Okayo’s Preparedness

Kinuyo Tanaka is a student and lieutenant at Kuniko Miyake’s dance studio. He job calls for her to demonstrate dances, play the koto while instructing the pupils, take care of Miss Miyake’s child — her husband is at war — and go to the market for toothbrushes. She has fallen in love with Ken Uehara, and is devastated to learn he has made a society marriage.Yasujirô Shimazu’s film is not simply a vehicle for Miss Tanaka, who shows the good-mannered reticence considered maidenly, weeps charmingly and dances exquisitely. It is a harbinger movie, showing bits and pieces that would become familiar in world cinema in the coming decades. There are long takes of conversation shot in middle long shots from the level of the tatami mat, with a teapot in the foreground, like Ozu’s signature shot in the 1950s and 1960s; there is good humor; there is Miss Tanaka playing the koto while a student, who has just informed her of Uehara’s engagement, dances under her instruction; and there is a long tragic fantasy dance sequence near the end, while she strives to entertain a child while Uehara’s wedding takes place, like AN AMERICN IN PARIS. As a vehicle to show off Miss Tanaka’s charms, it is excellent. As an example of cinema, it is superb.