Kinoshita’s seemingly disparate fusion of effervescent comedy and subversive satire is particularly evident in this first, all-color Japanese feature. Filmed in 1952 at the end of American occupation, Kinoshita presents a thoughtful, humorous, and (still) relevant commentary on the legacy of cultural imperialism enabled by the Occupation. Within this framework, the tongue-in-cheek characterization of a naïve, scatterbrained heroine serves as an acerbic metaphor for the nation’s collective amnesia in the aftermath of the Pacific War.

Strictly Film School

It is this contrast, of boisterousness and serenity, of the modern and the traditional, of liberalism and conservatism, that best sums up Kinoshita’s film. In the larger scheme of things, the film’s existence in colour, amongst a sea of black-and-white movies at the time of its release, also parallels this notion of contrast.

Filmnomenon