Little Miss Sunshine (2006)

This movie arrived on my screen with a lot of baggage.  I knew it was both an award-winner and crowd-pleaser, but I wasn't over-optimistic since none of the cast seemed likely to make my day; but I was wrong, it's a real charmer. We have a family group of six very different characters.  Toni Collette is a mother doing her best to keep her dysfunctional family together.  She is married to Greg Kinnear, a would-be motivational speaker who is unfortunately unable to find his own success.  The other adults in the household are his father, a foul-mouthed, sex-obsessed Alan Arkin who won a best-supporting Oscar for what was a somewhat surprisingly small part, and Collette's newly arrived brother, Steve Carell, a suicidal, gay professor who keeps exclaiming that he is the number one Proust expert in America.  The two children of the family are a 16-year old son by Collette's previous marriage who hates everone and everything and has taken a vow of silence and the couple's daughter, a plain, chubby seven-year old obsessed with beauty pageants, played by the remarkably good Abigail Breslin.

When she has the opportunity to appear as a finalist in the Little Miss Sunshine competition in California, the family have little more than a day and a half to make the long journey from New Mexico in their cheery yellow van with its broken gear box -- a journey filled with incident.  When they finally reach their destination the real fun begins and is at times laugh-out-loud funny.  I wasn't terribly taken with Carell in his breakthrough role as the 40-year old virgin, but he is excellent here, especially when he plays off Kinnear's uptight would-be-something.  The pageant itself is as black a satire as one could hope with the other prepubescent contestants coming across as a group of miniature hookers.  And when young Breslin goes into her highly salacious routine (she was coached by grandpa), the laughs are genuine and warming.  Her gobsmacked family feel the need to join in her joyful act and one loves them for accepting her and being able to shed their own inhibitions. 

Tags: Little Miss Sunshine, Steve Carell

Angel-A (2005)

Luc Besson is something of a one-man film industry in France as an uber-producer and writer; however he has directed relatively few movies himself and this one comes after a six-year gap (his last being a vanity piece for his then-wife.)  And it is very different indeed from the action films for which he is best-known ("Nikita", "Leon", and "The Fifth Element".)  In fact, it's a difficult movie to categorize, being some weird sort of supernatural love story.

On the one hand we have Jamel Debbouze, a scruffy five-foot nothing would-be crim who owes money to just about every bad egg in Paris.  When he contemplates suicide as the only solution to his woes, he meets up with Rie Rasmussen, a six-foot plus stunner in high heels as well, with legs that go on forever.  It is not a spoiler to tell you that she is an angel, assigned to sort out the miserable Debbouze and to make him embrace the feminine and more feeling parts of his being.  However she must first address his financial problems which she appears to do by picking up a stream of men on the dance floor, relieving them of a suitable amount of cash, and taking each out to the toilets for a quickie 'how's-your-father' (or so we and Debbouze are led to believe).  If ever a film deserved the epithet "quirky", this is it.

 

Anyhow Debbouze realises that he is falling in love with this aggressive giantess (she is adept at knocking out with a single blow any enemies encountered) and feels that his future must be with her, even if she, being an angel, already knows what destiny awaits him without her.  One probably could criticise Besson for settling for a conventional happy (?) ending to what had been a singularly unconventional story;  although there is a precedent in the German film "Wings of Desire", it somehow just didn't feel right here.  What I can't take away from Besson is the beautiful look of the film with its crisp black and white cinematography making Paris a third character in this fairytale, looking as glamourous as she ever has.

 

Tags: Luc Besson, Angel-A

Mystery of the Wax Museum (1933)

Long before the very recent loose re-make featuring Paris Hilton (I'd love to be able to say "Who she?"), there was the 1953 "House of Wax", which was probably the best of the first wave of 3-D movies and which was Vincent Price's breakthrough as a horror icon.  And before that film there was this relic from the 30s which is a "must view" for any serious horror fan.  I'm told that it was long- believed to be "lost", but I wonder about that since I have had a copy since the early 1980s.  However it is now readily available on DVD as an extra (!) on the Price version of the story, which is rather hilarious when you consider that it is quite possibly the better film.

Directed by Michael Curtiz, a remarkably versatile emigre to Hollywood, it was shot in early two-strip Technicolor which, combined with its art deco sets, gives it a unique look of pale pinks, blues and greys.  The mad sculptor here is played by Lionel Atwill who was later to become Holmes' nemesis Moriarty and the object of his desire to turn into a wax figure is Fay Wray, given every opportunity to practise her screaming before making the original "King Kong".  She is not actually the female lead; that role is taken by Glenda Farrell playing that stalwart 30s' role of snoopy, fast-talking gal-reporter.  This is a movie convention that I've never quite warmed to, but it doesn't really distract too much from this film's horror credentials.  This early version of the creepy tale is not one that makes you want to hide behind the sofa, but it does make you appreciate the many roots of horror as we now know it.  

Tags: Mystery of the Wax Museum, Michael Curtiz, Fay Wray

Transformers (2007)

Some movies are beyond criticism.  If I hadn't had tickets to a preview of this new blockbuster, I probably would not have seen it until it wended its way to satellite TV somewhere down the line.  For goodness sake, who would have believed that I could actually be sucked in by a film based on a commercial range of children's toys.  But then again, who would have thought that a movie based on a Disneyland ride could also be so watchable.  There is something to be said for having an open mind.

Michael Bay, king of the action movie, has done it again and this spectacular rollercoaster ride of a film is almost beyond belief.  Forget about the actual storyline which is complete nonsense from square one -- something about good autobots led by Optimus Prime vs. the bad decepticons led by Megatron, all shape-shifting robots.  The world and humankind are at stake and it all depends upon their locating Shia LaBeouf's great grandfather's eyeglasses!!  What keeps this film moving are the non-stop digital effects as ordinary vehicles and smaller metalware metamorphose into huge fighting machines.  It's a gung-ho effort from the army heroes and the boffins, but it all comes down to Shia's bravery mixed with his teenaged lust for foxy Megan Fox, and he acquits himself well with an appealing sense of humour.  Like I said at the start, some movies are beyond criticism, but this doesn't stop their being an entertaining ride.

Tags: Transformers, Shia LaBoeuf

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers (1946)

This oft-ignored noir has a lot going for it and should be better-known, especially as it appears to be in the public domain and freely available in discount bins (in transfers of varying quality).  The four leads are Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott, and Kirk Douglas in his very first film.   Now although I have a number of Douglas' movies in my collection, as he has appeared in some excellent flicks, and although he has an obvious talent, I have never warmed to the man; his roles usually seem to be screaming: "look at me and how macho I am!"

It wouldn't surprise me one little bit if this was a calculated reaction,  an instinctive kneejerk to the very weak and wishy-washy character he plays in this debut.  Stanwyck, Heflin, and he grew up together and share a dark secret concerning the death of her wealthy aunt.  Heflin had run away from his abusive family on the night in question; after seeing the world and distinguishing himself in battle, he returns to the town that Stanwyck now controls some eighteen years later.  He finds the other two married, with Douglas as the local district attorney, but it is clear who holds the reins and who wields the power.  Despite Heflin's interest in glamorous parolee Scott, Stanwyck -- not the most moral of women here and therefore a typical noir heroine -- wants him for her own just as much as she craved his company when they were teenagers.  Heflin is actually the first male lead in this movie and one can just about credit him and Stanwyck as contemporaries, but it takes a certain suspension of belief to believe that the then 30-year old Douglas and the 39-year old Stanwyck were childhood friends.  That apart, all of the acting is polished and the melodramatic action grinds to a satisfying denouement.  

Tags: Kirk Douglas, Barbara Stanwyck

Shirley Temple

As a movie buff I am something of a contradiction, since you could well ask why someone who can appreciate the goriest of horror films as well as the many charms of subtitled arthouse flicks could also be a sucker for little Shirley Tenple -- but I admit this unshamefacedly!  (I also like Deanna Durbin, but for somewhat different reasons.)

This confession is occasioned by my having re-watched two of her films within the last few days: "Curly Top" from 1935 (when she was seven) and "Little Miss Broadway" from 1938 (when she was ten).  In both of these she plays an orphan who brings song and laughter to the other orphans, especially in the earlier movie where the regime was strict, and in both she is adopted by men who find her irresistible (don't even think how this might be taken nowadays -- the '30s were a time of innocence).   Wherever she went, she spread joy and happiness and the Depression era audience lapped this up; it is no secret that she single-handedly saved the Fox Studio from collapse.  She is so talented and self-confident as she dances about on her chubby little legs, that it is easy to understand her appeal.  In the earlier movie she sings "Animal Crackers in my Soup" one of her best-known turns and it is only when her adult co-stars (John Boles and Rochelle Hudson here) start crooning as well, that one appreciates the difference between magic and mere competence.

The other thing I love about her films, at least through 1940's "The Blue Bird" is the wonderful supporting casts she was given.  Not so much in the earlier movie under discussion here (although Arthur Treacher's butler is a treat), but in the later movie we not only get the charming Miss Temple but also have a dancing George Murphy (who became a California politician while Ronald Reagan was still in B-roles), Jimmy Durante, Edna May Oliver doing one of her comic snooty turns, and the ever-reliable Donald Meek who made every screen appearance of his a memorable one.  And I could name a dozen more.

Shirley wisely retired at age 21 and although some of her teenaged roles were pretty memorable too, they did on average lack the brilliance of her unforgettable early turns.  Fortunately for us we have the celluloid record to fall back upon and can admire the bounty bestowed by this incredibly gifted child.

Tags: Shirley Temple

Alice Adams (1935)

I have probably too many favourite actors, actresses, and directors to be considered truly discriminating, but there are normally one or more films amongst their output that I can not bring myself to like, regardless how hard I try.  For example, John Ford's "Gideon's Day" is the exception that proves the rule in his case (with "Mogambo" running a close second).  However, with Katharine Hepburn, I can not think of a single studio film which does not wow me; even most of her later television movies are pretty terrific.  And I would include those movies that she made in the late '30s which got her labeled "box office poison" before her comeback with "The Philadelphia Story".

This film was made just before that darkish period in her career and is now an overlooked classic, although at the time it was Oscar-nominated for best picture and best actress (neither of which it won).  The young Hepburn is positively radiant as the small-town would-be social-climber who is looked down upon by the local snobs as being from too poor a family to matter.  The sight of her attending a dance in her two-year old frock with a handful of dying violets which she purloined from the local park is heartbreaking.  She so wants to be popular  and tries every ploy to be noticed by anyone but the fat mother's boy who is her only dance partner.  But she catches the eye of visiting rich boy Fred MacMurray, then in the heart-throb phase of his very long career -- before becoming a noir anti-hero mid-career and a Disney paterfamilias when older.  He sees the sweetness and beauty behind her pretensions and even a disastrous dinner party with her family on the hottest night of the year, with its stodgy menu and comic laid-back hired help (Hattie McDaniel in a magical turn), does not turn him off, nor do the tongue-wagging rumours about her father and ne'er-do-well brother.  It's a lovely bit of Americana from a Booth Tarkington novel and really vintage Hepburn.

Tags: Katharine Hepburn, Alice Adams, movies

The Death of Mr. Lazarescu (2005)

Now while I admit that I have seen virtually no Romanian films, I was very reluctant to go to see this Cannes prizewinner at its London Film Festival showing nor at its limited cinema release, despite having heard raves about it, since I know myself well enough to realise that I have trouble at the best of times sitting still through any 150 minute movie.  And now that I finally have viewed it, I must confess some disappointment since it arrived with so much hype and positive baggage.

First of all, apart from its length, it is not an easy watch.  A 62-year old man who lives alone except for his three cats is feeling poorly, so he telephones for an ambulance which doesn't arrive.  Meanwhile he nurses himself with poor-quality drink and whatever medication is at hand.  Some hours later a neighbour finally gets an ambulance to take him to hospital (he has just about collapsed in the meantime) and here is where the sorry tale gets even worse.  Despite a female paramedic who displays some sympathy and who stays with him without taking the simplest option of dumping him somewhere, he goes from pillar to post as various hospitals reject him for one reason or another and he is shifted from one to the next, encountering all manner of medical folk from the disdainful to the concerned, but without anyone taking in the urgency of his ailments.  He doesn't actually die in this film, although we last see him alone on a hospital gurney awaiting the necessary operation, but we can take it as read that he isn't long for this world.  The character's full name is Dante Remus Lazarescu which must be symbolic.  Dante wrote about the circles of hell and Mr. L just might be experiencing these in the medical twilight of a very long night.  The Remus, one of the founders of Rome, I'm not too sure about.  As for Lazarus who rose from the dead, I somehow doubt that we are being presented with another likely instance.

It's a very sad film -- certainly not a black comedy as I have seen it described -- and possibly too realistic a depiction of what can happen with uncaring or over-worked, state-subsidised health workers.  Not a pretty picture by any stretch of the imagination. 

Tags: The Death of Mr Lazarescu

Street Trash (1987)

I don't think this movie has ever been certificated here and it's no big surprise. Having seen a grotty pirate copy some years ago, I just got my paws on a Region One disc of the remastered film and it remains a trashy treat.  The movie focuses on the denizens of a junkyard -- runaways, degenerates, drunks, deviants, nutty 'Nam vets, etc.  When the local hooch shop finds an old crate of "Viper" behind a wall, the owner decides to sell it off to the bums for a dollar a bottle.  The only problem is that it makes the drinker melt into a technicolor mess of goo, apart from one very fat guy who explodes instead -- into dozens of colourful bits.  Yes, it's that kind of movie and it gets a perfect 4/10 rating on Deep Red's gore score.  We are also treated (if I can use that word) to castrations, decapitations, and some very graphic sex, but all depicted with great humour and style.

This movie is the sole directorial effort of one Jim Muro.  However, he is better-known today as J. Michael Muro and he became one of the most sought-after Steadicam operators in the business, working on dozens of A-list films, before graduating to head cinematographer on movies like "Open Range" and "Crash".  This movie is probably "trash" like it's title, but it's actually beautifully-shot trash.  A production assistant on this flick was Bryan Singer -- better known today as the director of "Ordinary Suspects" and "X-Men", so it just goes to show you where some major talents begin.

I have seen writers claim that this movie was inspired by Japanese master Kurosawa's 1970 film Dodes Ka-den which also follows the stories of a bunch of shanty-town inhabitants, but I don't think anyone is likely to confuse the two films.  Although each has its strengths,  I think this one might actually be the more enjoyable for the strong-stomached viewer, since it has something to offend just about everyone.

Tags: Street Trash, Muro

Mephisto (1981)

This is the first of three films made in German by Hungarian director Istvan Szabo and starring Klaus Maria Brandauer; people consider them a trilogy, but apart from all being absolutely brilliant barn-storming turns by Brandauer and being period-pieces, they are not three parts of the same story, although all deal in their own way with man's weaknesses and vanity.

This Oscar-winner is the story of an actor in Germany in the mid-1930s whose ambition and talent lead him into another world.  Having started with radical theatre in Hamburg, the actor moves to Berlin at the time when the Nazis are ascending to power.  Although strongly anti-Nazi originally, he becomes something of a Vicar of Bray character and mouths whatever propaganda is appropriate to further his career.  He becomes the director of the State Theatre but this gain is only accomplished at the cost of losing his liberal wife, his black mistress, and most of his friends.  His best known role is Mephisto from the Faust legend and his rise is a parable of selling one's soul.  Although he feels that he is tight with the Prime Minister and can do no wrong, he soon discovers that even he must learn his place when he is cut down to size on asking one favour too many.  At the end he is taken to the new Olympic Stadium where he is transfixed by spotlights in the centre of the field; the analogy of a frightened rabbit caught in a headlight's glare is only too apparent.  We can sell out for a while, but the viewer is reminded that the devil always gets his due.

Tags: Mephisto, Klaus Maria Brandauer

Children of the Corn (1984)

There have been a number of horror franchises which created umpteen sequels, normally with diminishing returns, and this adaptation of a Stephen King short story is as guilty as any.  So I thought it was time to have another look to see how the original film holds up today, and you know what, it wasn't half bad.  In fact it was more than half good.  The first three-quarters or so which found young couple Peter Horton and Linda Hamilton (just before her "Terminator" breakthrough) stranded in a deserted town where, it turns out the youngsters, who have been following a young "messiah", have killed off all the adults and worship the surrounding endless cornfields, is actually quietly frightening.  It is part of their religion that the members of this new community must sacrifice themselves to He Who Walks Behind the Corn (or somesuch) on their l9th birthday.  No pesky adults here, thank you very much, as Horton and Hamilton are pursued.

In fact the two leaders of the cult, the spokesman and his murderous henchman, were suitably scary for much of the film.  However, the movie falls apart in the final quarter when an unnecessary monster is introduced and needs to be destroyed.  Frankly the children blindly following this perverted religion were monstrous enough.  This first film from director Fritz Kiersch, who hasn't made much of interest since, actually maximises its obviously miniscule budget and does in fact deserve the cult following it achieved on video.

Tags: Horror franchises, Children of the Corn

It All Came True (1940)

I was about to sit down and write my reactions to "The Weather Man" (2005) which I watched last night, as depressing a waste of time for a mainstream movie as imaginable.  That film does have its fans, but the spectacle of Nicholas Cage playing an overpaid but unqualified TV weather reporter while the world around him falls apart -- his disapproving Pulitzer-prize winning dad (Michael Caine) is dying of cancer, his wife has a new love interest, and his kids have their own problems -- left me feeling pretty grim; although possibly originally intended as a comedy, it was anything but.  So it was time to cheer myself up and the above golden oldie really did the trick.

I had forgotten the happiness with which so many pictures of this period glow and this minor example, long forgotten by modern viewers is a fine instance.  A Warner Brothers flick from the period when Humphrey Bogart was still playing largely unredeemed gangsters, it gives him a chance to expand his persona to show both humour and ultimately humanity.  On the lam from a shooting at his nightclub, he blackmails pianist Jeffrey Lynn into letting him hide out at the theatrical boarding house run by his mother (Jessie Busley) and her wonderful Irish cook, Una O'Connor.  Here too lives Lynn's childhood sweetheart, Ann Sheridan -- the original "oomph" girl given the chance here to exercise her pretty impressive vocal chords -- and a collection of theatrical relics, including Zasu Pitts of silent era dramatic fame, but given a fine bit of comic business here, and the wonderful character actor Felix Bressart, playing a retired magician called The Great Boldoni, whose act is continuously and amusingly undermined by a very talented performing dog.

This is just a small sample of the wonders which this film bestows.  Since the ladies risk losing the house through unpaid bills, Bogart who is being overly mothered by the two old biddies decides that they should turn the place into a nightclub called "The Roaring 90s".  Miraculously the drawing room and dining room expand some tenfold and the mixture of old-fashioned atmosphere and entertainment turns the place into a money-making hit; we are also treated to some wonderful period entertainment from singing waiters, a barbershop quartet, and a high-kicking chorus of old dears -- long before this became a comic staple later on in the century.  Yes, it's all something of a fairy tale and even Bogie is redeemed as the cops finally cart him off.  Oh, happy days! 

Tags: Humphrey Bogart, Anne Sheridan, It All Came True

Ronin-gai (1990)

The trouble with much Japanese period drama is its slow pace and overall lack of leavening humour; its strengths are well-developed characterisations and an eye for historic detail.  That said, there is not a lot to differentiate this film from so many others, although it does have many points of interest and is well worth the watch.  Set towards the end of the Samurai era, it concerns a number of ronin (now masterless warriors) who have come well down in the world and who eke out an existence among the lowest classes.  They spend their days drinking and gambling and would give anything to regain their former stature.  The main character is in love with one of the whores, but can only stir himself by the promise of money when her life is in danger from a renegade group of the Shogun's men, who have been terrorizing and murdering the local "degenerates".  A suitably bloody battle follows, but it is a long time coming.

There are a number of interesting personalities amongst these down-and-out ronin, including a massive man called 'Bull' played by Shintaro Katsu, star of the enormous Zatoichi series, a spurned suitor of the lead's love interest who also excels in the final battle, and a man reduced to selling birds who keeps dreaming up ways to raise the money for bribes so that he can rejoin his clan.  Katsu's character is particularly interesting as he agrees to act as one of the rogue samurai's dog and is afraid to intervene, until emboldened by drink he redeems himself by a spectacular death.  The flick is dedicated to the memory of one Shozo Makino on the 60th anniversary of his death; active between 1909 and 1928, he is considered the father of Japanese period movies -- and no, I never heard of him either.

Tags: Japanese, Ronin-gai

Eight Below (2006)

It is always a more than pleasant surprise when a movie that one does not expect to be any great shakes turns out to be a stunner -- and this is the case here.  The human leads are all more than adequate, but the real stars are the immaculately trained sled dogs whose story it really is.  Paul Walker, whom I usually find to be among the blandest of modern young leads, plays a dog team handler and guide who spends six months of the year in Antarctica; his humourous sidekick is Jason Biggs of "American Pie" notoriety, and an interesting-looking female called Moon Bloodgood is the local pilot and love interest.  When Walker and the doggies are transporting visiting scientist Bruce Greenwood who is searching for a rare meteorite, the latter breaks his leg and Walker and the dogs save his life.  However when they both move out for hospital treatment, Walker must leave the chained team of eight dogs behind, and because of unusually fierce weather is unable to keep his promise to come back for them.  However he can not rest until he knows their fate and spends the rest of the film trying to get back to the abandoned base.

Meanwhile we are given a privileged look at how most of the team managed to survive in the stark (and magnificently photographed) arctic landscape for the best part of half a year.  Apparently this is inspired by a true story originally told in a 1983 Japanese film called "Nankyoku Monogatari" and the writer of that film is also a writer on this Disney production.  True or not, it is a wonderfully inspiring story and any dog lover will probably find himself moved to tears.  By and large it is also a more than suitable movie for the kiddies, although there is one scary bit involving a leopard seal which is just about on a par with the first time Jaws raised his ugly head.

Tags: Eight Below, doggies

Acacia (2003)

There seems to be a neverending supply of remarkable Korean films and this one is a fine addition, not so much to the horror genre but to the cinema of unease.  A prosperous young couple -- he a doctor and she an artsy-craftsy type -- are unable to conceive and decide to adopt, choosing a six-year old boy who spends most of his time drawing family groups in the style of Munch's 'Scream'.  He eventually but somewhat reluctantly accepts his new home, and is fascinated by the acacia tree in the garden which is not quite dead, but which has not blossomed for some years; he wishes to bring it back to life, especially since he has been told by some well-meaning fool that his dead natural mother has been reincarnated as a tree.  As luck would have it, after many years of unsuccessful attempts, the wife becomes pregnant and soon gives birth to a child which poses a threat to the boy's new life (especially since the wife's mother keeps suggesting that perhaps he should be returned to the orphanage and that he is likely to harm the newborn.)

So he runs away -- or does he?  Suddenly the tree begins to blossom and turns murderous hospitalising the wife's mother by its suffocating perfume and killing the husband's father by having him eaten by ants (!) - yuk. And suddenly there is no longer any love between husband and wife as they attempt to kill each other.  When the true facts are revealed, they are meant to explain the strange phenomena, but do not expect any kind of rational explanations here.  Korean cinema also seems to have a copious supply of spooky-looking children and the blank face of the youngster here is matched by that of the girl who lives nextdoor (who announces that she is a vampire -- she has some sort of blood disorder --and who wanders the garden like a vengeful spirit.)  Creepy indeed.

Tags: Korean cinema, Acacia

When a Woman Ascends the Stairs (1960)

This film is the centerpiece of the current Mikio Naruse season at the National Film Theatre and has had numerous recent reviews, most of which dub it a masterpiece.  I am not so certain.  Naruse's films are not terribly well-known in the West -- the last season of his films was ten years ago, but in Japan he is apparently highly considered in the same breath as Ozu, Mizoguchi, and Kurosawa.  Now although I have seen very few of his emormous output (and he was active from the silent period), on the strength of this one, I remain to be convinced.

Its heroine, beautifully played by Hideko Takamine, is a widow, slightly past her prime who makes a living as a hostess at Ginza clubs.  She may need to grind her teeth and gird her loins each time that she ascends the stairs to enter the club, but despite the distasteful nature of her work she keeps her dignity and chastity.  We follow her as she tries to secure her future, either by raising the funds to open her own club without having to give herself sexually in exchange or by marrying a wealthy man (assuming she can find one to accept her).  None of her hopes materialize and when she finally gives herself to the married man that she loves, this too proves to be a dead end for her.  She can only continue to carry on, especially since her hopeless mother and brother are constantly demanding funds.  In this sense, the film thematically had a great deal in common with "The White Countess" below.

However, despite being a realistic depiction of a woman's fortitude, the sheer hopelessness of virtue being its own reward was more than a little dispiriting.  Moreover the film was not even any kind of cinematic treat with a nearly static camera minimising the action.  I found it the work of a more than competent director, but not really the "masterpiece" I was expecting.

Tags: Mikio Naruse