The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939)

 Kenji Mizoguchi's "The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum"

After the two films that Mizoguchi considered his initiation into artistic maturity, "Osaka Elegy" and "Sisters of the Gion," he created something that took considerably more effort and perhaps even more maturity to make. That film would be 1939's "The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum." The film would have relatively the same political and social outlook of the previous two, but Mizoguchi went on to expand those ideas into more of a broader, sweeping story that takes place over years and years. 

The film centers on a young man, Kiku, who is the adopted son of a famous kabuki actor. Kiki, whom is failing as a successful actor, connects emotionally with his infant brother's wet nurse, Otoku. Kiki's father disapproves of his union with Otoku, so Kiki and Otoku go to Osaka to start a new life. In Osaka, Kiki attempts to start from the ground up as an actor. However, he is unsatisfied. He and Otoku struggle for years as he becomes a travelling performer. All the while, Otoku remains steadfast in supporting his dream and doing everything in her power to support him. She ends up going to Kiku's brother to beg for an acting role in Tokyo. Kiku's brother accepts on the condition that Otoku leaves Kiku so that Kiku may once again be honorable in the good graces of his father and family. She does and Kiku returns and gives the performance of a lifetime. However, Otoku's terminal illness takes her all the while Kiku becomes a triumphant success.

One of the most notable things about the film is Mizoguchi's lack of close-ups, as he consistently stays at arm's length from the characters. His use of long takes, frequent dolly shots, and lack of close-ups create a visual style that looks at its subjects in more broad, monolithic terms. I feel as though Mizoguchi is almost creating some sort of intimate epic, while utilizing no aspects of either an intimate film nor an epic. 

The length of the story is quite something, coming in at two and a half hours long. However, the time spent with Kiki and Otoku helps connect the viewer to their unbreakable bond. It becomes so much more emotionally devastating when Otoku falls ill and dies away just as Kiki achieves his dreams. 

All in all, I understood the objective triumph of the film. I understood how it maintained the consistent theme of female sacrifice from Mizoguchi's filmography. I even connected with the film emotionally in the final moments. However, I don't feel as though "The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum" was something I fully connected to like I was supposed to. That being said, I recognize it for the achievement that it is.