lasttimeisaw A lyrical reflection on WWII, Japanese director Keisuke Kinoshita's magnum opus TWENTY-FOUR EYES is prominently, steeped in his humanistic take on the solemn state of affairs, entrusts a good- natured school teacher Hisako Oishi (Takamine) as the cynosure, and the title is a metonymy for the 12 first-grade pupils who grow up under her auspices through the turbulent years from 1928 to 1946 in a bucolic Shodo Island. In 1928, Hisako is the new teacher of the village school and in charge of 12 first-graders (7 girls and 5 boys), she wears a suit (instead of a kimono) and commutes by a bicycle, regarded as too modern in others' provincial eyes, but in fact it is nothing but being pragmatic. Radiating a cordial devotion to each of her pupils (a roll call sequence points up their strong bond which would sustain through the shifting sands of kismet), the young Hisako consolidates the mutual affections through folk songs and Kinoshita hammers home to viewers that those kids' innocent visages can soften any impervious hearts, which will become his stock-in-trade in the subsequent jeremiad.Incapacitated by a jejune prank, Hisako's condition means she cannot ride a bicycle when one of her tendons is broken, so she accepts to be transferred to a nearby school for older students and promises that they will reunite in 6th grade, the touching farewell scene hits the mark of poignancy after a preceding snippet where the 12 tots play truant to visit Hisako in her home on foot. Then the time-line swiftly jumps to 5 years later, in 1933, a remarkable feat should be credited to the casting director, who has gathered the group of 12 six-graders possessing a stunning resemblance of their younger archetypes. Hisako gets married, while the teacher-student dyad becomes ever closer, extrinsic forces begin to assail the individuals: one girl must take on the duty of rearing up her new-born baby sister after her mother passed away, and a double whammy befalls when the said baby also dies, instead of returning her to the school, her father decides to send her away to work as a waitress in a restaurant; similarly another girl unwillingly withdraws from the class when it is her turn to assume the role as the family cook; for boys, that is another story, indoctrinated by the ultra-nationalism all the rage, they are hot to trot to volunteer as soldiers to Hisako's utter dismay, who resolutely values human lives more than any ideological fanaticism, after the school principal reprimands her for her "coward" and dangerous thoughts, a disillusioned Hisako also parts company with her lofty vocation. A fast forward to 1941, pupils grows up into adults, to whom Hisako stills holds very dear, and herself is a mother of three. The ongoing WWII conscripts all the militia, a harrowing tête-à-tête with a tuberculosis-inflicted former student tellingly conveys a pandemic hardship and dread hovering above each household. Personal tragedies will strike Hisako one after another, but those who survives must go on with their lives. Another five years go by, in 1946, after the damning war fizzles out, Hisako resumes her job and tearfully finds out among her new pupils there are offspring of her endearing first first-graders. A celebration organized by the remaining 14-eyes, including a pair of blind ones, brings them altogether, there will be tears, fond reminiscences, but also signifies a brighter future ahead, no doubt Kinoshita is a maestro of emotional manipulation but he has notch it up without betraying any trace of affectation, and the film's ultimate confluence really packs a punch to our tear gland. Also, sterling children performances are cogently elicited through Kinoshita's orchestration, sometimes to a fault of immoderation (with a combo of watery eyes and plaintive dirges), but as a whole, it is a pretty amazing achievement; in the central stage, Hideko Takamine superbly sinks her teeth into a character laden with a gaping age range, and her personable charm and sincere timber thrust an irresistible impact to our likings. Typically shot at a remove with a ritualistic respect to its characters and milieu, and forfeits any idea of employing front-line bombardments to mess with our sensorium, TWENTY-FOUR EYES is a potent tearjerker illumining with a sagacious anti-war message, but also an ode to the unflagging strength inside an ordinary woman, the very rudimentary but foremost essence that makes us a decent human being.

lreynaert One should be very careful when one uses superlatives, but, 'Twenty-Four Eyes' is one of the best movies ever made. Moreover, it is more than ever highly topical, albeit shot in black and white. It is the story of the emotional link between a junior teacher and her class of 12 children.Keisuke Kinoshita's movie tackles directly such crucial issues as freedom of speech (if you speak out against the war, you could lose your job), as calling a spade a spade (a war means simply killing people), as the choice between war and peace, between love and hate, between care (for the children) and selfishness and between sincerity and deceit or worse denouncement. His movie makes one understand that there is an all powerful authority which intervenes behind the scene in people's lives, by manipulating public opinion and by trying to turn the population (and mostly its children and young men) into deaf-mute pawns in order to use them as cannon fodder. Another means is starving the dissidents by firing them. Keisuke Kinoshita's characters are anchored in real life with its poverty (nothing to eat, or no money to go to school), its illnesses (tuberculosis), its accidents and, most importantly, the war and its victims.Keisuke Kinoshita knows what true art is. It is not an expression of emotions, but the creation of emotions (involvement) into the spectator's heart. His movie stands in sharp contrast with the actual avalanche of movie products pieced together with Meccano aliens (concocted with special effects) fighting human killers, while both are shouting their immoral gospel of violence and death. A truly cold world, and in no way the warm atmosphere created by Keisuke Kinoshita's school teacher. 'Twenty-Four Eyes' was shot by a director with a big heart, who made simply an everlasting sublime movie. A must see.

Luis Angel Gonzalez First film I watch from Japanese director Keisuke Kinoshita and I'm definitely glad I decided to do so, as this film has resulted in a really staggering, completely beautiful experience. However, it might become heavy going at times, on account of its running time which almost draws near to three hours. Nevertheless, there are plenty of gorgeous scenes brimming with both happiness and sadness that will undoubtedly evoke emotions in you, whether liking the film or not. Moreover, if you are accustomed to black and white Japanese films, I don't think you will find any obstacles in order to fully appreciate it.It all takes place in a sparsely populated, small island called Shodoshima, where in order to continue their studies, the children had to make a long walk to school. In one of those rather large walks, they come across their former teacher (she had just quit teaching) who tells them to treat the new teacher well. Then the new teacher (Isokichi Okada) arrives, impressing everyone on her way to school with her suit and bicycle, both of which were highly innovative in those times. From there on, both the teacher and the children would forge an unbreakable bond that would last for many years. As the plot slowly unravels, the teacher will gradually get into many of her students' lives as they grow up, and the problems they will tend to encounter in their way, which might prevent them from keeping on studying. There were as well the persistent thoughts of war; later in the film, when some of the male students were in sixth grade, they would think of getting drafted into the army to serve their country.The acting is superb, there's absolutely nothing to reproach it. Every single person delivers an amazingly credible acting, they really resemble real people. The camera-work is nothing short of praiseworthy, whit static cameras and angles reminiscent of those of Ozu's, allowing a much better appreciation of the already astonishing film. I for one loved the scene when they go on a trip and travel by ferry. One of the female students would stand up and sing beautifully a song, while the rest remained seated. She would do the same at the end of the film, which brings back many memories of the old days.This film is, without no doubt, the best student-teacher movie I've seen, and it will more than likely remain the best. Do not hesitate to get this one if you even have the remotest desire to watch it. If it did not get a perfect rating from me, that would be because of some scenes I consider somewhat unnecessary to the plot. However, the film is still a masterpiece.Beware of the abundant emotional content, it might bring you to tears.My score: 9.5/10

nqure Shortly after watching '24 Eyes', I watched a programme which showed the increase of nationalism in 21st century Japan, particularly with rising tensions in the Far East (North Korea). It was interesting to see present day teachers/educationalists demonstrating against the rise of government interference in schools and disconcerting to see one history teacher 'sacked' for giving an alternative, more balanced view regarding Japan's role/behaviour in the Second World War. If this is true, then the programme is disconcerting and '24 Eyes' deeply ironic.I enjoyed '24 Eyes' and the relationship between the new, young modern teacher and her pupils, children from a poor village, touching. I don't think the film is just about how the war affects a community, but also about life itself, particular in the character of Matsue - who is forced to leave the village out of poverty to become a waitress on the mainland. Perhaps I am mistaken, but it seems to be inferred - from her smart kimono - that she is probably a prostitute. I thought it was clever of the script to give the children individual identities - such as Matsue, so that we can empathise with her tears and the end of her childhood.I probably prefer the more subtle approach of 'Tokyo Story' (Ryu, who plays the father in TS, stars in this film as the older, less popular male teacher at the beginning) though they are many clever touches in this film: in the beginning the picture of the Emperor is kept in a cupboard so that one of the children answers 'He's in the cupboard' when asked about where the Emperor is. It is an allusion to how Japan's militarism will become soon much more overt. Its imperial ambitions still hidden but soon to be revealed in Manchuria.The film is good in charting the teacher's own disillusion as nationalism and militarism dominate the school curriculum instead of simple folk songs about flowers blossoming.My main criticism of the film is that it can be 'manipulative'. There are many scenes which are very moving (when 'Miss Pebble' slips and breaks her leg, the children's long walk to see her) but I thought, towards the end, the film kept placing one tragedy after another - which seemed to dilute some of the film's emotional power. I expect the teacher has to lose a child (immediate emotional impact) as the loss of her husband occurs off-screen. The husband's death was dealt in a rather matter-of-fact way and it's interesting that the lead actress has been criticised for her lack of expression/range of acting.Still, I am not surprised that this film is so beloved of Japanese audiences as well as beyond as it carries a universal message - pacifism - which is even more relevant in today's uncertain world.