Yama no oto (1954)

User Rating:

8.3/10   

Director:

Mikio Naruse

Writers:

Yasunari Kawabata (novel)
Yôko Mizuki (adaptation)

Release Date:

January 1980 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Family Relationships | Abortion | Based On Novel

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Setsuko Hara	...	Ogata Kikuko
Sô Yamamura	...	Ogata Shingo
Ken Uehara	...	Otto, Shuuichi
Yôko Sugi	...	Tanizaki Hideko
Teruko Nagaoka	...	Tsuma, Yasuko
Yatsuko Tanami	...	Ikeda
Chieko Nakakita	...	Aihara Fusako
Rieko Sumi	...	Kinuko
Hisao Toake	...	Shingo no yuujin
Machiko Kitagawa
Fumiko Saito
Tsuruko Mano
Nobuo Kaneko

Also Known As:

Sound of the Mountain
The Sounds from the Mountains (USA) (review title)
The Thunder of the Mountain (International: English title)

Runtime:

96 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Toho Company

an example of the Japanese "home drama"

In the beginning it looks quite like an Ozu film: we have the requisite sad old man, sentimental music and even Setsuko Hara. Indeed, this must be Naruse's most Ozu-like film. A family is on the brink of falling apart and in the end it does. Setsuko's husband is carrying on an affair and her father-in-law is ashamed of him. The father cannot understand how his son would mistreat such a loving wife (Hara also reminds the father of the girl he was in love with in his youth). But "The Sound of the Mountain" is not an Ozu film; it is infused with its creator's pessimism and doubt. Naruse does not offer us a vision of acceptance, but his characters seem wearier than usual and fight against fate less. I don't think that the director felt very close to the material. When it's all said and done this film is a straightforward adaptation of a Kawabata novel and succeeds only marginally better than another classic Kawabata film adaptation, Shiro Toyoda's "Snow Country." The source author is not one whose books should be adapted by those who are inclined towards visual modesty. This film probably would have been much better in the hands of Kinoshita or Mizoguchi. However as it stands it is very good and the second half is particularly fine and involving until the slightly gratuitous finale. Not one of the director's best but more than worth a look if you can dig it up.