Name: Aru kikanjoshi
Genre: Short
Duration: 37 min
Rating: 6.1

An interesting and well-photographed documentary depicting Japanese railways in the early 1960s, concentrating on the engineer and driver of a steam locomotive; a gricer's delight. It was filmed in 35 m.m. in colour so merely getting the camera onto the footplate was something of a feat even if- as I suspect- some of the scenes are re-enacted. Like every other film on railways I have seen it shows the pride in their skills and work common to all railwaymen and it moves from astonishing shots from the cabin showing the degree of awareness, skill and hard work needed to operate the train to examinations of the lives and training of the workers with brief glimpses of the passengers and station staff. Some commentators find a homo-erotic aspect in this film. It could be there but I think that it is more the obsession common to many marxists and socialists making documentaries with the effects of manual labour on the human physique that inspires Tsuchimoto's shots

The short form refers to creative works characterized by their brevity and concise storytelling. Unlike full-length feature films, short films have a running time of less than 45 minutes, while TV shorts have a running time of less than 22 minutes.

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This PR film on the safety of the Japanese National Railways was designed to be "self-criticism" after the big accident on the Joban line at Mikawashima Station, which had occurred in 1962.

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