Kenji Mizoguchi
Kenji Mizoguchi
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939)
Utamaro and His Five Women (1946)
Portrait of Madame Yuki (1950)
A Story from Chikamatsu (1954)
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15. 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.
14. 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.
13. 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.
12. Princess Yang Kwei Fei (1955)
Kenji Mizoguchi got to experiment with color film twice in his career before his untimely death in 1956. The first of his films that feature color filmmaking was 1955's "Princess Yang Kwei Fei." It centers on a young girl who goes from being a serving girl in a kitchen to the concubine of the emperor. Much like all the women of Mizoguchi's films, Yang Kwei Fei never truly has agency in his life, as she goes from servant to a political tool. Mizoguchi remained adamant that the focus of his films was the struggle of women to have agency in Japanese society and with "Princess Yang Kwei Fei," he did so superbly. And in color!
11. 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.
10. 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.
9. The Woman of Rumour (1954)
Kenji Mizoguchi has quite a few films release in 1954. One of them, "The Woman of Rumour," demonstrates just how adamant Mizoguchi is in telling women's stories. Particularly, how Japanese society brands and labels women as a way to economically control them. The film centers on a woman who owns a courtesan house. Once her daughter returns from Tokyo after a suicide attempt, she must try and navigate the new complications that arise. "The Woman of Rumour" continues in Mizoguchi's legacy of female-centric storytelling and demands empathy and respect for the characters, as is typical with Mizoguchi and his wonderful films.
8. Street of Shame (1956)
Mizoguchi, one of the greatest Japanese filmmakers ever, died of leukemia at the age of 58 in 1956. His final film, 1956's "Street of Shame" fully encapsulates the overall themes of his work and provides us a last glimpse his strident passions. Although the film is not often lauded with some his most recognized works, it still manages to express his repeatedly touched-upon themes of his work with grace and a master's touch. It centers on a group of women from diverse backgrounds who work together in a Tokyo brothel. Trapped by debt and economic disparity, the women, along with many of the other characters, must compromise themselves in order to get by. On top of this, the women are judged, insulted, and considered unbecoming. This fully realizes Mizoguchi's overall themes in his work: that women are the brunt of abuse by a society that belittles and mistreats them. Mizoguchi's passion for women's stories extended all the way until his death and because of this, his entire filmography is full of women's stories and demands empathy for the way they are treated both throughout history and in contemporary society.
7. 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.
6. 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.
5. 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.
4. A Story from Chikamatsu (1954)
Kenji Mizoguchi's 1954 film "A Story from Chikamatsu" is often overshadowed by "The Life of Oharu," "Ugetsu," and "Sansho the Bailiff" from the same period of his filmography. However, "A Story from Chikamatsu" is as important of a work. The film centers on two individuals driven together in Edo-period Japan after facing accusations of adultery. As typical with a Mizoguchi film, the characters are oppressed and berated by the society around them, leading them to fatalistic consequences. In the film, the society at large is largely dependent on economics, no different than today's society. It is a society driven by fear of economic downfall that creates an authoritarian police state in which any misstep has innumerable fatal consequences. Such a state only creates paranoid, corruptible, and petty individuals that bend to the will of its oppressive forces beyond their control. As our two protagonists are driven to the edge, they come together and embrace their perceived wrongdoings. They form a love that is openly defiant of the harsh tyranny, despite their inevitably tragic fate.
3. The Life of Oharu (1952)
Despite having made Japanese films for almost two decades, Kenji Mizoguchi hadn't quite yet received global recognition until his landmark 1952 film "The Life of Oharu" was released at the 1952 Venice Film Festival. One could say that this was thanks in part to the film Renaissance that Japan was having at the time. However, you could also point to the sheer creative quality of the film itself. It centers on a 17th century woman named Oharu who begins the film in a state of social graces, only to fall to prostitution by the film's end. This descent has nothing to do with Oharu or her actions inherently. Rather, the entire social and economic structure of Japan, which treats women as accessories and commodities for men. The film becomes an excruciating watch, as Oharu's tiresome and belittling experience leaves the viewer feeling as beaten down as she is. It's expansive, harrowing, and quite possible the encapsulation of Mizoguchi's themes regarding the struggles of women in Japan in his career.
2. Sansho the Bailiff (1954)
Winner of the Silver Lion at the 1954 Venice Film Festival, "Sansho the Bailiff" continues Kenji Mizoguchi's streak of creative explosion over the past three years. Centering on two children you go from aristocracy to slavery, the film details the breadth of suffering that one human can go through, as well as the utter brutality that other humans being are capable of. The film becomes a story of empathy and compassion and how these ideas are the only weapon humanity can use against this brutality. In typical Mizoguchi fasion, "Sansho the Bailiff" doesn't shy away from the bleak reality of life and its unyielding hardships. But, perhaps being the most uplifting Mizoguchi has even been, there is a small silver lining of triumph in the face of all that is evil in this world. And as cheesy or uninspired as it sounds, the idea of compassion becomes the pervading ray of hope in a story full of nothing but despair and pain.
1. Ugetsu (1953)
Kenji Mizoguchi's 1952 film "The Life of Oharu" was like a summary thesis of his entire filmography, perfectly encapsulating the thematic through line of his entire work. With his next film, 1953's "Ugetsu," he completely expanded these themes into wider and broader territories. Mizoguchi was given a bit of creative freedom with this film after the global success of his preceding work. With that freedom, he crafted a new tonal landscape for himself with "Ugetsu," ushering in new and haunting tones, imagery, and styles to layer his typical filmmaking prowess. Like with all of his films, the central theme of "Ugetsu" lies in the feminist perspectives on the tragedy of women in a male-dominated society. However, Mizoguchi inserts himself in the story through our artist protagonist, along with paralleling the emergence of contemporary Japan in its post-war era with the civil war period of 16th century. With "Ugetsu," Mizoguchi muses on the blindness with which greed, ambition, and power renders us. In doing so, a nightmarish landscape emerges forth.
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