Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

UnowPriceless hyped garbage

Afouotos Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Kaelan Mccaffrey Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

Martin Bradley Keisuke Kinoshita is perhaps among the least known, here in the West, of all the great Japanese directors and his films are not often seen here. His 1954 film "Twenty-Four Eyes" is one of his very best pictures yet it is hardly known at all now despite having won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Film, (it's sentimental story of an inspirational teacher is just the sort of thing that would appeal to an American audience though this masterpiece is altogether deeper). What distinguishes it from, say, a similar American film is not only Kinoshita's superb narrative but a wonderful feeling for landscape, (it's set on one of Japan's largest islands), as well as the beautifully naturalistic performances of all of the children. At over two and a half hours it never outstays its welcome despite most of its major dramas happening off screen. It's also one of the most subtle of all post-war Japanese films to touch on political issues as well as the War itself, (it begins in 1928 and covers a period of 18 years). It is also a film of considerable charm and is, finally, incredibly moving. This is a real discovery that should rightly restore Kinoshita to the very front rank of world class directors.

thomaskasaki 25 years ago I made up my mind I would move to Japan. So I wrote to people in Japan who had lived there for over thirty years, and asked them what would be the #1 movie I should watch that encapsulated the spirit of the Japanese.They all suggested "24 Eyes". Now, after having lived in a strictly Japanese environment for five years, and having seen well over thirty Japanese movies, not to mention over a thousand hours of TV shows and animae, it is still the #1 to me. By today's standards it will seem extremely "G" rated, a little too slow and a bit too long. But for those who want to really understand people, and where they are coming from, I can't think of a better movie to recommend. I wish every culture, particularly those that may be going extinct, would use this movie as a guideline to tell their story.

lreynaert One should be very careful when one uses superlatives, but, 'Twenty-Four Eyes' is one of the best movies ever made. Moreover, it is more than ever highly topical, albeit shot in black and white. It is the story of the emotional link between a junior teacher and her class of 12 children.Keisuke Kinoshita's movie tackles directly such crucial issues as freedom of speech (if you speak out against the war, you could lose your job), as calling a spade a spade (a war means simply killing people), as the choice between war and peace, between love and hate, between care (for the children) and selfishness and between sincerity and deceit or worse denouncement. His movie makes one understand that there is an all powerful authority which intervenes behind the scene in people's lives, by manipulating public opinion and by trying to turn the population (and mostly its children and young men) into deaf-mute pawns in order to use them as cannon fodder. Another means is starving the dissidents by firing them. Keisuke Kinoshita's characters are anchored in real life with its poverty (nothing to eat, or no money to go to school), its illnesses (tuberculosis), its accidents and, most importantly, the war and its victims.Keisuke Kinoshita knows what true art is. It is not an expression of emotions, but the creation of emotions (involvement) into the spectator's heart. His movie stands in sharp contrast with the actual avalanche of movie products pieced together with Meccano aliens (concocted with special effects) fighting human killers, while both are shouting their immoral gospel of violence and death. A truly cold world, and in no way the warm atmosphere created by Keisuke Kinoshita's school teacher. 'Twenty-Four Eyes' was shot by a director with a big heart, who made simply an everlasting sublime movie. A must see.

crossbow0106 For English speaking people, there are not many movies available on DVD starring Hideko Takamine. This is one, and it is a masterpiece. Ms. Takamine plays a schoolteacher in a small Inland Sea village in Japan. The movie's time line is twenty years, from 1928 to 1948. These turbulent times affect the students she teaches, some of whom went off to war. There are many tears in this film, from the children and Takamine's character. The fact that "Auld Lang Syne" is used at times for background music heightens the feelings of loss & sadness, which does make up some of the story. This is somewhat of an anti-war film, but only as it affects the children and the teacher. Ms. Takamine is luminous in this role, as she is in every movie I've ever seen her in. The fact that the director Kinoshita Keisuke also directed her in "Carmen Comes Home" (the first ever Japanese film in color), a film light years away from this one, shows off their versatility in their craft. The only complaint I have is small, that the subtitles are somewhat annoying, since they are sometimes out of sync. However, a great movie is a great movie. This film won the Golden Globe for Best Foreign Language Film. It is a richly deserved honor.