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<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua"><STRONG>One of the alltime greatest train
sequences in the history of movies is the ransom-money drop from the Shinkansen
in Kurosawa's <EM>Tengoku to Jigoku </EM>("High &
Low" ).</STRONG></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua">For a station scene, I love the tense scene near
the end of Kurosawa's <EM>Nora Inu </EM>("Stray Dog"), in which detective Mifune
Toshiro suspiciously eyes all the people in the waiting room of a little
suburban station, desperately trying to identify which one is the
killer.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua">There are so many trains in Japanese movies one
doesn't know where to begin. Others have already mentioned many train
scenes.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua">One rarely seen film that is full of trains
is <EM>Tooi ippon no michi ("The Far Road") -- </EM>actress Hidari
Sachiko's 1977 debut film as a director in a narrative about a stationmaster's
family.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua">Speaking of Hidari, I recall train scenes in her
1955 film for Tasaka Tomotaka <EM>Jochukko ("The Maid's Kid")</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua">And then there's Ichikawa's 1957 <EM>Mannin
Densha ("A Full-Up Train") </EM>and the unforgettable train scene at the
beginning of the various different film versions of Kawabata Yasunari's novel
<EM>Yukiguni ("Snow Country"), </EM>and the long journey in Yamada Yoji's
<EM>Kazoku ("Family").</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua">Just about every Japanese film with the word
<EM>"furusato" (hometown) </EM>in the title has a train journey in it and a
nostalgic journey home.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face="Book Antiqua"></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua">Some other memorable Japanese train stations
appear in Imamura Shohei's 1955 <EM>Nishi-Ginza Eki-mae ("In Front of
Nishiginza Station") </EM>and Toyoda Shiro's 1955 <EM>Mugi-bue ("Grass Whistle")
</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua">Not exactly a station, but the final scenes of
Shinoda Masahiro's beautiful 1977 film <EM>Hanare-goze Orin ("Banished Orin" or
"Melody in Gray") </EM>show railroad track being laid in a steep mountain
pass (and I also recall several trains-in-the landscape scenes in that
film as Orin travels through Tsuruga and Ura-Nippon.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua">There's also a powerful train scene at the end of
Kobayashi's great (but rarely seen) 1968 film <EM>Nihon no seishun ("Youth
of Japan" </EM>or <EM>"Diary of a Tired Man").</EM></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face="Book Antiqua"></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua">One odd sequence involving train stations is the
party scene in Kurosawa's 1993 film <EM>Maada-dayo ("Not Yet"), </EM>at which a
drunken partygoer takes it upon himself to recite the names of every train
station on the main train line from the north of Hokkaido to the very south of
Kagoshima.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua">And don't forget Kurosawa's script <EM>Runaway
Train, </EM>which was finally made into a movie of the same name in 1985,
directed by Andrei Konchalovsky and starring Jon Voight.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><EM><FONT face="Book Antiqua"></FONT></EM> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua">It's hard to know where to stop listing train
scenes in Japanese films. There are many, many, many
more.....!</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua"></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Book Antiqua">Peter Grilli</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>----- Original Message ----- </FONT>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>From: "Brian Ruh" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:brianruh@yahoo.com"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>brianruh@yahoo.com</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial size=2>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>To: "KineJapan" <</FONT><A
href="mailto:kinejapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>kinejapan@lists.acs.ohio-state.edu</FONT></A><FONT face=Arial
size=2>></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Sent: Thursday, September 11, 2008 9:27
PM</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2>Subject: Japanese train films</FONT></DIV></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face=Arial><BR><FONT size=2></FONT></FONT></DIV><FONT face=Arial
size=2>> Since reading this article [1] in the Japan Times, I've been
thinking about Japanese trains. (I love things like subway cars and trains. I
think it stems from growing up in a place where there wasn't anything like
that.) Can anyone recommend any good Japanese films that prominently feature
trains, stations, etc.? (When I try a Google search on the subject, I'm
inundated with results for Densha Otoko.)<BR>> <BR>> Any time period or
genre would be great. (I particularly like the train scenes in Shinkai Makoto's
"5 Centimeters Per Second" even though they're animated.) Thanks in
advance!<BR>> <BR>> [1] </FONT><A
href="http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20080909jk.html"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/fl20080909jk.html</FONT></A><BR><FONT
face=Arial size=2>> <BR>> Best,<BR>> Brian<BR>> <BR>> Brian's
Essential Reading: <BR>> </FONT><A
href="http://www.oshiibook.com"><FONT face=Arial
size=2>http://www.oshiibook.com</FONT></A><BR><FONT face=Arial size=2>>
<BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>> <BR>>
<BR>> -- <BR>> No virus found in this incoming message.<BR>> Checked by
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9/11/2008 7:03 AM<BR>> <BR>> </FONT></BODY></HTML>