The
greatest victims of Japanese wartime propaganda were the Japanese people
themselves. When the militarist government disseminated apocalyptic warnings that
the conquering Allies would rape all women and sterilize all men, the average
citizenry largely believed it, so they resolved to fight to the end, because
there was no other choice. Yet, in early 1945, just about everyone could tell
how the winds were blowing. The home front is an inescapably depressing place
for nineteen year-old Satoko, but she will still blossom into a woman right on
schedule in Haruhiko Arai’s This Country’s
Sky (a.k.a.
When I was Most Beautiful, trailer
here), which
screens as a selection of this year’s Japan Cuts, the Festival of New Japanese Film in New York.
Today,
Tokyo’s Suginami is sort of like the Japanese Upper Westside, but in 1945 it
was practically a ghost town. The government imposed rigid restrictions on
internal migration, but those who are allowed, relocate to the countryside,
even though there are reports that life is just as hard there. Living with her widowed
mother, Satoko gets by almost okay working as a civil defense office clerk.
Unfortunately, making ends meet becomes even tougher when Satoko convinces her
reluctant mother to take in her bombed out aunt. Despite her promises, Auntie
is mostly dead weight around the house, but Satoko gets some help here and
there from their neighbor, Mr. Ichikawa.
The
thirty-eight year-old banker just might make it through the war undrafted. He
had the good fortune of taking his military physical in a district full of
brawny farm lads, where he looked sickly in comparison. He also happens to be
married, but his wife was assigned to a government agricultural coop in the
countryside, allowing his eye to rove towards Satoko. Her mother recognizes his
intentions, but she allows Satoko to continue spending time with him, because
different rules apply during war, especially the waning days for the losing
side. However, she probably does not realize how much Satoko reciprocates his
interest.
While
reasonably prolific as a screenwriter, Sky
is the first film Arai has helmed since 1997. His sense of visual composition
remains undiminished, instilling a vivid sense of Tokyo as a veritable wartime
ghost town. Without question, Arai is more interested in exploring the tenor of
the times than digging into the melodramatic details of Satoko’s problematic
romance. The vibe is not unlike Yoji Yamada’s Kabei: Our Mother, but it does not have the same degree of tragic
elegance.
Clearly,
Fumi Nikaido works a heck of a lot. Here, she shrewdly plays Satoko with the
reserve and maturity of someone who came of age during wartime privation. It is
a smart performance that pulls us in, rather than indulging in a lot of
melodramatic excess. Still, Hiroki Hasegawa’s Ichikawa seems so conspicuously
oily, it is hard to fathom her attraction. However, Youki Kudoh is wonderfully
down-to-earth (and even surprisingly sensual) as Satoko’s mother. Frankly, the
inter-family relationships between mother, daughter, and aunt are just as
important as the simmering attraction shared by Satoko and her neighbor—and Kudoh
is the key to their dynamics.