Lost In Translation

Portrait Of Madame Yuki

The 1950s would be the decade that would define Kenji Mizoguchi's career with films like Ugetsu, Sansho the Bailiff, and The Life of Oharu. His first film of the that era was Portrait Of Madame Yuki (1950), which has its merits but falls short of the classics mentioned above. I think most of this has to do with some of the facile dialogue and blustery melodrama that inhabits the film. That being said the visual aspects of the film are executed with artistry. Mizoguchi's eye for framing a scene or using movement with a crane on location shots. There are several masterly location shots that take place in Izu with the spectacular views of the ocean and surroundings that punctuate some of the more dramatic moments of the film. The film's climax is a sequence that is purely visual, Madame Yuki (Michiyo Kogure) makes her way to the lake, the mist of the morning envelopes the grass (see the still above). It is a powerful optical sequence, however, it is also theatrical in it’s description, and is filled with poetic feeling. It is an example of Mizoguchi’s masterly touch for visual compositions.  It is scenes like this that make Portrait of Madame Yuki a worthwhile film despite it's flaws. The film’s final scene takes place off screen, but it predicts a similar event visualized later on in Mizoguchi’s Sansho the Bailiff.

A Story of Chikamatsu

The Story Of Chikamatsu (1954) was one of three films Kenji Mizoguchi made in 1954 and is over shadowed by the success of Sansho The Baliff, also made in 1954, which won the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival that year. Japanese film critic Tadao Sato suggested that it is as good as any of his other films including other award winners such as Ugetsu and Life Of Oharu. This coupled with critic Donald Richie's praise of the film inspired me to search it out and evaluate it in relation to those three excellent films. In The Japanese Film: Art and Industry, the authors discuss Chikamatsu thus:

Chikamatsu's lovers always face a problem surmountable by death. They are always tormented by inescapable pressures of society, which drive them to destruction. Many of the pressures in Chikamatsu resolve around money, the recognition of the development of a capitalist society from a feudal society. By merely showing the death of hero and heroine, there is protest in his work though it never comes near the surface.

This vision differs from Mizoguchi's usual story patterns where women are constantly suffering from their sacrifices. I like the fact that, in this story, the heroine refuses to give into societal and family pressures for the sake of others and chooses her own free will even though it will lead to death. Kazuo Haegawa (star of Ichikaswa's An Actor's Revenge) stars as Mohei the devoted servant who gets caught up in legal trouble when he tries to forge his boss', Ishun's, (Eitaro Shindo) approval for a loan for the mistress of the household, Osan (Kyoko Kagawa). I found the visual presentation of the crucified lovers at the beginning of the film somewhat shocking for the time period. It is a powerful film, and it is among Mizoguchi's greatest films.

The Story Of The Last Chrysanthemums

This is the second year in which I am teaching a course on Japanese film in English and I will begin the course with Kenji Mizoguchi's sublime Ugetsu. I was reviewing the reading I assign with the film, Phillip Lopate's essay, "Ugetsu:From the Other Shore." Although I have seen 5-6 films by Mizoguchi, I hadn't seen The Story Of The Last Chrysanthemums (1939) yet and it is the film that Lopate singles out as the film where, "he perfected his signature 'flowing scroll,' 'one-shot-one-scene' style of long-duration takes, which, by keeping the camera well back, avoiding close-ups, and linking the characters to their environment, generated hypnotic tension and psychological density." It is all that Lopate says and more. I can see that it was a prestige film at that time with all the elaborate sets, costumes, and long takes on the kabuki acting. It is also just under two and a half hours, perhaps, adding tot he prestige. this allows Mizoguchi to draw out the performances form his cast and develop the story at a pace that showcases the director's artistry. Luckily, there are still several films available for me to study in the future. Mizoguchi remains one of my all-time favorite directors.

The Life Of Oharu

Recently Criterion has released a new version of Kenji Mizoguchi's 1952 masterpiece, The Life Of Oharu. It is the first in a series of three to win the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival, Ugetsu and Sansho The Baliff would follow Oharu in 1953 and 1954. Like those films this a film based on a literary adaptation of Saikaku's The Life of an Amorous Woman from the 17th century. Mizoguchi's version is more melodramatic and does not have the incisive humor of the original. The films is another masterly example of mis en scene with several beautifully framed shots shot from a crane in longs takes as Mizoguchi had come to do and it would reflect his individual film making style. Everything comes together in what might be his finest film: acting (especially that of Kinuyo Tanaka), costumes, sets, cinematography, music, etc. The DVD special edition features are: audio commentary for the opening of the movie by scholar Dudley Andrew, Mizoguchi's Art and the Demimonde an illustrated audio essay featuring Andrew, The Travels of Kinuyo Tanaka, a 2009 film by Koko Kajiyama documenting the actor's 1949 goodwill tour of the United States, and a booklet featuring an essay by film scholar Gilberto Perez.

The Water Magician

The Water Magician (Taki no Shiraito 1933) is a silent film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi. The plot of a performer (water magician) who falls in love with a poor student and supports him financially through his studies is one that will reappear in Osaka Elegy in 1939. The role of Shiraito is is a typical Mizoguchi heroine: stoic, giving, desperate, kind, broken by the cruel fate of life. This role is played by Takako Irie, who would appear later in several Akira Kurosawa films. So again one can see traces of the director Mizoguchi would become with some of the artisticaly framed shots, camera mobility, angles, rapid-cuts, pans, layers, modernity, the whole visual fog transmuting during the dancing waters.

Tokyo March

Tokyo March (Tokyo Koshinkyoku 1929) is a 23 minute silent film by Kenji Mizoguchi. There are two striking things about this early film: the location footage of Tokyo and the themes that Mizoguchi would develop over his career are readily apparent in this film. I was surprised to see so much location of the late 20s Tokyo. I was under the impression that most silent films were produced on sound stages. That being said I was also intrigued to see that Mizoguchi incorporated a journal entry and a letter reading into the film to propel the story along in addition to the benshi (narrator) cues read in between scenes to comment on the action.  It is a complicated love story that result in a somewhat bittersweet conclusion. Essentially, Michiyo, a poor fatherless girl loses her mother to illness and must become a geisha to support her uncle and aunt who she lives with since the uncle has lost his job. A woman turning to the “water trade” to support a family is a recurring theme in the films of Mizoguchi and a reflection of what happened in his own life as his sister became a geisha to support him and his family. It was more compelling than I expected it to be.

Kenji Mizoguchi And The Art Of Japanese Cinema

Japanese art critic Tadao Sato's study of Kenji Mizoguci, Kenji Mizoguchi And The Art Of Japanese Cinema (1982), was my next foray into understanding the films and legacy of Mizoguchi after reading Mark Le Fanu's study, Mizoguchi And Japan. Sato's book is a good companion, because he brings an understanding of traditional Japanese culture  (i.e. Noh, shimpa dramas, bunraku puppet shows,etc.) and values that inform much of Mizoguchi's work. Furthermore, since he is working in his own native tongue he is able to draw from a variety of primary sources to give insights about Mizoguchi and his film making techniques. There was an interesting revelation he made in the chapter entitled "Encountering the New School of Theater," in which he discusses how in the past crimes against women (rape, incest, etc.) were heard in court the judgements were quite severe and the victims were also punished for bringing the men to trial. Sato also makes clear his judgements about Mizoguchi's works; identifying those that he feels are classics (he adds A Story From Chikamatsu (1954) as one his best films along with those that are universally praised-The Life Of Ohara, Ugetsu, and Sansho The Baliff) and those that he feels are flawed or minor works in Mizoguchi's oeuvre. His chapters that analyze the camera techniques used by Mizoguchi are also illuminating: ("The Dialectic of Camera and Performance" and  "Looking Up, Looking Down"). This is a useful and informative book for anyone interested in Mizoguchi or Japanese cinema. I was somewhat apprehensive about the English translation that was completed in India before reading it, but had no qualms about it while reading, however, two stills were mislabeled, however I encountered few other errors.

Mizoguchi And Japan

Next year I am going to be teaching a course on Japanese Cinema for the Taught in English Program at Meiji. I am planning on using Kenji Mizoguchi's masterpiece Ugetsu as the first film in which I will model the previewing director PowerPoint and discussion questions for the post viewing activity. So I am trying to bone up on the director and his films, and Mark Le Danu's book  Mizoguchi And Japan (2008) is a great resource for understanding the director's contributions to Japanese cinema and analysis of his major films. Le Fanu makes his case for Mizoguchi among the pantheon of the world's great directors and gives context of his work and looks closely at some of the trends and motifs in his work. For example he starts out discussing his three masterpieces: The Life of Oharu (1952), Ugetsu (1953), and Sansho the Baliff (1954), in "The Great Triptych." This is followed by discussions of his films that deal with prostitutes and Geisha in the chapter "Geisha, Prostitution, and the Street." Here he discussed the following: Osaka Elegy and Sister of Gion (both 1936), The Straits of Love and Hate (1937), Women of the Night (1948), Gion Festival Music (1953), The Woman of Rumor (1954), and Street of Shame (1956). In "Visions of History" Le Fanu discusses his historical-based films such as The Loyal 47 Ronin (1941-2), Crucified Lovers (1954),The Empress Yang Kwei Fei (1955), and Tales of the Taira Clan (1955).Le Fanu also discusses the films that Mizoguchi made about "respectable women," for example, The Love of Sumiko the Actress (1947), My Love Has Been Burning (1949), A Picture of Madame Yuki (1950), Miss Oyu (1951), and The Lady from Musashino (1951). LeFanu addresses many aspect of Mizoguchis films aside from thematic content-such as his long drawn out one scene takes that is his forte and stylized Japanese acting among other topics. It is an informative and well-researched look at one of Japan's master filmmakers.

Utamaro And His Five Women

Utamaro And His Five Women (1946) is a film directed by celebrated Japanese director Kenji Mizoguchi. This is a Portuguese DVD version that has English subtitles, and admittedly it is considered a "minor" work from one of Japan's cinematic masters, but you would think Criterion would bring out a new transfer. The opening sequence has a great scene in which the camera tracks down a long procession of people at a 45 degree angle, so each person is seen in a rounded, profile view. Joan Mellen in her book, Waves At Genji's Door, suggests that this image of slowly walking women slowed by their dress and "geta" (traditional wood shoes) implies the subjugation of women. She may have a point since most of the women are prostitutes in the film--the ukiyo-e artist Umataro's most famous subject. Umataro in the film is presented as a anti-feudal, anti-traditionalist obsessed with art and happily living among the "common people." It is the story of an artist whose passion inhabits his art instead of his life, while the opposite is seen with one of his disciples who absconds with one of the beloved models, Oran, and stops painting. Umataro's anit-feudal and traditional aspects are seen when he refuses a duel and challenges the man to an art contest to show that he lives a code that is unlike that of the oppressor the shogunate, who considers banishing him before deciding on a 50 day house arrest where his hands are bound so that he cannot create. It is almost too much for him and once freed there is a collage of Umataro's greatest prints at the closing. It seems that Mizoguchi had less funding that prevented him from using a crane to do his trademark aerial tracking shots and it was made under scrutiny by the Occupational censor who didn't want films espousing the glories of the past in post war Japan.

Sansho The Baliff

Sansho The Baliff (1954) is another classic film by Kenji Mizoguchi and shows why he is one of Japan's greatest film makers. It is a classic film that is a critique of feudal society and champions democracy. This film won the Silver Bear award at the Venice Film Festival in 1954-following Kurosawa's Rashomon (1951), Mizoguchi's own Life Of Oharu (1952) and Ugetsu (1953), which would then be followed by Kurosawa's Seven Samurai (1954). This film was based on a traditional story that was later popularized by Mori Ogai in 1915. Mizoguchi's adaptation is somewhat different from the original and different from what he wanted to do in the film. In one of the additional supplement interviews, his assistant director says that Mizoguchi wanted to make a film that focused on slavery more than the story of Anju and Zushio's plight to find their parents after being sold into slavery, but the studio rejected that idea.  The strength of the film can be seen in many areas: the framing of shots, spectacular dolly and crane shots, high production values and period details, music, heartfelt acting, and strong writing. Many of these aspects of the film can be seen in one of the more powerful scenes where Anju descends into the water in order to commit suicide so that her brother may escape to find their parents: superior editing, framing, timing, and shot duration. The Criterion edition includes: audio commentary by Japanese -literature professor Jeffrey Angles, video interviews with critic Tadao Sato, assistant director Tokuzo Tanaka, and actress Kyoko Kagawa, a book with an essay by scholar mark Le Fanu, Ogai Mori's 1915 "sansho dayu" and a written form of an earlier oral variation.

I followed the film up by reading Dudely Andrew and Carole Cavanaugh's BFI Film Classic book Sansho Dayu. This informative book discusses the making of the film and the differences between Mizoguchi's film and Mori Ogai's original version. One of the interesting changes Mizoguch made was changing the Jizo statue (protector of children), from Ogai's version with a kannon statue (Bodhisattva of compassion) in the film. Mizoguch also changes several other details like the ages of the children and the reasons for their father's exile. The authors also note that Mizgichi was competitive with Kurosawa and notes the similarities between this film and Rashomon in that both films are adaptations from Taisho period writers who based their stories on Heian periods for the plots, both contain flashbacks, and focus on the general plight and moral condition of human beings. It is a good supplement to the film.