Customer Reviews

Twenty-Four Eyes

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This is one of the most representative films of the Japanese cinema of the 50s in which some important questions about the correctness of the war were expressed in a subdue and yet deep meaningful way.

Set on a small island off the coast of Japan in a costal village this is the story of a teacher and her 12 students from the late 20s to the late 40s.

The teacher gained the love and respect of her students not only because of her abilities as a teacher but also as a companion in the lives of her students either in happiness or sorrow.

She was able to represent in her thoughts and simple comments the doubts about the war, the value of life and the wisdom of peace.

This film has also shown the living conditions of the prewar Japan.

The backdrop of this remote rural countryside on a small island gave the director all the characters that he needed to create a film that became an honor to the hard working farmers and fishermen, a praise to poverty and dignity, an eulogy to simple things and their beauty.

Shot in Black and White with exceptional artistic abilities this film is able to show the colours of the countryside either these were the vivid green of the rice fields or the bright yellows of the rape flowers or the show white blossom of the cherry trees.

The role of the teacher is played exceptionally well by Hideko Takamine while the roles of the children were perfectly performed by local children.

One of the most important points of this film is the music.

Most of the songs sang in this film are today classics in their own right.

In most occasions related to schools and children, one can hear the same songs played again and again.

It is this very special music that accompanied this wonderful film that will add more emotions and in few cases tears in the eyes of the viewer.

A film that one must see again and again.

A young woman takes her first teaching job in a very poor island village in Japan's Inland Sea. The story spans sixteen years (beginning in 1928), covering both the teacher's life and that of her her students, whom she taught in the First and Sixth Grades, as well as the Manchurian War, WWII, and its aftermath. A real tear-jerker, though there may be some moments were those unfamiliar with Japanese customs may not understand the actions and reactions of some of the characters.

I first saw this film in Japan, while on tour. We were had several hours travel to Hiroshima, and because there were many teachers in the group, our tour leader played it on the bus' video player. Needless to say, between this film and the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park, it made for a very somber day.

My main complaint about the DVD edition is that the subtitles are very poorly done. The timing is off, there are several misspellings, and odd character fonts appear... the subtitles in the original version on video tape was much better, both in translation and execution.

I don't know how many times the leading lady furtively wiped away tears or gave way entirely. But it's that type of movie. The story is structured for it. It doesn't smoothly and dramatically move from event to event. It jumps from one sad scene to the next.

Like other movies about teachers, this spans several years in great leaps in order to see the effect the teacher had on her students. One of the threads over this timeframe was her anti-militarism which builds some tension since we know that World War II is at hand.

The film's 2-1/2 hours might have been cut without harm by reducing the time devoted to singing unfamiliar Japanese songs but apparently that's one of its attractions to Japanese fans. I did love the beautiful performance at the end by a young woman reprising a song sung in the middle of the film.

The photography of the island this is set on is beautiful despite the film's aging and the inperfections of the transfer. However, the subtitles are a problem altho not decisively so. The main problem is that they sometimes aren't sync'd correctly with the speaker and you have piece it together properly as the movie goes along. (The Criterion Collection version seems to have corrected this.)

However, the lovely Hideki Takamine as the teacher just manages to rise above the mawkishness of her role and bring some dimension to it. She is a immensely appealing actress and I'm seeking out her other films (she was wonderful in the classic WHEN A WOMAN ASCENDS THE STAIRS).