The Human Condition, a trilogy on the effects of World War II on a Japanese pacifist and socialist. The total length of the films is over 9 hours. Other notable films include Harakiri (1962) and Samurai Rebellion (1967). Harakiri won him an award at the 1963 Cannes Film Festival, solidifying his place in the history of cinema.
He was also a candidate for directing the Japanese sequences for Tora! Tora! Tora! (1970) but instead Kinji Fukasaku and Toshio Masuda were chosen.
Kobayashi, himself a pacifist, was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army during World War II, but refused to fight and refused promotion to a rank higher than private. —Wikipedia
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Displaying 4 of 5 wall posts.
Charles Ziegler-Hartmann
2Dec11
Tatsuya Nakadai's Joe stands to rival that of Dan Dureya in "Scarlet Street" or even Ray Milland in "Dial M For Murder."
Trolley Freak
12May11
In Kobayashi's excellent drama, Tatsuya Nakadai stands out in a great ensemble cast with a terrific performance as a vile and violent Yakuza who violates the radiant Ineko Arima (so impressive in Ozu's Tokyo Twilight from the same year) as he plots to remove the residents of a ramshackle establishment situated outside a US Army base. Also standing out - Isuzu Yamada's teeth which have to be seen to be disbelieved....
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Andhika Eka Buana
29Aug10
Consider this film the first in a barrage of progressive borefest by the legendary Masaki Kobayshi
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On "Black River"
By Patapon on September 21, 2010
Very few figures in cinema during WWII were as delicate and, at the same time, profoundly expressive as Masaki Kobayashi. As a director, the portrayal and apparent exposé of his country’s atrocities… read review
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Director's Cup - Film Analysis: Black River (1957) dir. Masaki Kobayashi
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DVD
Buy the DVD from The Criterion Collection.
