Kenji Mizoguchi

[Tommaso]

It depends on your standards. The Image disc (of which the Korean apparently is a straight port, apart from yellow subs instead of white) does indeed not look good by any standards we're used to now, but it is not THAT bad as one might imagine. Far better than the awful renderings of Kurosawa's early films in that Bo-Ying edition which I had the displeasure to watch recently. In the case of "47 Ronin" I assume it's more a problem of the old print they use than a bad transfer, and I have doubts that we will get a much better version of it without anyone doing a full-scale restoration. I totally forgot about the image quality anyway after the film itself began to work its miracles on me. But be warned: it might be a very heavy-going experience at first, and it took me at least half of the film before I realised that it's not boring but actually totally captivating.

[Michael Kerpan]

The Korean version is certainly watchable. I've seen lots of worse DVDs (and videos) of Japanese films from that era.

Be forewarned -- not an action film at all (because the cycle of stage plays he adapted was itself philosophical -- and not action-oriented).

[Greathinker]

Thanks for the replies-- while I'm at it, can anyone comment on the korean release of The Life of Oharu?

[Michael Kerpan]

Thanks for the replies-- while I'm at it, can anyone comment on the korean release of The Life of Oharu?

If it is a port of the UK DVD it won't look so hot. The French DVD looked better (but didn't have English subs).

[mattkc]

about Utamaro ...

I have huge problems with it. And rewatched it last night (from an ancient TV print.) Minoosuke Bando is rigid to the point of non-performance, and at best declamatory. The women (for all their fabulousness) don't really make any meaningful interaction with him. In short I find the movie hugely disappointing. And I certainly agree - this SHOULD have been a most personal movie of Mizo. I will add I really dislike Women of the Night (admittedly only viewed from a shitty old SBS copy.)

I also HATE the visual design - flat lighting, over utilized framing for different perspectives, and a seemingly complete absence of mise en scene. Or at least one which has any dynamic. This is - no - should have been a major Mizo, but it just falls in a heap to me.

This is a post from a while ago (and besides, no one asked me!), but I wanted to respond to it anyway as Utamaro is one of my favorite films, and a very major work by this filmmaker in my opinion. Like some others here though, I've seen it only once.

The flatness, which David pointed out, is part of what I find so amazing, and relates very directly to the subject of painting. From the opening shot (one of the most glorious tracking shots in cinema, no?) to the final one, I was completely taken away by the delicate rhythms, that seem to me quite unique in Mizoguchi, and the almost unbearable richness of the lighting and framing.

There's as much mise en scene in this film as in Ugetsu or Sansho. It's just more subtle.

I should say too that the final shot, the paintings, is probably my personal favorite "moment" in all of cinema. Finally, the work within Utamaro comes flowing out...

[ptmd]

And of course everyone here I assume is aware of the MK2 box due in a week or so with a restored Ronin, plus Zangiku and Naniwa Onna. (My order's in place and I'll post caps when they arrive.)

I'm very interested in seeing what these look like, but I'll be shocked if the second two at least don't come out as part of an Eclipse box within the last year. Janus has said they're working on a Mizoguchi set and they just struck new prints of both of those films which they are currently sending around the country (which is almost invariably a sign that a DVD is forthcoming).

[Michael Kerpan]

There's as much mise en scene in this film as in Ugetsu or Sansho. It's just more subtle.

I totally agree. ;~}

[ando]

[quote]Utamaro also contains one of my favorite comic lines in all cinema. When it is reported that tattooed Takasoda has eloped with Shozaburo, and everyone else is scandalized by the lovers' rashness, Utamaro is outraged by Shozaburo's act of theft. “He ran off with that picture?â€

[Daze]

Independent Film Channel is showing The 47 Ronin, part 1 on Saturday, 12/8, and part 2 on Saturday 12/15.

Anyone have info/speculation on print quality and whether this presages a DVD release?

[tryavna]

Independent Film Channel is showing The 47 Ronin, part 1 on Saturday, 12/8, and part 2 on Saturday 12/15.

Anyone have info/speculation on print quality and whether this presages a DVD release?

Unlikely in R1, I'm afraid. IFC have several samurai titles in their Saturday morning rotation that probably come from the old HVe videotapes. (The past Saturday's Gate of Hell is another example.)

[whaleallright]

With little fanfare, Tadao Sato's book on Mizoguchi is finally coming out in an English translation.

I don't know much about it, but it has to be better than Mark Le Fanu's BFI book from last year.

[Michael Kerpan]

Donald Richie reviews the new English translation of Tadao Sato's book on Mizoguchi.

Sounds rather like a must-have volume.

[foggy eyes]

Donald Richie reviews the new English translation of Tadao Sato's book on Mizoguchi.

Thanks for the link. I've just started the book, and so far it's excellent - considerably more authoritative, detailed and sophisticated than Le Fanu's (rather disappointing) study. Unless something goes horribly wrong in the next few chapters, I'd say it qualifies as pretty essential.

[Michael Kerpan]

Thanks for the link. I've just started the book, and so far it's excellent - considerably more authoritative, detailed and sophisticated than Le Fanu's (rather disappointing) study. Unless something goes horribly wrong in the next few chapters, I'd say it qualifies as pretty essential.

It wouldn't take much to beat LeFanu's almost worthless book. (Possibly the most disappointing book on cinema I've ever read -- much less purchased).

[foggy eyes]

Yes, it's pretty bad - mostly just a stream of hyperbolic praise rather than any real critical analysis. I remember getting very tired with Le Fanu's insistence on extolling Mizoguchi's 'brilliance' and 'majesty' during every single paragraph - the superlatives get increasingly desperate as the pages wear on, and my favourite was the weird description of Mizo's art as 'exceptionally living' (which of course is utterly nonsensical).

[wpqx]

By all means if there are good books on Mizo let me know, I'm not really aware of any offhand.

[tojoed]

I'm quite new to Mizoguchi, having seen only The Life of Oharu, Sansho, and Ugetsu. Can anyone give me an idea as to which ones to see next and in what order, if it matters? I'm pretty much hooked.

[HerrSchreck]

You're next moves should be obvious-- the MoC's the Eclipse box, etc..

What cracked me up about those Mizo/Isuzu Yamada titles (Sisters of the G, Osaka E) is how much the male sonofabitches look like Kenji himself at the time.

[myrnaloyisdope]

The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums is probably my favorite Mizoguchi. Pitch-perfect melodrama. Profoundly sad, working both as a love story, and as a critique of the Japanese class structure. Shamefully it's not out on DVD, but it's easy enough to find online. It's also the earliest Mizoguchi I've seen.

I just watched Chikamatsu Monogatari last night and was very impressed. Harrowing stuff, maybe not on the level of Sansho the Bailiff, but definitely a keeper.

Legend of the Taira Clan and Princess Yang Kwei Fei are his only two color films. They both are quite beautiful, incredibly rich composition. It's a shame he died so soon afterwords, as he clearly new how to use color, and it would have been interesting to see what heights he could have reached.

Oyu-Sama, and Street of Shame, are both strong as well. At some point I want to pick up the Eclipse box with these two films.

Other than that I watched 5 Women Around Utamaro with horrible spanglish subtitles, but was nonetheless impressed by the film's composition. and would love to see an English friendly version of. I've also seen 47 Ronin, and was pretty disappointed, though still worth tracking down if only because it's quite different than anything else I've seen by him, in being a historical Samurai picture rather than being a historical melodrama.

[sidehacker]

I'll recommend Uwasa no onna, which seems to be generally overlooked. It is definitely a different change of pace from Ugetsu or Sansho the Bailiff, but truth be told, I think Mizoguchi is at his best making these intimate "social dramas" as opposed to his more "poetic" works such as Ugetsu and Sansho. The Love of Sumako the Actress is also one of my favorites, and probably his best film from the 1940s - though I still have yet to see My Love Has Been Burning and The 47 Ronin. I'm hoping for an adequate release of the latter within the next year.

Another great but underseen film of his from the 50s - Madame Yuki.

[Yojimbo]

The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums is probably my favorite Mizoguchi. Pitch-perfect melodrama. Profoundly sad, working both as a love story, and as a critique of the Japanese class structure. Shamefully it's not out on DVD, but it's easy enough to find online. It's also the earliest Mizoguchi I've seen.

I just watched Chikamatsu Monogatari last night and was very impressed. Harrowing stuff, maybe not on the level of Sansho the Bailiff, but definitely a keeper.

Legend of the Taira Clan and Princess Yang Kwei Fei are his only two color films. They both are quite beautiful, incredibly rich composition. It's a shame he died so soon afterwords, as he clearly new how to use color, and it would have been interesting to see what heights he could have reached.

Oyu-Sama, and Street of Shame, are both strong as well. At some point I want to pick up the Eclipse box with these two films.

Other than that I watched 5 Women Around Utamaro with horrible spanglish subtitles, but was nonetheless impressed by the film's composition. and would love to see an English friendly version of. I've also seen 47 Ronin, and was pretty disappointed, though still worth tracking down if only because it's quite different than anything else I've seen by him, in being a historical Samurai picture rather than being a historical melodrama.

"The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums" is on a French-subbed box-set, along with 47 Ronin and another (on Wild Side or Carlotta, I think: my DVD filing system is in course of re-organisation!)

[zedz]

I'll recommend Uwasa no onna, which seems to be generally overlooked.

Me too. Maybe my favourite Mizoguchi (so far), and one which shows a completely different side of his work from the canonical, historical films.

[Yojimbo]

As does the astonishing Madame Yuki, if you can find a copy of it. A woman unable to break with an abusive husband because she's sexually enthralled by him. Incredible material!

that sounds more like Masumura material!

[tojoed]

Thanks for the recommendations everyone. I'll try and track down the hard to find ones and lighten my wallet on the MoCs and the Eclipse.

[Tommaso]

Oyu-Sama, and Street of Shame, are both strong as well. At some point I want to pick up the Eclipse box with these two films.

These two would be my recommendations, too, after those three films that tojoed has seen already. But to avoid confusion, "Oyu-Sama" is NOT in the Eclipse set, but is only available as the second film on MoC's "Ugetsu". However, it's one of his most visually astonishing, if slightly melodramatic films. The use of traditional Japanese music along with the excellent mise en scene and the way Mizo is able to move his actors around in the frame gives the film an almost synesthetic, hypnotic effect. "Street of Shame" looks astonishingly 'modern' and might be seen side-by-side with Naruse's "A woman ascends the stairs" for comparison.

So if you want to save a little money, perhaps indeed continue with the Eclipse set (the other three films are also very well worth seeing), but I suppose if you're through with it, you will be so hooked on to Mizoguchi that there's no way around the MoC sets, even if that means double-dipping on three of the eight films (supposing you actually have the CC "Ugetsu" and "Sansho"). But in any case you'd get those fantastic booklets which should sweeten the dip.

EDIT: tojoed, saw your reply coming in while typing. Good to see you've made the best decision already:-)