Mr. Hayashi
Mr. Hayashi
| 01 January 1961 (USA)
Mr. Hayashi Trailers

Bruce Baillie's Mr. Hayashi might be thought of as a putative East Coast story transformed by a West Coast sensibility. The narrative, slight as it is, mounts a social critique of sorts, involving the difficulty the title character, a Japanese gardener, has finding work that pays adequately. But the beauty of Baillie's black-and-white photography, the misty lusciousness of the landscapes he chooses to photograph, and the powerful silence of Mr. Hayashi's figure within them make the viewer forget all about economics and ethnicity. The shots remind us of Sung scrolls of fields and mountain peaks, where the human figure is dwarfed in the middle distance. Rather than a study of unemployment, the film becomes a study of nested layers of stillness and serenity.

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Reviews
TeenzTen

An action-packed slog

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Borgarkeri

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

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Stephanie

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

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Delight

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

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ackstasis

After the bewilderingly simple but relaxing 'All My Life (1966),' I was interested in checking out some more of Bruce Baillie's work. 'Mr. Hayashi (1961)' is an exquisitely photographed 3-minute short film that is in need of some more depth. Hardly experimental at all, the film briefly follows the plight of the titular Mr. Hayashi, an Asian immigrant gardener who has recently arrived in America, and needs a job. The beginning of the film carries the title "Mr. Hayashi. Gardening Work. $1.25 per hour. Contact Canyon Cinema," suggesting that the short was actually an advertisement that Baillie was good enough to film for the unemployed Hayashi. In this case, the film's lack of depth is more understandable; however, there was still some great potential behind this man's story, and that it was inadequately explored is certainly something of a disappointment.What I liked about 'Mr. Hayashi' is how it drew a portrait, however brief, of a simple man with a great story. Experimental filmmakers often admired the "normal people" over the celebrity; Ed Emshwiller's 'George Dumpson's Place (1965),' for example, was about a lowly African-American craftsman (that the film itself wasn't very interesting is a different matter). On a gentle and foggy day, we watch Mr. Hayashi go about his gardening, finding emotional fulfillment in his work, and not just because it provides financial security. There's a calm and serenity to be unearthed in the soft soils of the garden, in the warm glow of sunlight seeping through the overcast sky. Wherever he is now, I hope that Hayashi did find steady employment. I suppose that's the appeal of films such as these, that they present us with the lives of people whom we know nothing about, and whose futures will always been unknown. If you can uncover a copy of 'Mr. Hayashi,' it's well worth a look.

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