The Best Old Movies on a Big Screen This Week: NYC Repertory Cinema, March 29-April 4
Invisible Man (1954)
Directed by Motoyoshi Oda
Out of all the really commendable selections of Japan Society’s “Beyond Godzilla,” this is the one you can’t miss. Released a month after Ishirō Honda’s Gojira (arguably the first Japanese sci-fi film), Invisible Man also features a political metaphor: it begins with the post-war Japanese government admitting that they created soldiers who became invisible but were assumed dead. Taking advantage of that secret, a bunch of criminals take on the features of invisible men known to the public (big trenchcoats, scarfs and dark glasses) to steal money and instill fear. The last (real) surviving invisible soldier has left war behind and now lives his life as a clown (the makeup both covers his deformity and renders him visible), but it’s he, the man of tradition, who must come forward to stop the criminals who’ve assumed American features and behaviors. While certainly a reactionary film, Invisible Man is also fun— its 70 minutes go quickly and leaving you wanting more from the characters, including a cute blind girl who’s lost her father, a wide-eyed reporter who acts more like a detective (another jab of social commentary from this seemingly inoffensive genre picture), and a mob boss with a kink for lashing women. This is a unique opportunity as the Japan Society has translated and subtitled this movie in English for the first time. Jaime Grijalba (April 1, 4:30pm at the Japan Society’s “Beyond Godzilla: Alternative Futures and Fantasies in Japanese Cinema”)