Director: Keisuke Kinoshita
Year Released: 1954
Rating: 1.5
Japan's answer to Goodbye, Mr. Chips is a woman's picture in every way (and in the worst of ways). A young teacher (Hideko Takamine) with 'Western ideas' (she's rides a bicycle and wears 'Western clothing') grows old with her 1st grade students, enduring many troubling years of war and famine. It's too bad that the film eschews details of history for virtually non-stop weeping (not to mention the endless playing of Auld Lang Syne) and dejection: it is, indeed, possible to have a film about 'tough times' and not become maudlin. It does make a very valid point about censorship in the classroom that is valid even today: the state sees the role of teachers is to "raise citizens to serve the country" and not question things outside the book (even today, speaking out against the government in a classroom is a risky endeavor - check the news articles and you'll find out about teachers fired for doing so). Faced with censorship, the teacher makes the most obvious decision: she quits teaching.
