One of the last times Ishiro Honda would find time in his schedule of making monster movies to make something small again, Be Happy, These Two Lovers is the smallest film that Honda had made. It's more in line with the output of Yasujiro Ozu than anything Honda had made up to that point. It's also a wonderfully accomplished little family melodrama about two young people who marry despite their parents' objections and the travails of an early marriage. The focus on character is clear and precise, laying the groundwork for a marvelous bit of pathos by the end.
Hisao Wakao (Hiroshi Koizumi) works in the sales department of a fishery. One day, his branch manager, Nishigaki (Takeo Oikawa) asks him to marry his daughter, a girl he's met once. The same day, he receives a letter from his mother (Yuriko Hanabusa) telling him that she's arranged for a marriage interview with another girl. In response, Wakao walks up to Masako (Yumi Shirakawa), a girl in the office, invites her to a movie, and tells her his predicament. He loves her, and she is quick to return the feeling. The problem for Masako is that, after the death of her older brother, her father (Takashi Shimura) has become extremely protective of his two daughters, the older of whom, Chizuko (Keiko Tsushima), married Toshio (Toshiro Mifune) against her father's wishes.
Wakao's insistence on pursuing the desires of his heart with Masako instead of any potential benefits to his career by marrying the branch manager's daughter, an offer that goes to Nakajima (Yoshifumi Tajima) instead, is the defining choice of the film, and everything else feeds from that. The first half is defined by Masako's father trying to exert his will on her, Chizuko and Toshio offering what help they can, and the central pair going against every outside word to do what they want for their happiness. It ends with their wedding, and I've never gotten choked up hearing the Bridal Chorus by Wagner during a wedding scene, but the way Honda has it develop, with Toshio started it on his horn and it developing from there plays just right.
The second half of the film is on the two trying to make their way, on their own, in their troubling few weeks and months of their marriage. It starts with Wakao seeing the potential promotion go to Nakajima. He ruminates with Kosugi (Hirota Kisaragi), the section chief forced to move to Osaka to make room for Nakajima to become the new section chief in Tokyo. At his going away party, Kosugi decides to take a swing at Nakajima for his insolence at the whole situation, an altercation that Wakao gets in the middle of leading to him giving up his position at a time when there are 700,000 unemployed men in Japan. There are communication problems since Wakao doesn't want to tell Masako of his shame. Money grows increasingly tight. Their relationship continues to strain as it becomes obvious to Masako that Wakao is hiding things from her, including his frustration with the overall situation stemming from his decision to marry her.
The film's resolution is such a wonderful collection of events as the two look through their situation, get advice from Chizuko and Toshio, and reach a life-affirming place that feels wonderful as it plays out. Really, this is the sort of thing I was looking forward to when I decided to check out as much of the work of Ishiro Honda I could. I had this feeling that his real worth as an artist was in these smaller movies, and it pains me that I cannot find more of them. Lovetide, People of Tokyo, Goodbye, A Young Tree. These are the films I wanted to discover most, especially as a contrast to the monster mashes that defined Honda's career. If Be Happy, These Two Lovers is any indication, there's a wealth of artistic merit that Toho is simply letting languish in their vaults.
But that's a larger narrative.
The narrative here in this film is intimate, small-scale, and wonderfully realized. The central performance is Koizumi as Wakao, and he gets a lot of space to play his restrained emotions well. Mifune's part as Masako's brother-in-law allows him to charm his way through his scenes. Shimura has a surprising harshness as Masako's father as well. Honda films everything cleanly and intelligently, and, despite the obvious comparisons to Ozu, films far too actively to ever be confused with the quiet Japanese master.
Still, the overall package is a delight. A clear-eyed melodrama with restrained, Japanese form, Be Happy, These Two Lovers was a very good little discovery in the middle of a career that pushed in a very different direction. Honda was much more than monster mayhem. Now, though, that we're going to have nothing but monster mayhem for most of the rest of his career, let's make it good monster mayhem.
