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6.7/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.7/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Shindo: Kohen Ryota no maki remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Look, if you aren't already deep into 1930s Japanese dramas, this sequel to Heinosuke Gosho's family saga is going to feel like homework. But if you love quiet, messy family stories where everyone says one thing and means another, Shindo: Kohen Ryota no maki is a weirdly cozy watch.
Just don't jump in without seeing the first part. If you do, you will be totally lost about who is marrying who and why everyone looks so stressed out 😅.
The film picks up right in the thick of family drama, and honestly, the pacing is a bit of a scramble at first. There is this one scene early on where a character just stares at a sliding door for what feels like two minutes, and I swear you can hear the director waiting to yell cut.
What I love about Gosho's movies is how he handles the small stuff. Like, there’s a moment where Kinuyo Tanaka is just folding laundry, and the way she snaps the cloth tells you exactly how angry she is.
You don't get that kind of quiet acting in loud Hollywood stuff from 1936 like The Jungle Princess. Here, the silence does all the heavy lifting.
The print of the film I watched was pretty scratchy, which actually made the dark, shadowed rooms look even more melancholic. Sometimes the audio cuts out slightly, but you can still feel the tension in the room.
The young Hideko Takamine is also here, and she basically steals every single frame she's in. She has this pouty, annoyed face that is just so funny and real.
It is definitely a film of its time, but it doesn't feel totally dead or dusty. It’s like finding an old photo album in someone else's attic—you don't know everyone, but you still feel something looking at their faces.