Dr. Akagi, a rural physician in Japan during WWII, wages a one-man crusade against hepetitis, earning him a reputation as "Dr. Liver." But his fanatic campaign brings him into disfavor with the Japanese army, and as the war seems more and more hopeless for the Japanese, Dr. Akagi finds himself increasingly a scapegoat.

Elderly couple Shukishi and Tomi Hirayama live in the small coastal village of Onomichi, Japan with their youngest daughter, schoolteacher Kyoko Hirayama. Their other three surviving adult children, who they have not seen in quite some time, live either in Tokyo or Osaka. As such, Shukishi and Tomi make the unilateral decision to have an extended visit in Tokyo with their children, pediatrician Koichi Hirayama and beautician Shige Kaneko, and their respective families (which includes two grandchildren). In transit, they make an unexpected stop in Osaka and stay with their other son, Keiso Hirayama. All of their children treat the visit more as an obligation than a want, each trying to figure out what to do with their parents while they continue on with their own daily lives. At one point, they even decide to ship their parents off to an inexpensive resort at Atami Hot Springs rather than spend time with them. The only offspring who makes a concerted effort on this trip is Noriko Hirayama, their widowed daughter-in-law, whose husband, Shoji Hirayama, was killed eight years earlier in the war. Following the vacation, each child comes to some conclusion of their general behavior toward their parents, not only on this trip but throughout their entire adult lives. For some, this realization may come too late.

Where Chimneys Are Seen focuses primarily on the interconnected lives of two couples in a lower-middle-class neighborhood in Senju, a poor industrial section of Tokyo.

Noriko is 27 years old and is still living with her father Somiya, a widower. Noriko just recovered from an illness she developed in the war, and now the important question pops up: when will Noriko start thinking about marriage? Everybody who is important in her life tries to talk her into it: her father, her aunt, a girlfriend. But Noriko doesn't want to get married, she seems extremely happy with her life. She wants to stay with her father to take care of him. After all, she knows best of his manners and peculiarities. But Noriko's aunt doesn't want to give up. She arranges a partner for her and thinks of a plan that will convince Noriko her father can be left alone.

Yuzo and his fiancée Masako spend their Sunday afternoon together, trying to have a good time on just thirty-five yen. They manage to have many small adventures, especially because Masako's optimism and belief in dreams is able to lift Yuzo from his realistic despair.

An affluent medical professor, Komiya, and his bossy wife, Tokio, are to look after Setsuko, their high-spirited niece from Osaka. Setsuko is a liberated woman who does what she wants, including smoking, even though she is a minor. On Saturday, the professor does not feel like going to his weekend golf game, but his wife packs him off anyway. So he leaves his bag at the apartment of his student Okada, and goes to a bar with a friend. Setsuko traces him there, and insists that he take her to a geisha house. When she gets rather tipsy, the professor calls Okada to take her home, while he sleeps at Okada's. The wife becomes suspicious of Setsuko when she sees Okada bringing her home, and also of her husband when she discovers that he did not go golfing.

Thomas Brainerd, Sr., as a prospector, is a dutiful and loving husband and father. Two children, Gertrude and Thomas, Jr., are born while the Brainerds live in a log cabin in the mountains. Brainerd strikes gold, goes to New York, where he becomes a financial power. He neglects his wife, devotes every moment of his time to his growing industries, simply supplies funds to his family, and his wife, alone and melancholy, is fascinated by an artist and consents to "sit" for a painting. Feeling her neglect keenly, Mrs. Brainerd becomes a victim to the wiles of the artist, who, however, is killed by the husband of a former victim before the affair has progressed too far. Brainerd, learning of his wife's affair with the artist, orders her from the house. Thomas, Jr. sides with and accompanies his mother. Heretofore a worthless spendthrift, Thomas now becomes ambitious and joins interest with a penniless inventor, goes west, establishes a factory, makes a go of it, sells out to his father at an enormous advance, convinces his father that his mother is innocent and, as he transfers the invention to his father's firm, sees his mother in his father's arms, which example he immediately follows by proposing to the girl he has always loved.

Umekichi, a geisha in the Gion district of Kyoto, feels obliged to help her lover Furusawa when he asks to stay with her after becoming bankrupt and leaving his wife. However her younger sister Omocha tells her she is wasting her time and money on a loser. She thinks that they should both find wealthy patrons to support them. Omocha therefore tries various schemes to get rid of Furusawa, and set themselves up with better patrons.

A woman asks her brother to speak to her son. After she's sacrificed everything for him, it seems he's going to squander it all for an idle life. Though the uncle tries to set him straight, it may already be too late.

Mr. Thank You is the kindly young driver of a local bus traveling from poverty stricken coastal villages, over the mountains, to the town. He thanks everybody when they let his bus pass on the narrow road. Among the passengers is a worldly young woman, who flirts with the driver while trying to put the villagers in their place. There is also an embarrassed mother who is taking her virginal daughter to the train station to be sent to Tokyo, presumably to be sold.

A young woman reaches maturity and yearns to know about her father. Her mother has poisoned her mind about the man who left her for another woman. There is a tender moment when they see each other for the first time. She learns that the man is not as she was told, nor is the woman. This is a movie which has penetrated my thoughts over the years since I first experienced it.

In Tokyo, Osen is the servant girl of an unscrupulous antiques dealer, Kumazawa, who takes in the penniless Sokichi Hata. Kumazawa mistreats Sokichi and Osen, while swindling some Buddhist monks out of their temple treasures. When Kumazawa is arrested, Osen agrees to help Sokichi finance his dream of going to medical school. They live in a humble room, and eventually the only way Osen can find enough money for them is to prostitute herself during the day, without Sokichi knowing.

On her way to meet her boyfriend, Sugiko is hit by a car and hospitalized. When she doesn't arrive at the meeting place, her boyfriend believes she has betrayed him, and he returns to his hometown. Yamauchi, the man who was driving the car that hit her, proposes to her. Sugiko marries Yamauchi, but is bored with his family's lifestyle. She leaves him and goes back to work as a waitress.

Keitaro (Obinata Den) is a law student and Yaeko (Aizome Yumeko) is a high school girl. They are neighbors, and their friendship is starting to develop into something more romantic. Then, Yaeko's sister Kyouko (Okada Yoshiko) has a breakup with her husband and returns home. Kyouko is clearly interested in Keitaro and Yae becomes anxious.

A single mother works tirelessly as a Ginza bar hostess to ensure a better life for her young son until--her long-lost husband returns.

Minna

Incorrectly called “ Shomin-geki” when it should be the above “shōshimin-eiga,” these are Japanese films about the ordinary, common people. Sometimes with humor, often harsh family relationships

小市民 映画

movie

Niko Aiello

I guess I’m more of an arthouse snob than I thought

1979 American war film directed by Francis Ford Coppola

Best of All Time

1987 American science fiction parody movie directed by Mel Brooks

Sci-Fi and/or Horror 

2014 film directed by John Michael McDonagh

Watchlist 2.0

Sundance was good this year - TasteDive has not update most of these with accurate trailers/photos, descriptions are mostly okay

2023 film list

I like stuff with financial crime, or drugs. Or financial crime related to drugs

Crime

Board Games

Seductiveness of the miraculous, embrace of authoritarianism, corruption in power, isolation and loneliness, reflection on grief

小市民映画

Liked by

More lists by Niko Aiello

Best of All Time

Sci-Fi and/or Horror

Watchlist 2.0

2023 film list

Crime

Board Games

Contemporary Religion

Books to Read

Source Material

小市民 映画

Liked by

More lists by Niko Aiello

Best of All Time

Sci-Fi and/or Horror

Watchlist 2.0

2023 film list

Crime

Board Games

Contemporary Religion

Books to Read

Source Material

小市民映画