"Namonaku mazushiku utsukushiku" (Our Happiness Alone, 1961) is the feature-length directorial debut of Matsuyama Zenzo. It is one of the best debuts by any Japanese director, but then Matsuyama did not start cold. By 1961, he had achieved a great career as a screenwriter for directors like Kinoshita and Kobayashi, and through Kinoshita, he had also married Takamine Hideko, one of Japan's greatest actresses. "Our Happiness Alone" features a screenplay by Matsuyama, made to suit the fantastic talent of his wife. Takamine gives one of her best performances here.
The film tells the story of a deaf couple struggling through the post-war years. Takamine has become deaf in adult age, because of the war, while her husband (played equally great by Kobayashi Keiju) has been deaf and dumb since birth. The film shows the hardships that they must go through in their everyday existence. You really feel for the characters, and because they have to endure so much, every happy moment feels utterly beautiful and may bring a tear to the spectator's eye. But soon, reality will slap you right back.
I don't want to enclose too many plot details, but the film is certainly highly memorable. I've watched hundreds of gendai-geki films, and the deafness of the leads really makes an impact to the narrative: you should never take things for granted. I hoped for a different ending, but this one is fine too.
All in all, this film should be better known. Strangely, there exists a sequel with the same actors returning, and also an Indian remake.
