A talent scout moves sharply, dead-set on signing a promising baseball player to The Toyko Flowers.
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi
baseball
contract
baseball player
post war japan
baseball scout
IMDB
N/A
Letterboxd
3.6 / 5
Cast
Keiji Sada
Daisuke Kishimoto
Keiko Kishi
Fudeko Taniguchi
Minoru Ōki
Gorô Kurita
Yūnosuke Itō
Ippei Tamaki
Mitsuko Mito
Eijirō Tōno
Ogushi
Kōji Mitsui
Tamekichi Kurita
Jun Tatara
Yûsuke Shima
Tatsuya Ishiguro
Tadasuke Rokkô
Fujio Suga
Takamaru Sasaki
Shiraishi
Kyū Sazanka
Tarô Furukawa
Crew
Masaki Kobayashi
Director
Zenzō Matsuyama
Screenplay
Chūji Kinoshita
Original Music Composer
Popular Reviews
6 reviews
Elliot Taylor
7.0★ · 08/26/24
What a great movie about slimy opportunists taking advantage of the goodwill and customs around them and the way that financial incentives naturally justify morally bankrupt, or at least sociopathic behavior.
And wow this took me on a ride I did not expect to be taken on at all. Like I thought I knew where the story was going at a few points, but it kept surprising me in genuinely great ways, with rays of humanity and moments of deceit poking through to make themselves known at fascinating moments throughout the story. I didn’t want to feel the way I did about the characters by the end, but it was so compellingly told that I just couldn’t stop the story from sweeping me along, the sign of a master of his craft in total control of the audience.
I do have to say though that of course some technical aspects weren’t totally up to snuff like the editing and sound, but those are just the passage of time being cruel to older films. The only real issue here is maybe that it could’ve been paced more tightly or justified its existence as a film better since it felt like this story could’ve easily been a very effective and engaging stage production. Basically I just wanted more out of the filmmaking end of it, but that’s not a huge gripe honestly.
I’m just glad to see so much consistency in the worldview and artistry of Masaki Kobayashi and this is just reaffirming for me how awesome he is as a director.
What a great movie about slimy opportunists taking advantage of the goodwill and customs around them and the way that financial incentives naturally justify morally bankrupt, or at least sociopathic behavior.
And wow this took me on a ride I did not expect to be taken on at all. Like I thought I knew where the story was going at a few points, but it kept surprising me in genuinely great ways, with rays of humanity and moments of deceit poking through to make themselves known at fascinating moments throughout the story. I didn’t want to feel the way I did about the characters by the end, but it was so compellingly told that I just couldn’t stop the story from sweeping me along, the sign of a master of his craft in total control of the audience.
I do have to say though that of course some technical aspects weren’t totally up to snuff like the editing and sound, but those are just the passage of time being cruel to older films. The only real issue here is maybe that it could’ve been paced more tightly or justified its existence as a film better since it felt like this story could’ve easily been a very effective and engaging stage production. Basically I just wanted more out of the filmmaking end of it, but that’s not a huge gripe honestly.
I’m just glad to see so much consistency in the worldview and artistry of Masaki Kobayashi and this is just reaffirming for me how awesome he is as a director.
