Kagayaku ai (1931) review: The government wants you to love being poor

Skip this if you hate preachy movies. But if you like dusty old black-and-white curiosities, Kagayaku ai is weirdly fascinating. 🍿

It was made on behalf of the Japanese Ministry of Education back in the thirties. That tells you almost everything you need to know about the vibe.

It's basically a "pull yourself up by your bootstraps" lecture. But with 1930s kimonos and wooden barrels.

The story compares a poor cooper's kid with a middle-class office worker's son. One works hard, the other is kind of a spoiled brat.

The Glamour of Wood Shavings

I honestly loved the barrel making scenes. There is this one shot where the dad is just hammering a wooden hoop onto a barrel, and it goes on for way too long.

You can practically smell the sawdust. It's great.

The acting is super dramatic, almost like they forgot they weren't in a silent film anymore. Teruyo Hayami does this face of pure worry that belongs in a horror movie, not an educational film.

It reminds me a bit of the heavy-handed messaging in Mothers of Men. Except here, the goal is making you feel good about having zero money.

The movie tries so hard to make honest poverty look like the best thing ever. Look at this kid enjoying his plain bowl of rice! 🍚

Meanwhile, the rich kid looks miserable just because his dad has a desk job. It's hilariously backward but kind of charming.

A Few Odd Details I Wrote Down

• The sheer amount of wood shavings on the workshop floor is a slipping hazard.
• How angry the cooper looks when he is just eating lunch.
• The kid's school hat is way too big for his head and keeps wobbling.

The film print we have left is pretty beat up. You get these white flashes and scratches that make it feel like you are watching a ghost story.

At one point, the sound just cuts out completely. It's just dead silence while a kid stares at a pile of wood.

If you've watched big silent classics like The Winning of Barbara Worth and want something way more obscure, give this a peek.

It's definitely not a masterpiece, but it is a neat little time machine.