A Hero of Tokyo

『東京の英雄』

Dir. Hiroshi Shimizu. 1935, 63 mins. 35mm print courtesy of the National Film Archive of Japan. In Japanese with English subtitles. With Mitsugu Fujii, Mitsuko Yoshikawa, Yukichi Iwata, Michiko Kuwano, Koji Mitsui, Tokkan-kozō. In just over an hour of tautly paced, plot-filled action—not unlike a William Wellman pre-code for Warner Bros.—Shimizu unspools the tragic generational tale of Kenichi, a boy whose backsliding father abandons him, his stepmother Haruko (Yoshikawa), and two step-siblings when the schemer’s mining concern is exposed as a fraud, forcing Haruko to open a brothel to support the family, a decision with far-reaching consequences for all involved. Often described as one of his darkest films, Shimizu’s final silent represents a compact summation of the social realist themes, oppressive urban settings, and complex storylines that characterize the first half of his thirties output, where the family unit and its parental and filial bonds are twisted and hollowed out by mercenary self-interest and exploitation. 

Tickets: $15 / $11 senior and students / $9 youth (ages 3–17) / discounted for MoMI members ($7–$11). There is a $1.50 transaction fee per ticket for all online purchases. The cost of admission may be applied toward a same-day purchase of a membership. 

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