CriterionCast

The Eclipse Viewer – Episode 2 – Silent Naruse

This podcast focuses on Criterion’s Eclipse Series of DVDs. Hosts David Blakeslee and Robert Nishimura give an overview of each box and offer their perspectives on the unique treasures they find inside. In this episode, David and Robert are joined by special guest Scott Nye to discuss Silent Naruse, a collection of Mikio Naruse’s five surviving films that he directed for Shochiku Studios in the early 1930s.

About the films:

Mikio Naruse is one of the most popular directors in the history of Japanese cinema, a crafter of heartrending melodramas often compared with the work of Yasujiro Ozu and Kenji Mizoguchi. From the outset of his career, with his silent films of the early thirties, Naruse focused on characters, mostly women’”geisha, housewives, waitresses’”carrying on despite the compromises and disappointments of confined daily lives, a subject that would continue to fascinate him for the next three decades. Though he made two dozen silent films, only five are known to exist today; these works’”poignant, brilliantly photographed and edited dramas all’”are collected here, on DVD for the first time and featuring new scores by noted musicians Robin Holcomb and Wayne Horvitz.

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Timeline for the podcast:

Introduction (00:00:01 – 00:13:07)

Flunky Work Hard (00:13:08 – 00:23:13)

No Blood Relation (00:23:14 – 00:46:27)

Apart From You (00:46:28 – 01:04:51)

Every-Night Dreams (01:04:52 – 01:23:12)

Street Without End (01:23:11 – 01:45:34)

Conclusion (01:45:35 – 01:54:28)


Buy The Box Set On Amazon:

Hulu Plus Links:


Episode Links:

Naruse Overview:

Senses of Cinema essay by Alexander Jacoby

Slant Magazine’s online database of Naruse film reviews by Keith Uhlich

Mikio Naruse – A Modern Classic Midnight Eye essay by Eija Niskanen

Flunky, Work Hard:

No Blood Relation:


Next time on the podcast: Eclipse Series 11: Larisa Shepitko

Music for the show is from Fatboy Roberts’ Geek Remixed project.

Contact us:

David Blakeslee

David hosts the Criterion Reflections podcast, a series that reviews the films of the Criterion Collection in their chronological order of release. The series began in 2009 and those essays (covering the years 1921-1967) can be found via the website link provided below. In March 2016, the blog transferred to this site, and in August 2017, the blog changed over to a podcast format. David also contributes to other reviews and podcasts on this site. He lives near Grand Rapids, Michigan and works in social services. Twitter / Criterion Reflections

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