Synopsis
A rural village elder plans an event on the return of a farmer's daughter from the city, unaware that she has become a Westernized burlesque artist.
Carmen Comes Home
Cast
Hideko Takamine Shūji Sano Chishū Ryū Kuniko Igawa Takeshi Sakamoto Bontarō Miake Keiji Sada Toshiko Kobayashi Kōji Mitsui Yūko Mochizuki Yoshito Yamaji Akio Isono Kokuten Kōdō Eiko Takamatsu Yoichi Osugi Jun Tanizaki Jun Yokoyama Tami Yamamoto Haruko Chichibu Eitarō Ozawa Sumie Kuwabara Shoichi Kofujita
Director
Writer
Editor
Cinematography
Assistant Directors
Executive Producer
Production Design
Set Decoration
Composers
Sound
Costume Design
Hairstyling
Studio
Country
Language
Alternative Titles
Karumen kokyo ni kaeru, Carmen kehrt Heim, Carmen revient au pays, Carmen revient au pays natal, Carmen kehrt heim, Кармен возвращается на родину, Carmen vuelve a casa, Carmen ritorna a casa, 카르멘 고향에 돌아오다, Кармен возвращается домой, 卡门归乡
Releases by Date
Theatrical
-
Japan
Releases by Country
Japan
21 Mar 1951
- Theatrical
Popular reviews
More-
"Is that a Naifu in your pocket or are you just happy to see me..."
This was a blast, coming across as a Japanese equivalent of a Mae West film mixed with the German rural "hometown/homeland" Heimatfilme.
Hideko "When a Woman Ascends the Stairs" Takamine, basically decides to become Mae West lite in this. Takamine is the singing "dancer" stripper, who decides to visit the small mountain village she grew up in before moving to Tokyo to find fame and fortune and turns it on it's head.
It is well noted that this is the first Japanese color film, and i think this is what makes it stand out but not for the coloring (which at times looks sublime by…
-
According to Criterion, Carmen Comes Home was Japan's first color film, which is wonderful because this movie uses color so wonderfully and smartly! The entire small town's inhabitants all have interesting to look at outfits but strippers Lily and Maya are dressed colorfully to distinguish them from the villagers, showing off fantastic and leggy outfits in every color of the rainbow. It's excellent character juxtaposition and storytelling but also a great use of color aesthetically, not only making scenes pop but also because the outfits are just super fashionable and I was envious of Maya and Lily's closets.
The story is about postwar national identity and how artists fit into that understanding, and also how changing roles for women affect…
-
☆"I wonder if her belly really is this smooth."☆
Though it's not much more than an average postwar comedy, Karumen kokyō ni kaeru ["Carmen Comes Home"], Keisuke Kinoshita's 1951 feature has a special historical distinction: it's Japan's first film in color. And it's used quite well, enhancing what's otherwise a knockoff version of the family/generational story that Yasujirō Ozu has done better.
Okin Aoyama is better known as Lily Carmen (Hideko Takamine), her alias and stage name, as she is an exotic dancer and singer in Tokyo and beloved by patrons. It's a far cry from her home, the rural Hokkaido area outside of Nagano. Paying a visit back there because of a temporary closing of the club, her friend…
-
Striptease movies from the 1950s don't show anything. They're kind of cute that way.
-
Overenthusiastic musical mired by contrived purposes, "Carmen Comes Home" is a tale of uncompromising coexistence of opposites. Close-minded villagers live in the open plains of a mountainous countryside, flummoxed by Carmen's return from the capital. Traditional mingles with modern; folk hears pop; the old woman meets the new woman. A process of post-war importation of Western ideas, contaminating and challenging preconceived notions on culture and the arts. A specific Tokyo flair in every gesture on display portends. Carmen and her friend stand out with their caked faces, slitted and short dresses, and colourful outfits. As much as Carmen's strong-willed (and egotistical) resolve to re-connect with the people, the place she's born in, they mostly reject her with tittle-tattles, and smile…
-
So wonderful finally experiencing these actors in color! They take Japan's first Fujicolor movie outdoors and make a full party out of it, showcasing a lot of eye-candy to make the film as attractive as they could. I'm already loving Japanese cinema more!
-
All forms of art go through the struggle of not being understood. We must fight for it! Otherwise, we can't be artistic revolutionaries.
There is something extremely special about the first color film coming out of Japan being about a stripper from Tokyo returning to her home in the country. Not only is Kinoshita exposing the country to the new technology of the city, but also the new principles and morals of a younger generation.The topic of stripping is so easy to flub, but if you have seen any post-war Kinoshita films you know how empathetic of a director he is. Are there scenes where the villagers are demeaning, and ogling Carmen and Maya? Of course, it was 1951.…
-
Kinoshita is now 2 for 2 in my book with this beautiful film (Japan's first color movie) about national identity, culture shock and loss of innocence. A lot of it reminded me of Ford in some ways with Kinoshita's great community/world building and it's fantastic pastoral setting (when the train comes into town near the beginning I immediately thought of The Quiet Man).
-
i feel like no one has made this comparison before, but weirdly this reminded me a lot of george saunders?? i've read like five george saunders story collections in the past year, and there's something about the neurotic, embarrassed father being like "she is my favorite daughter and i cannot bear to watch her dance nude!" and a school principal being like "as a school principal, i should not have resorted to violence" and a whole town gathering in a field to listen to the local composer sing the song he wrote about the nearby volcano while the school principal says something like, "we're honored today to hear this song in the presence of our volcano." i think it's small town sincerity and panic over little shifts in the town dynamic and everyone's immediate guilt/regret over their actions that is so saundersian. anyway loved my #1 man keiji sada as a musical schoolteacher <3
-
Only got time for a quick review unfortunately but given the talent on show this one didn't really click with me anyway so perhaps it doesn't matter too much.
The clash between generations and Japan's teething troubles during the massive post-war cultural changes particularly with regard to gender roles are obviously an incredibly fertile topic for Japanese directors. It's the main topic of most acclaimed non-samurai films of the period and probably the subtext of many of the samurai ones if you look closely enough.
Carmen comes Home tackles it from more of a comedy approach than many and with some lovely technicolor but never quite manages to be properly funny and for me spends too long on the reactionary…
-
!Random Spoilers!
Song and color surely dominate director's Keisuke Kinoshita's whimsy rural portrait of small village and humble living, colliding head-on with celebrity flair and urban liberal stance on tradition values, as Lily Carmen (Hideko Takamine) and her friend Maya (Toshiko Kabayashi) arrive from the big city flashly dressed, crashing Carmen's childhood village, with their Tokyo song & dance, scandalizing the locals for a minute, as only the livestock stands for an audience, and imposing Mt.Asama overlooks it all.
It all goes from warm reception, to scandal reaction, to shocking acceptance, when the village mean spirited entrepenuer, forsees profit, and sets it up for the ladies to put on their show, in the process polarizing their once receptive community leaders, now… -
Japan’s first color film! That distinction is probably what placed it in The Criterion Collection, because otherwise it’s pretty simple.
Lily Carmen is the stage name of a country girl who moved out to the big city and became an “artist.” Her art? Stripping! She comes home to her rural village and proceeds to scandalize and/or delight the villagers with her flashy, skimpy clothing and Tokyoite behavior. This leads to a strip show for the town, and they remain scandalized and/or delighted.
You’ve got to kind of wonder why Shochiku chose this as their monumental move to color. I suppose it helps Carmen and her companion’s brightly colored outfits to really stand out amongst the dull browns of the village.…