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6.8/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.8/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Dancing Girl of Izu remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
You should absolutely watch this tonight if you like quiet, aching stories about people who meet for five minutes and then think about each other for the rest of their lives. 🌸
But if you need fast pacing or characters who actually talk out loud, you will probably hate it.
This is a silent movie from 1933, and it has that gorgeous, dusty look that makes you feel like you are peeking into someone's old family album.
The plot is pretty simple.
A student from Tokyo is walking through the Izu mountains and runs into a group of traveling musicians.
He gets a crush on the young dancing girl, played by the absolute legend Kinuyo Tanaka.
She is so incredibly young here, and her eyes do about ninety percent of the acting in this film.
There is this one scene where they are crossing a muddy mountain path in the rain.
You can practically feel how cold and wet their feet are in those wooden sandals.
The student offers her his umbrella, and the way she looks at it like he just handed her a crown is just... man, it hurts a little bit. 😭
It is not a dramatic mystery like The Tattlers or some high-stakes thriller.
It is mostly just people walking, eating cheap food, and looking at each other across paper screens.
The brother character, Juku Matsumoto, has this permanent look of exhaustion that I related to on a spiritual level.
He just wants to get to the next town and maybe take a nap.
I did notice that the camera lingers on a tea cup for about ten seconds too long at one point.
I think the director just forgot to cut or maybe he really liked that cup.
It is these little weird imperfections that make the movie feel so alive.
Unlike the heavy drama in No Man's Woman, this one lets the quiet moments breathe.
Sometimes they breathe a bit too much, and you might find yourself checking your phone once or twice.
But then Tanaka smiles, and you are right back in it.
The ending is abrupt and doesn't really wrap anything up in a neat little bow.
It just sort of stops, like a train pulling out of the station.
And honestly? That is exactly how these summer romances usually end anyway.
