The Masseurs and a Woman (1938) Anma to onna (original title)

Director:

Hiroshi Shimizu

Writer:

Hiroshi Shimizu (writer)

Release Date:

7 July 1938 (Japan)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Two blind masseurs Toku and Fuku walk to a mountain retreat to work for the season. The film follows...

Cast

Shotaro Akagi
Bakudankozo	...	Kenichi Misawa
Shin'ichi Himori	...	Fukuinchi Misawa
Ayuko Hirano	...	Hiking girl
Toru Hirose	...	Hiking student
Zentaro Iijima	...	Kamekichi
Akio Isono	...	Hiking student
Hideko Kasuga	...	Okiku
Toshiaki Konoe	...	Hiking student
Chieko Kyotani	...	Oaki (as Chieko Kyoya)
Fusako Maki	...	Hiking girl
Mitsuko Miura	...	Hiking girl
Hiroshi Mizuhara	...	Hiking student
Masako Nakaido	...	Hiking girl
Ren Niki	...	Head clerk
Tsuneo Osugi	...	Kitaro
Shin Saburi	...	Shintarô Oomura
Takeshi Sakamoto	...	Kujira-ya
Kaoru Seki
Mieko Takamine	...	Michiho Misawa
Shin Tokudaiji	...	Tokuichi Misawa
Munenobu Yui	...	Kinzô

Directed by
Hiroshi Shimizu

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Hiroshi Shimizu		writer

Original Music by
Senji Itô

Cinematography by
Masao Saito

Production Design by
Minoru Esaka

Set Decoration by
Shintarô Mishima
Jiro Nakamura

Costume Design by
Tetsuzo Shibata

Makeup Department
Sueko Endô	....	hair stylist

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Masaru Kashiwabara	....	assistant director
Akira Kiyosuke	....	assistant director
Nobuo Nishikawa	....	assistant director
Hiroshi Ushida	....	assistant director

Art Department
Saburo Iwai	....	set designer

Sound Department
Kusumoto Arata	....	sound recordist
Takeo Dobashi	....	sound
Tsugutoshi Maeda	....	sound recordist
Takenori Mori	....	sound
Rokusaburô Saitô	....	sound effects editor

Camera and Electrical Department
Osamu Matsuyama	....	assistant photographer
Toshiyasu Morita	....	assistant photographer
Takeo Suzuki	....	gaffer
Shôji Watanabe	....	assistant photographer

Other crew
Hidesaburô Fujioka	....	title designer
Fumikazu Miyagishima	....	film development
Taro Sasaki	....	film development
Tayû Tajiri	....	stage manager

Production Companies

• Shôchiku Eiga

Distributors

• Shochiku Company (1938) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Criterion Collection, The (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Eclipse from the Criterion Collection (2009) (USA) (DVD) (subtitled)
• Shochiku Home Video (2008) (Japan) (DVD)

Also Known As:

"Anma to onna" - Japan (original title)

Runtime:

Japan:66 min

Country:

Japan

Language:

Japanese

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Shôchiku Eiga

Movie Connections:

Remade as My Darling of the Mountains (2008)

I really liked this one

This film reminds me a lot of Jacques Tati's M. Hulot's Holiday. It's an ensemble piece taking place at a spa. The main characters are a group of blind masseurs and, as the title says, a woman, but there are several other characters wandering around the resort. It has a certain gentleness to it that's really quite wonderful, and it's beautifully made. There are a couple of standout sequences, most notably the one where one blind masseuse encounters the woman and notices her by her perfume. But she stays completely silent and watches him while he searches for her. The tone of the film is slightly comic, but in this area it doesn't succeed very well. There are a lot of jokes at the expense of the blind men, which just seems tasteless, even for 1938.