“THE MONUMENT” As he was known by his peers
Okay so “Our Neighbour, Miss Yae” is known collectively as the first SHOMIN GEKI film (the Japanese realist genre that sprung onto the scene in the 1930s), but there is no denying that Shimzu Hiroshi was the monumental figure of it. With the likes of Ozu, Mizoguchi, Naruse, Shimazu and Yamanaka all adopting the term “monument” for him, this alone stresses the significance of his influence.
His films, like that of Ozu cultivated the poetic value of the everyday and did so with a brilliant eye that enabled him to see the beauty in the mundane.
Known for being a bit of a playboy he still managed to marry Japanese superstar Kinuyo Tanaka, who starred in my favourite of his works, “Ornamental Hairpin (1941).
Below is a link to a great article on the great man.
http://www.midnighteye.com/features/hiroshi_shimizu.shtml
