Kenji Mizoguchi
Kenji Mizoguchi
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939)
Utamaro and His Five Women (1946)
Portrait of Madame Yuki (1950)
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8. Miss Oyu (1951)
When Kenji Mizoguchi released his 1951 film "Miss Oyu," Japan was entering a new era of cinematic form that would go unparalleled to anything that had come previously or even thereafter. "Miss Oyu" happens to be a film that comes right before Mizoguchi enters his most prominent and prosperous period of artistic endeavor, but acts as a apertif to his main course. It centers on a woman and a brother-in-law in love with each other and the devastating consequences of their uncomfortable sentiments.
7. The 47 Ronin (1941)
In the early 1940s, the Japanese government commissioned Kenji Mizoguchi to adapt the 18th century story of the 47 Ronin into a propaganda film for the state. However, Mizoguchi shied away from creating this adaption in the vein of the typical period action drama. Rather, he created something far more cerebral. The result was a 4 hour morality play that audiences did not go for. Safe to say the film was a commercial failure for Mizoguchi, as well as being released only 1 week before the Japanese invasion of Pearl Harbor.
6. Portrait of Madame Yuki (1950)
Continuing in the fashion of female-centric dramas, Kenji Mizoguchi crafts "Portrait of Madame Yuki" in 1950, at a time when Japanese cinema began to explode with creative output. Although "Portrait of Madame Yuki" wouldn't be one of the film mentioned atop the monolithic career of Mizoguchi, it does fit very neatly into his oeuvre with the utmost thematic relevance. Centering on a woman in a loveless marriage who can't escape the insufferable desolation of her life, the film is a portrait of the changing landscape of feminine issues regarding liberty, self-assurance, and the traps of modern patriarchal Japanese society.
5. Utamaro and His Five Women (1946)
Made during the Allied occupation of Japan after the second World War, Kenji Mizoguchi's 1946 film "Utamaro and His Five Women" is often viewed by Western critics as one of the director's lesser works. However, if you view the view through the lens of an autobiography, the resemblance to Mizoguchi and the 18th century portraitist cannot be denied. Through this lens, the piece becomes a commentary on the oppression and restriction of art Mizoguchi was feeling in the 1940s. However, he had not yet realized that the Japanese golden age of cinema, along with the shimmering peak of his career, was right around the corner.
4. Sisters of the Gion (1936)
Kenji Mizoguchi's second film from 1936, "Sisters of the Gion" acts as a diptych to his previous effort, "Osaka Elegy." Both films had the same cast and production team as well as being filmed back-to-back. Both films also contained similar themes of female oppression in modern Japanese society. "Sisters of the Gion" centers on two sisters who work as geishas. Both share differing philosophies on men and throughout the film, both act according to these philosophies. Despite the differing approaches, both end the film in utter despair as it becomes clear that regardless of their viewpoints, they will forever be forced and manipulated into being on the bottom rung of the social ladder.
3. Women of the Night (1948)
Being inspired by the Italian neo-realist movement that was sweeping the globe, Kenji Mizoguchi made his 1948 film "Women of the Night" as a direct attempt to replicate its thematic visual style. Centering on a group of women who descend into prostitution, the film is completely in the ballpark of the typical Mizoguchi film themes. However, some argue that "Women of the Night" is perhaps Mizoguchi at his most raw and straightforward. It fits quite nicely into Mizoguchi's oeuvre and manages to tap directly into the traumatic desperation and pain felt by the Japanese in the post-war era, especially the women.
2. The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939)
After the two films that Mizoguchi considered his initiation into artistic maturity, 1936's "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, namely the socio-political perspective that women have to sacrifice themselves far more than men do, but Mizoguchi went on to expand those ideas into more of a broader, sweeping story that place over years and years. In the film, a young wet nurse continues to support her downtrodden theater performer. Their bond is strong and their love is real. But she spends her whole life attempting to support him until he finally attains success, even to the point of her own illness and demise. Mizoguchi took years to make this film and the artistry is apparent when you see his use of long takes, frequent dolly shots, and lack of close-ups, as they paint a broad epic of intimate proportions.
1. Osaka Elegy (1936)
During a pre-war Renaissance happening in Japan in the film industry, Kenji Mizoguchi joined the ranks of other filmmakers like Yasujiro Ozu and Sadao Yamanaka when he made his first mature hit, 1936's "Osaka Elegy." Like a lot of other Japanese films at the time (along with a lot of global films), "Osaka Elegy" deals directly with the consequences that stem from economic disparity. In the film, a young telephone operator is forced into prostitution when her father is charged with embezzlement. The film follows our protagonists journey to both individual self-reliance as well as tragic shame and abandonment. The film views these issues through a lens of complexity. Mizoguchi's stark darkness that permeates each scene and his often tracking camera creates an ambiance that separates his visual style from his fellow contemporaries.
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