It is the excellent film stock and photography of this Fitzpatrick travelogue that make it worthwhile to see in the year 2008. By now most of the women shown in it have probably died, and one wonders how much modern Japan really resembles the society shown in this 1937 short. But it does have it's point. Fitzpatrick shows the loves of flowers including tulips but also cherry blossoms in Japan, and then shows how the love of flower is mirrored in the dressing and coiffuring of women in the country. The hairdos of Japanese ladies were supposed to tell you everything about them (married, single, widowed, childless, having children). So was the kimono, but even more the fancy styled obi (sash) which was to show social class and wealth. So you do learn something still from this travelogue, though how much of it is still relevant is another matter.
4 Reviews
Nice photography and film, and some information on flowers and the ladies of Japan
theowinthrop24 June 2008
Warning: Spoilers
Okay ep of TravelTalks -- Japan
ksf-220 March 2018
Floral Japan.. this from the 1937 chapter of TravelTalks, by FitzPatrick. Very pretty fields of flowers, but SO much time spent showing the exact steps of putting together the complicated hairdo on the ladies of Japan. and just a couple short years after this, we would be at war with Japan. There were so many beautiful things to highlight, I wish they had spent more time on showing attractions found there, instead of all that time on doing the hairdo. He had been doing these shorties for over ten years by now, but this isn't his best one. He DOES get extra credit for letting americans see places that probably very few had or would ever visit, but there are so many better episodes than this one.
When It's Tulip Time In Japan
boblipton14 July 2020
James A. Fitzpatrick sends the Technicolor cameras to Japan, so WiIlfrid Cline can take pictures of flowers, women in traditional clothing, and stones, which seem to be essential to gardening. Then Maria Grever offers a lush, sentimental score, and Fitzpatrick offers his usual multisyllabic peroration.
There's a long segment on ladies' hairdressing, with details that make it clear that the Japanese, while different from us, are in many ways the same. It's just a matter of expression. There's a long-running impression of the similarity of people across the world, just different ways of expressing it.
The colors in the print that plays on Turner Classic Movies is in pretty good shape; you might not believe the colors, true though they are.
There's a long segment on ladies' hairdressing, with details that make it clear that the Japanese, while different from us, are in many ways the same. It's just a matter of expression. There's a long-running impression of the similarity of people across the world, just different ways of expressing it.
The colors in the print that plays on Turner Classic Movies is in pretty good shape; you might not believe the colors, true though they are.
TravelTalks
Michael_Elliott21 March 2010
Floral Japan (1937)
*** (out of 4)
One of the better entries in the TravelTalks series takes us to Japan where the first few minutes take a look at the various flowers grown there. We see several different types and get to know their history but it's clear that the cherry blossom is the main viewing pleasure. After the look at the flowers we get to see the ladies of Japan and get to learn about certain ways of wearing their kimono and how their hair can tell you if they're single, married or widowed. As expected we get James A. FitzPatrick's wonderful narration to carry us through the film and the cinematography here is really top-notch. All of these shorts benefit from the Technicolor but this here more so than normal just because of all beautiful many of the flowers on display are. Certainly worth your 9-minutes if you come across it on TCM.
*** (out of 4)
One of the better entries in the TravelTalks series takes us to Japan where the first few minutes take a look at the various flowers grown there. We see several different types and get to know their history but it's clear that the cherry blossom is the main viewing pleasure. After the look at the flowers we get to see the ladies of Japan and get to learn about certain ways of wearing their kimono and how their hair can tell you if they're single, married or widowed. As expected we get James A. FitzPatrick's wonderful narration to carry us through the film and the cinematography here is really top-notch. All of these shorts benefit from the Technicolor but this here more so than normal just because of all beautiful many of the flowers on display are. Certainly worth your 9-minutes if you come across it on TCM.
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