The Masseurs and a Woman (“Anma to onna”)
Directed by Hiroshi Shimuzu
Written by Hiroshi Shimuzu
1938/Japan
Shôchiku Eiga
First viewing/Streaming on Hulu Plus
I think these slice-of-life films by Shimuzu are delightful even if they are mostly uneventful.
Two blind masseurs migrate with the seasons, serving seaside spas in winter and mountain spas in summer with the rest of their kind. We meet them walking up the hill to their mountain employment. Their great joy is overtaking other pedestrians and passing them by. When they arrive, one becomes interested in a mysterious lady client from Tokyo. She also interests a single man raising his young nephew. The rest of the story looks at the interactions of these people and the masseur’s efforts to work out what the lady is doing at the spa.
I’m trying to figure out why I find these Japanese films so interesting while I would probably be bored with a Hollywood story that was about so little. Maybe it is that the Japanese films feel like real life. At any rate, Shimizu is rapidly becoming a favorite director.
