Twenty Four Eyes is a story of platonic love and childhood innocence and the maintaining of this love particularly when the innocence is lost to the reality of the world. This love exists between the teacher and her students and also between the students and the teacher. By modern standards it is melodramatic and sentimental in parts and I am sure the traditional Scottish background music played on a violin orchestra would sound as strange to Japanese ears as traditional Japanese music would sound to ours. Most who watch this film will be touched by a time we all long for but know in our hearts we will never see return. Its attraction is the brief opening of a window into this world. There is sadness. Some of the boys are lost in the war and through the circumstances of life many of the girls do not attain the life that they are capable of achieving. Even the teacher's personal life is torn apart by the events of the war. She is even subjected to Japan's own version of McCarthyism but instead of succumbing to anger and sadness she returns to the classroom after a break of many years in order to teach the next generation. Those who are left, gather to show the love and respect that this particular teacher has touched in their hearts. Whilst watching this story unfold I kept asking myself "What happened to Japanese innocence and after offerings such as Severn Samurai and Tenko, did it ever exist? As a story of hope against all the odds it is up there with the Shawshank Redemption and Steven Soderburgh's King of the Hill. This was a very worthwhile film and I am sure it did its part in restoring the Japanese identity after the end of the war.
Review of Twenty-Four Eyes
