Janne Wass
Tômei ningen or The Invisible Man, released just prior to New Year's Eve 1954, was Toho's second science fiction film and Japan's second invisible man film, all in all the country's third (known and confirmed) sci-fi movie. Filmed in a rush to capitalise on Gojira's success, the movie has its moments, and Eiji Tsuburaya's special effects are fairly solid. A complete departure from H.G. Wells, Tomei ningen serves up touching some touching drama and a generic film noir mob plot, and mixes in some song and dance numbers.Japan's first sci-fi movie was Tômei ningen arawaru (1949), or The Invisible Man Appears. Made for movie studio Daiei, the invisibility effects of that film were made by Eiji Tsuburaya, before his move to Toho. In 1954 Toho apparently wanted to do their own slant on the theme, and subsequently had Tsuburaya re-work his magic.The film opens with a car hitting something invisible in the middle of Tokyo. While examining the accident, an invisible man (Haruo Nakajima) suddenly becomes visible, dead under the car. In his pocket police find a letter, explaining that this invisible man decided to commit suicide,but that there is one other man like him, invisible, living in the city. Taking advantage of the situation, a gang of criminals calling themselves "the invisible men" start looting race-tracks and banks wearing bandages over their heads. The criminals are organised by a mob boss called Yajima (Minoru Takada), who is also the owner of the nightclub Black Ships, from where he runs an illegal drug business. His right-hand man Ken (Kenjirô Uemura) tries to intimidate the club's singer Michiyo (Miki Sanjô) into become a drug mule, but she refuses, leading him to assault her in her dressing-room, only to be interrupted by the clown Takamitsu Nanjô (Seizaburô Kawazu). Nanjô works as a clown in full make-up, carrying advertisement signs for the club around town, and happens to be a neighbour of Michiyo's. This kind and unassuming clown is also, surprise, surprise, the invisible man. His best friend in the world is a little blind girl called Mariko (Keiko Kondo). She lives alone with her grandfather (Kamatari Fujiwara), who works as a nightwatchman, and becomes a victim of the criminal gang.Newspaper reporter Komatsu (Yoshio Tsuchiya) finds out the ugly truth behind the governments program to create invisible super- soldiers during WWII. He helps the invisible to take on the criminal gang, to clear the invisible man's name, and avenge Mariko. Eiji Tsuburaya basically employs the same techniques as Universal's genius John P. Fulton had in The Invisible Man 22 years earlier.The effects are few and far between, no doubt because of the tight shooting schedule. On the whole, it's a slow-moving and rather dull affair. None of the characters are ever fleshed out, and remain cardboard cut-outs. There's the good guys and the bad guys, the little orphaned girl and the damsel in distress. The bad guys walk around shouting and sneering, the good guys are kind-hearted and noble. The acting is decent enough throughout the film. The stand-out is Yoshio Tsuchiya, playing the reporter, who may be familiar to sci-fi fans through his appearance in numerous Toho tokusatsu films. Thematically the film partly deals with the age-old topic of the outsider. Like H.C. Andersen's ugly duckling or Cinderella of the folktale, Nanjô the clown is a person whom people walk past every day without taking notice of, but when the stakes are high the people around him see him as the hero he is inside. On the other hand, it is a tale of someone forced to hide their true identity for fear of persecution of being different, a theme popular in sci-fi from Mary Shelley's Frankenstein onward, and popularised in the later half of the 20th century with rising awareness of gay rights. However, the story may also reflect on the feelings of many Japanese war veterans after WWII. After surrendering in 1945, Japan was occupied by allied forces, mainly American, who forced upon them the doctrine that Japan had fought an aggression war, and enforced a strict censorship in the arts and media. Many war veterans felt that their sacrifices for Japan were demonised, that they weren't compensated for their loss and injuries and were on the whole forgotten and discarded by the Japanese government – very much like invisible men who had to put on masks to cope with daily life. But be the interpretations what they may, these themes aren't explored in earnest in the film, instead the script focuses on the personal drama and the generic crime plot. The film is rather violent for its day, and it doesn't go easy on its women. See for example a scene of a club dancer held prisoner by the criminal gang, suspended in rope bondage in a skimpy outfit – and brutally whipped. As a special effects film it is so-so. As a mob drama it's a bit too generic to be appealing, and the characters are too flat for a good personal drama. Like its Japanese predecessor, the film has a hard time finding its genre, jumping from one to the other, sort of trying on different hats familiar from Hollywood to see which of them fits best.
OllieSuave-007
This movie, known in the U.S. as "The Invisible Man," was the first sci-fi film from Toho released after the original "Godzilla." It is about Takemitsu Nanjo, an invisible man who makes his living visibly, painting his face resembling a clown and carrying advertisement signs. His favorite neighbor is a blind girl, whose mother is being hounded by gangsters, who are also terrorizing the city in a string of robberies. Therefore, Nanjo has to use his invisibility to his advantage and save his friends and rid the cities of this menace.This is a very dramatic movie from Toho, full of in depth characters and a solid plot. It definitely has the film-noir/crime drama feel, but with a sci-fi twist to it. The special effects were really good and the relationship between Nanjo and the blind girl is very heartwarming. While a pretty somber film, there are some lighthearted moments as well including the part where a man is bewildered when he witnessed a motorcycle riding by itself. Actor Seizaburô Kawazu plays the part of the Invisible Man. He also appeared as the Gangster Boss in the monster film "Dogora, the Space Monster" (1964) and played the role of the General in "Mothra," (1961).Overall, a descent movie from the film-noir genre.Grade B
CommandoCody
In this Oriental rendition of H.G. Wells' Invisible Man, Japan discovers the secret of invisibility near the end of WWII. They also found some eager volunteers to give the transparent treatment. Presumably (I say that because my Japanese isn't what it should be), the intent was for them to wreak unseen havoc against American forces. Fortunately, the A-bombs ended the war. Nine years later, one of the invisible men commits suicide and leaves a note telling the nation that another one is roaming about amongst them. Naturally, this throws Japan into a tizzy.So, what's an invisible warrior to do when he has no one to fight? Luckily, for viewers, a gang of vicious crooks provide an answer. Dressed up in gauze bandages and trench coats they commit a series of daring robberies and terrorize law-abiding citizens as "The Invisible Gang." Ultimately, the phony invisible men learn the hard way that they are no match for a real one.The special effects are decent for 1954. The film's lighting is poor at times. I guess to help hide any special effects shortcomings. The pace is sometimes slow as well but I thought the quality of the acting was more than acceptable and a lot better than that in most Japanese horror movies. The story is also not without its share of good moments. Still, one notion struck me as odd. Why create invisible men, then tell them to get lost? An obvious answer might be that the research was taking place in Hiroshima in August 1945. An elusive film (not dubbed in English) worth a look, if you can find it.
Glenn Andreiev
Made at about the same time as the first Godzilla film in 1954, this is the first known Japanese sci-fi film. THE INVISIBLE MAN begins with a bang. A car travelling on a Tokyo street runs over an unseen mass. The motorist gets out and watches, out of thin air, a bloodied dead man appear under the car. The reporter investigates, and discovers that a local band of criminals is being menaced and taunted by an invisible man. The film has the usual surreal, dreamlike, sometimes humorous, sometimes touching nuances found in the more famous and available Inosira Honda Japanese monster films. The ending has a fiery end that feels influenced by Warner Brothers' 1949 WHITE HEAT. I always have fun watching this rare film.
