Graduating as Ozu’s assistant with his debut feature-length at Shochiku in 1960, Masahiro Shinoda (b. 1931) saw the dawn of the Japanese New Wave and rose to prominence alongside the likes of Nagisa Oshima, Yasuzo Masumura, Koreyoshi Kurahara, and Shohei Imamura among a whole host of others. Though he would spend most of his career reinterpreting and reimagining whole genres including the yakuza film and jidaigeki, the films across his four-decade-long career would predominantly be united by a re-examination of Japanese historical, societal, and national identity, complete with a focus on alienation, mythologies, and religious and moral turmoil. Frequently coupled with composer Toru Takemitsu, cinematographers Masao Kosugi and Tatsuo Suzuki, and actress Shima Iwashita (whom he would go on to marry), Shinoda’s films grapple with man’s perturbing darkness and its effect on the personal and national conscience. Like most of his Nūberu Bāgu compatriots, Shinoda frequently negated cinematic and narrative traditions,...
- 2/22/2023
- by JC Cansdale-Cook
- AsianMoviePulse
Very rarely has the world of Yakuza been portrayed in such cinematic glory, as in the then 33-year-old Masahiro Shinoda’s break out film, which was based on an original story by Shintaro Ishihara, leading figure of the Sun Tribe generation and scenarist of “Crazed Fruit”. Surprisingly, at least when looked in retrospective, the film was not successful from the beginning, since the script writer of the film, Ataru Baba, did not like Shinoda’s approach at all, while the extensive gambling scenes “Pale Flower” featured caused trouble for Shochiku with the censorship board, forcing them to shelve the movie for a number of months. Now, however, and thanks to another excellent release by Criterion, we can enjoy one of Shinoda’s greatest works (if not the best).
“Pale Flower” is screening at Udine Far East Film Festival
Muraki, a hardboiled yakuza, has just been released from prison after serving...
“Pale Flower” is screening at Udine Far East Film Festival
Muraki, a hardboiled yakuza, has just been released from prison after serving...
- 4/22/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Criterion is releasing two masterpieces of Asian cinema this March, Ann Hui’s “Boat People” and Masahiro Shinoda’s “Pale Flower” and on the occasion, we are offering 2 of our readers in the UK the chance to win one of the two titles. All you have to do is comment to this post with your name and city of residence. The draw will take place on March 11.
Masahiro Shinoda directs a title that thrives on one of the most impressive noir atmospheres ever to be presented on film. To achieve this level, Shinoda implements all kinds of cinematic aspects, particularly during the gambling scenes, which emerge as the most impressive in the movie. The Ozu-esque visual approach (Shinoda worked as his assistant after all) is enriched with a number of panoramic shots and an approach towards the introductions of each character through the view of the rest of the people on each scene,...
Masahiro Shinoda directs a title that thrives on one of the most impressive noir atmospheres ever to be presented on film. To achieve this level, Shinoda implements all kinds of cinematic aspects, particularly during the gambling scenes, which emerge as the most impressive in the movie. The Ozu-esque visual approach (Shinoda worked as his assistant after all) is enriched with a number of panoramic shots and an approach towards the introductions of each character through the view of the rest of the people on each scene,...
- 3/1/2022
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Very rarely has the world of Yakuza been portrayed in such cinematic glory, as in the then 33-year-old Masahiro Shinoda’s break out film, which was based on an original story by Shintaro Ishihara, leading figure of the Sun Tribe generation and scenarist of “Crazed Fruit”. Surprisingly, at least when looked in retrospective, the film was not successful from the beginning, since the script writer of the film, Ataru Baba, did not like Shinoda’s approach at all, while the extensive gambling scenes “Pale Flower” featured caused trouble for Shochiku with the censorship board, forcing them to shelve the movie for a number of months. Now, however, and thanks to another excellent release by Criterion, we can enjoy one of Shinoda’s greatest works (if not the best).
Muraki, a hardboiled yakuza, has just been released from prison after serving a three years sentence for murdering a man from an opposing gang.
Muraki, a hardboiled yakuza, has just been released from prison after serving a three years sentence for murdering a man from an opposing gang.
- 3/24/2021
- by Panos Kotzathanasis
- AsianMoviePulse
Director: Masahiro Shinoda Writer: Masahiro Shinoda and Ataru Baba (screenplay), Shintaro Ishihara (original story) Cinematographer: Masao Kosugi Stars: Ryo Ikebe, Mariko Kaga, Takashi Rujiki, Naoki Sugiura Studio/Running Time: Criterion, 96 min. Like its namesake to the West, the Japanese New Wave movement of the late ‘50s and and ‘60s was always a lot less monolithic than many make it out to be. Politics, themes and styles were never consistent from one movie to the next, let alone one director to the next, such that the main unifying aspect of its films is throwing out the old with a burst...
- 6/1/2011
- Pastemagazine.com
The Film:
The second best non-Godzilla export cinematically from Japan has been the samuari genre, but the yakuza genre, a proud, lively ode to gangsters and their tales has been equally as popular. Aided by a crafty sound design, and a dark, moody, often romantic cinematography, 1964′s Pale Flower, is a soft-spoken look at the underworld with the juxtaposition of innocent love and danger. But it’s director Masahiro Shinoda and composer Toru Takemitsu fusion of image and sound that makes Pale Flower far more memorable than the listlessness of the plot.
A gangster named Murak is finally released from jail after a small sentence, and is immediately brought back into the underworld, where he meets a beautiful young lady named Saeko, who decided to escape from the lulls of everyday life by participating in the underworld’s illegal gambling clubs.Here, one yearns to leave but the other is seduced into the crime world,...
The second best non-Godzilla export cinematically from Japan has been the samuari genre, but the yakuza genre, a proud, lively ode to gangsters and their tales has been equally as popular. Aided by a crafty sound design, and a dark, moody, often romantic cinematography, 1964′s Pale Flower, is a soft-spoken look at the underworld with the juxtaposition of innocent love and danger. But it’s director Masahiro Shinoda and composer Toru Takemitsu fusion of image and sound that makes Pale Flower far more memorable than the listlessness of the plot.
A gangster named Murak is finally released from jail after a small sentence, and is immediately brought back into the underworld, where he meets a beautiful young lady named Saeko, who decided to escape from the lulls of everyday life by participating in the underworld’s illegal gambling clubs.Here, one yearns to leave but the other is seduced into the crime world,...
- 6/1/2011
- by Jon Peters
- Killer Films
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