This 30s firefighting film shows us firefighting practices in Japan and Paris. The Japanese footage is most interesting, as it shows us some unusual cultural things, such as the medal-giving ceremony, the decidedly Asian-looking asbestos suits, and effigies of Matoi, the fire god that were believed to protect homes from fire. The Paris footage is pretty standard, featuring demonstrations of various firefighting practices. As with most Stillman films, this has limited entertainment value, but lots of historical interest.
Ratings: Camp/Humor Value: **. Weirdness: ***. Historical Interest: ****. Overall Rating: ***.

This film opens with firefighting in Japan circa 1930. The footage starts with shots from the annual firefighting festival held in Tokyo, firefighters wearing their traditional Tokugawa era (1600-1868) firefighting uniforms and techniques as well as demonstrating more modern techniques, including motorized fire trucks and asbestos firesuits. There is also a shot of the Matoi, the fire god emblem, being paraded. This section ends with a brief smokey shot of a lumber yard fire in Shinagawa, in the southwest of Tokyo.

The final three-quarters of the film is shots of the Paris fire department demonstrating techniques and showing their various equipment. The best shot of this section is two firemen struggling with a firehose as water is being pumped from the Seine.

Focuses on 2 different fire departments, the Japanese and the French, The French demonstrate some rather interesting ladder climbing techniques which almost had me believe I was watching some sort of acrobat troupe. I also liked the very ceremonious medal awarding. They also have a fire god which supposedly protects them, but doesnt protect the lumber yards..
The French arent as interesting as they demonstrate climbing techniques and their fine hosing skills. The only strange feature about them is that they wear Kraut-like helmets..