A Fond Face from the Past
1941 · 34 MIN · IMDB 6.6 · 87 VOTES · DIR. Mikio Naruse
Overview
A Fond Face from the Past is also set in a rural community, specifically a village outside Kameoka, near Kyoto. In some ways this short, thirty-six-minute film is Naruse's most moving negotiation of the militarist restrictions of the time, perhaps because it is also his most direct engagement with the culture of war. When a newsreel comes to Kameoka featuring a local man named Yoichi, it causes some excitement in the community and, of course, in Yoichi's own family. First of all his mother makes the newsreel (Nippon News, no. 14), which begins with the same marching music that opens his own film, followed by a curious baby judging context in Los Angeles featuring two hundred Japanese babies. Released in January 1941, almost a year before the pacific war begins, this “found footage” is indicative of Japanese imperialist ambitions beyond Asia long before Pearl Harbor.
Dialogue Timeline — 310 lines
A SAMPLE ACROSS THE RUNTIME — EVERY LINE IS SEARCHABLE
00:00:30 A FOND FACE FROM THE PAST
00:03:19 Yes.
00:04:31 Yes, Kiyo was with me. She said that she was sure it was Yoichi.
00:05:11 I see.
00:06:17 Tell me where it is. If you do, I can get it for you. OK?
00:08:06 You were just trying to take someone's airplane.
00:08:44 You should go see it tomorrow, Ma.
00:10:12 Oh, it's you J-san. To Kameoka.
00:11:35 Really? You sure are an expert when it comes to planes.
00:12:43 Do you have anything cheaper?
00:14:03 There are some sweet potatoes over there. Have some.
00:15:59 made splendid debuts in a baby judging contest.
00:17:05 and our troops turned to mopping up operations.
00:18:53 You're home early.
00:19:35 What kind of place? A wide open place.
00:20:12 You didn't have to do that!
00:21:53 How's Koichi's foot?
00:23:46 I don't know. Where do you suppose it'll go?
00:25:58 Is that you Sumi?
00:26:38 It was a wide open space, like a field.
00:27:21 I wonder if I'll be able to walk tomorrow.
00:29:20 Mother! Mother!
00:31:27 Anyone who saw that movie would feel grateful to them.
00:32:47 That's great, Koichi!