The New Earth a.k.a. The Daughter of the Samurai
Dir: Itami Mansaku, Arnold Fanck
Japan/Germany, 1937, 114 minsmins, DCP
Cast: Hara Setsuko, Kosugi Isamu, Ruth Eweler
The first coproduction between national socialist Germany and imperial Japan before WWII to boost relations between the two countries. Teruo, the adopted son of a samurai family who returns from Germany, refuses to an arranged marriage. When his fiancé Mitsuko attempts to immolate herself in a volcano, Teruo comes to her rescue. Romantically reunited, the couple starts a new life in Manchukuo. In spite of the film’s conspicuous agenda of propaganda, Hara Setsuko, at age 16, enchanted western audience with her grace, radiant smile and demure demeanor, inspiring international appreciation of the “volcano-like sacrificing spirit of Japan.”
Remarks
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