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Sentimental yet clear-eyed, Keisuke Kinoshita's Twenty-Four Eyes tracks the lives of 12 students through the perspective of one teacher. When Hisako Oishi (Hideko Takamine, a favorite of Kinoshita and Mikio Naruse) arrives in Shodoshima in 1928, the island’s townspeople take umbrage at her modern suit and "shiny new bike," but Oishi's charm and dedication wins them over in the end. About her charges, she tells her mother, "I don't want those adorable eyes to ever lose their sparkle." Though Oishi means "big stone," the first-graders--five boys and seven girls--call her Miss Pebble due to her petite stature. As the years pass, some of the students leave school to work, while the now-married instructor encourages the boys to consider non-military options. Though she isn't a "Red," Mrs. Oishi subscribes to pacifism and free thought. Similarly, Twenty-Four Eyes doesn't advance a political agenda, but rather a humanist one. As Audie Bock (Japanese Film Directors) notes, Kinoshita placed a high value on "innocence, purity, and beauty," and even after two decades of hardship, his heroine never loses faith in the essential goodness of people.
Though Sakae Tsuboi's 1952 novel inspired a 1987 remake, Kinoshita's film stands as the definitive adaptation. A classic in its native country, this 1954 feature shares the same timeless values as All Quiet on the Western Front and Goodbye, Mr. Chips. Extras include an interview with Tadao Sato (Currents in Japanese Cinema), two trailers, and a booklet with commentary from the director and an essay by Bock. --Kathleen C. Fennessy
Product Description
Keisuke Kinoshita's Twenty-Four Eyes (Nijushi no hitomi) is an elegant, emotional chronicle of a teacher s unwavering commitment to her students, her profession, and her sense of morality. Set in a remote, rural island community and spanning decades of Japanese history, from 1928 through World War II and beyond, Kinoshita's film takes a simultaneously sober and sentimental look at the epic themes of aging, war, and death, all from the lovingly intimate perspective of Hisako Oshi (Hideko Takamine), as she watches her pupils grow and deal with life's harsh realities. Though little known in the United States, Twenty-Four Eyes is one of Japan's most popular and enduring classics.
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:New, restored high-definition digital transfer, New video interview with Japanese cinema historian and critic Tadao Sato about the film and its director, New and improved English subtitle translation.
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay be renowned film scholar Audie Bock and excerpts from an interview with Kinoshita
SPECIAL EDITION FEATURES:New, restored high-definition digital transfer, New video interview with Japanese cinema historian and critic Tadao Sato about the film and its director, New and improved English subtitle translation.
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay be renowned film scholar Audie Bock and excerpts from an interview with Kinoshita
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
19 of 19 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This movie has been considered a classic in Japan since its release in 1954, and it's easy to see why. It begins as a charming, innocent portrait of a new teacher and her first grade class and slowly deepens into a touching yet realistic depiction of how each child's life goes on in its own way. Some of the children prosper, some fall into poverty and tragedy, but the matter-of-fact way that profound emotional issues are handled in this film without putting off the viewer is a feat that has never been accomplished so well before or since. A truly remarkable piece of art.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
I didn't quite know what to expect from this film ... but as the last of its 156 minutes played, I wished it could have been even longer, although that would have meant a few more lumps in the throat & teary-eyed moments. It's a deeply moving film, and its sentimental scenes are truly earned & not the least bit gratuitous or pandering.
The story: a young woman begins her first teaching job on a small island village in Japan, with 12 students in her first grade class (hence the 24 eyes of the title). This opening sequence is charming & gentle, with the worst of the children's problems & woes easily mended with a few kind words & an understanding heart.
But as the children grow older, remaining in touch with their beloved teacher over the years, the harsher aspects of life begin to take their toll. First the Great Depression, then the rise of Japanese militarism -- and the teacher can only watch, sick at heart, as promising futures are dashed & redirected by family & social pressures.
While set in Japan during a specific period of history, the themes are timeless & universal, sad to say. When Japan continues its buildup to the Second World War, the patriotic songs & marches seem all too familiar -- as do the warnings from higher-ups in the school system that their job is to create obedient, patriotic citizens, willing to serve the state without question. It's made clear to our troubled teacher that any mention of other, antiwar possibilities are strictly forbidden, lest she be accused of being "a Red."
Yet she does what she can, telling her male students that she'd be just as proud of them for becoming farmers or clerks or rice merchants, rather than becoming soldiers. The boys, of course, are caught up in shining visions of military glory & honor, without the slightest notion of the dark & bloody reality behind them.
At the same time, she also struggles to help her female students become more than what family & society have prepared them to be ... not always successfully. Why does she struggle against such hopeless odds? Not so much for political or ideological reasons, but because of her individual compassion & spirit. These struggles even go on within her own family, as her husband is drafted & her own young sons dream of becoming soldiers themselves.
Covering nearly 20 years, the film has an elegiac tone, a sense of memories washing up over & over again upon the same shore which opens & closes the film. Hideko Takamine is superb as the teacher, nicknamed "Miss Pebble" by her students, changing over the years from the fresh-faced young woman who appears in Western clothes, riding a bicycle through the shocked village, to the middle-aged woman both wounded & tempered by loss & grief, still refusing to surrender to despair.
156 minutes may sound daunting, but don't let that stop you from watching this richly rewarding film. Most highly recommended!
The story: a young woman begins her first teaching job on a small island village in Japan, with 12 students in her first grade class (hence the 24 eyes of the title). This opening sequence is charming & gentle, with the worst of the children's problems & woes easily mended with a few kind words & an understanding heart.
But as the children grow older, remaining in touch with their beloved teacher over the years, the harsher aspects of life begin to take their toll. First the Great Depression, then the rise of Japanese militarism -- and the teacher can only watch, sick at heart, as promising futures are dashed & redirected by family & social pressures.
While set in Japan during a specific period of history, the themes are timeless & universal, sad to say. When Japan continues its buildup to the Second World War, the patriotic songs & marches seem all too familiar -- as do the warnings from higher-ups in the school system that their job is to create obedient, patriotic citizens, willing to serve the state without question. It's made clear to our troubled teacher that any mention of other, antiwar possibilities are strictly forbidden, lest she be accused of being "a Red."
Yet she does what she can, telling her male students that she'd be just as proud of them for becoming farmers or clerks or rice merchants, rather than becoming soldiers. The boys, of course, are caught up in shining visions of military glory & honor, without the slightest notion of the dark & bloody reality behind them.
At the same time, she also struggles to help her female students become more than what family & society have prepared them to be ... not always successfully. Why does she struggle against such hopeless odds? Not so much for political or ideological reasons, but because of her individual compassion & spirit. These struggles even go on within her own family, as her husband is drafted & her own young sons dream of becoming soldiers themselves.
Covering nearly 20 years, the film has an elegiac tone, a sense of memories washing up over & over again upon the same shore which opens & closes the film. Hideko Takamine is superb as the teacher, nicknamed "Miss Pebble" by her students, changing over the years from the fresh-faced young woman who appears in Western clothes, riding a bicycle through the shocked village, to the middle-aged woman both wounded & tempered by loss & grief, still refusing to surrender to despair.
156 minutes may sound daunting, but don't let that stop you from watching this richly rewarding film. Most highly recommended!
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
By Ted
VINE™ VOICE
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
This review is for the Criteiron Collection DVD edition of the film.
Twenty Four Eyes was released in Japan as Nijushi no hitomi. The film is one of the most critically acclaimed in Japan despite its obscurity outside of Japan.
It follows the lives of 12 students (the title is derived from the 12 students) at a school on a remote island in late 1920's Japan from their days as students to adulthood. I found it to be a great film and thought the storyline to be really good too. The film covers themes such as World War II, life and death.
The DVD has one special feature which is an interview with Tadao Sato, a Japanese film scholar who discusses the film and its director.
Twenty Four Eyes was released in Japan as Nijushi no hitomi. The film is one of the most critically acclaimed in Japan despite its obscurity outside of Japan.
It follows the lives of 12 students (the title is derived from the 12 students) at a school on a remote island in late 1920's Japan from their days as students to adulthood. I found it to be a great film and thought the storyline to be really good too. The film covers themes such as World War II, life and death.
The DVD has one special feature which is an interview with Tadao Sato, a Japanese film scholar who discusses the film and its director.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
what's not to like?
a touching and life affirming film, although i thought it could be better. a case of too high expectation, but i would still recommend it
Published 2 months ago by Frank Meccia
5.0 out of 5 stars
A wonderful tale about the innocence of childhood, beauty of life,...
I absolutely adored this wonderful Japanese film, a genuine masterpiece which didn't age at all since 1954. Read more
Published 5 months ago by Maciej
5.0 out of 5 stars
will see it over and over
I only saw it twice, 40 years ago for the 1st time, and remembered the title so I saw it again recently. Now I have the DVD!! The story is poignant, well told. Read more
Published 7 months ago by Gregory Y. Chang
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the great movies of the world
I first saw this film in my early 20's. The local PBS station in Tucson, Arizona was showing classic foreign films on Friday nights. After 15 or 20 minutes I was hooked. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Morris G. Vescovi
5.0 out of 5 stars
A war movie without blood
This is a movie about life, war, and poverty... It contains no battle scenes, but illustrates the war through its effects on the pupils of one teacher over 20 years. Read more
Published 12 months ago by Aaron Ginsburg
5.0 out of 5 stars
Poetic, heart wrenching, evocative ~
I enjoy a lot of Japanese cinema and this was on my list of films to get to and I am sad it took me so long to finally watch it. Read more
Published 20 months ago by Christopher Barrett
5.0 out of 5 stars
One of the Best Movies of All Time
This is one of the best movies of all time. I don't know what the film academics have to say about it, but in my view it rivals anything Kurosawa ever did. Read more
Published on June 9, 2009 by Christopher R. Dockrey
4.0 out of 5 stars
flawed masterwork
The director takes a long lens to a small place and produces a very big film. A class of primary school children on an island in the Inland Sea receives a new teacher in 1928. Read more
Published on April 28, 2009 by W. Hamilton
5.0 out of 5 stars
Japanese Culture
This movies allows an inside view on japanese culture and behavior. Highly recommanded for interested people.
Published on October 3, 2008 by Michael Lapp
5.0 out of 5 stars
Twenty-Four Eyes-best film ever made-
I have seen this movie several years ago and I begged Criterion Collection to sell this. Much to my suprise it is getting sold!! Read more
Published on July 23, 2008 by Lizard
