An account of the friendship between two teenage girls, and the discovery of a secret in their respective parents’ past, Magokoro was based on a short story by Yojiro Ishizaka (1900-86). The focus on adolescence is typical of his writings, which were also the source for such distinguished films as Wakai hito (Young People, Shiro Toyoda, 1937) and Aoi sanmyaku (Blue Mountains, Tadashi Imai, 1949).

After the bleak mood of Hataraku ikka, Magokoro displays a surprisingly sunny and upbeat tone. But this change in mood is probably related to the increasingly tight censorship; as Susanne Schermann writes, “The restrictions imposed by the Film Law narrowed the range of subjects in which Naruse could play an active role, and the darker story content of his previous films was becoming impossible.” Although its central narrative is personal in theme, the wartime background (Japan had embarked on a full-scale war in China in 1937) is explicit in the film, which plays as a kind of ‘home front’ drama, especially in its patriotic climax.

Naruse was not in fact happy with the project, and the contemporary critical response was mixed. “Kinema Jumpo” critic Seiji Mizumachi was charmed by the “life and authenticity” of the interaction between the children, but found the treatment of the adult story less convincing. Nevertheless, he praised the way in which Naruse “deftly weaves together the various episodes” so that “removing any scene would throw the overall tone out of balance”. More recently, Catherine Russell has celebrated the “many scenes of quiet pastoral beauty”, and argued that “once again, Naruse subtly undermines the national policy mandates of the time”. Tetsuya Hirano hails Magokoro as “a delicate portrayal of the emotional turmoil experienced by young girls as they catch a glimpse of the adult world”, and claims that “the film has a multilayered flavour that goes beyond being just an adolescent film, with Naruse’s directorial technique reaching a new level of perfection”.

Alexander Jacoby e Johan Nordström