The Japan Foundation, Kuala Lumpur and Akademi Seni Budaya & Warisan Kebangsaan (ASWARA) will proudly present a special screening “Japanese Classic Comedy Films ? from 30’s to 60’s ?”.
This event includes 5 excellent Japanese classic films which were produced between 1930’s and 1950’s, including the works by master film directors such as OZU Yasujiro and KON Ichikawa. It is such a rare opportunity to get to see OZU’s silent film “I was born, but…” produced in 1932, and ICHIKAWA’s black comedy “Crammed Streetcar? which was referred as “caricature film” when it was released in 1957. KAWASHIMA Yuzo’s “Not Long After Leaving Shinagawa” is another masterpiece starring major actors of the 50?s.
Date: 24 & 25 March 2012
Venue: ASWARA (Akademi Seni Budaya Dan Warisan Kebangsaan), 464 Jalan Tun Ismail, 50480 Kuala Lumpur
Admission: Free
24th March (Sat)
10:00 Launching of the event by Prof. Dr. Hatta Azad Khan, Rector, ASWARA
10:30 Paper Presentation “The First Malaysian Comedy” by Othman Hafsham
11:30 “I was born, but…”
14:00 “Not Long After Leaving Shinagawa”
17:00 “The Hotelman’s Holiday”
20:00 “Crammed Streetcar”
25th March (Sun)
11:30 “Crammed Streetcar”
14:00 “Hamamatsu Box Lunch”
17:00 “Not Long After Leaving Shinagawa”
I was born, but… / 生れてはみたけれど
(OZU Yasujiro / B&W / 1932 / 91min)
Two young brothers become the leaders of a gang of kids in their neighborhood. Their father is an office clerk who tries to be promoted by playing up his boss. When the boys visit the boss? house with their father, they discover that their dad has been making a fool of himself to please his boss, who?s son is an outwitted member of the boys? gang.
Not Long After Leaving Shinagawa / 幕末太陽傳
(KAWASHIMA Yuzo / B&W / 1957 / 111 min)
SAHEIJI and his fellows are found to be penniless after having their floric and fun at the Sagamiya, a brothel in Shinagawa. The brothel owner DENBEI, angered at them, takes SAHEIJI as hostage for payment of their debts and confines him in the shabbiest room in the house. However, instead of letting himself closed in, he voluntarily makes himself available as a manager.
Crammed Streetcar / 満員電車
(ICHIKAWA Kon / B&W / 1957/ 99min)
A young university graduate is given a job at a brewery, where he is taught to do nothing but never look idle. When he learns that his mother has gone insane, and that he has to send money for medical research into her affliction, he is caught in a series of mishaps that turn his hair white, kill off his friend, and leave him ?at the bottom of the heap? in the booming economy.
The Hotelman’ s Holiday / 駅前旅館
(TOYODA Shiro / Color / 1958 / 109min)
IKUNO JIHEI has been working in the Hotel “KUKIMOTO,” in front of UENO Station in Tokyo for 3 decades. In recent years, however, he begins to believe that his out-dated thinking has lost touch with modern hotel management techniques. UENO area has been changing, and JIHEI has been locked into his traditional thinking
Hamamatsu Box Lunch / 駅前弁当
(HISAMATSU Seiji / Color/ 1961 / 89min)
Goshotei is a box lunch shop specializing in Hamamatsu’s signature eel lunch boxes, and is barely kept in solvency by Keiko, whose husband passed away three years ago. She gets help from Magosaku, who runs a local striptease theater, and Kintaro, who runs a textile mill. Keiko’s late husband’s younger brother, Jiro, adamantly refuses to participate in the family business. He also serves as leader for a local band.
