Final Take: The Golden Age of Movies

Final Take is Japanese director Yoji Yamada’s love letter to 1930s moviemaking. A Shochiku production set at the company’s own Kamata Studios during the transition from silent film to talkies, it traces one woman’s journey from extra to leading player. It’s made with obvious affection and movie buffs will find it fascinating, but it plays as if Yamada was eager to make a film about the era but couldn’t settle on a story or tone for his picture.

Final Take captures the period quite well, especially in the movies-within-the-movie recreations which, rare for such things, are very well done. Even a newly-shot slapstick comedy sequence (embarrassingly adapted from Kenjiro’s originally serious scenario) is actually quite funny. The film also does a marvelous job capturing the bustle of Tokyo’s Asakusa entertainment district, and includes several scenes of benshi (silent film narrators) performing before enchanted audiences.

Final Take also does a good job putting studio life into historical context. The invasion of China by the militarist government and the ruthless crackdown on Japanese Communists plays an important part in the story, which also includes a visit to the studio by Empress Akiko (Kaori Momoi). STUART GALBRAITH IV