Introspection Tower 1941

Introspection Tower 1941
Mikaheri no tô (original title)
1h 52m | Drama | Release date: January 30, 1941 (Japan)

Storyline:

Problem kids come to a reformatory school where they live, study and work. Here there are no fences and no one is ever beaten. The kids steal, play pranks, run away and help fix a water problem. Reformed kids introspect and go back home.

User review:

Problem children are sent to a reformatory school without walls or fences, where the staff in charge practice modern methods and kindness to mold their behavior. For the first half of the movie, we see the problems: spoiled children, thieves, boys who pick fights, girls who tattle on each other or write to a widowed father how cruel the people in charge are. Some of the staff are downhearted at their failures, but a great project that may give the children a sense of accomplishment is in the offing.

The first half reminded me of BOY’S TOWN, although aspects of institutional, even national callousness shocked my 21st Century sensibilities. The Japanese attitude of a narrow, normative view of society, and the aphorism “the nail that sticks up gets hammered down” applies, albeit here with less physical hammering. The second half, in which the children work hard digging a channel to bring more water to the reformatory, seemed to me to be almost a children’s version of OUR DAILY BREAD, with its message of cooperation.

Director: Hiroshi Shimizu
Writers: Ryuji Kumano, Hiroshi Shimizu, Yoshio Toyoshima
Stars: Chimura Enoki, Teruo Furuya, Mamiko Harada
Country of origin: Japan
Language: Japanese
Also known as: Introspection Tower