664 The Life of Oharu

[Matango]

Time to upgrade my old Criterion two-disc CLV laserdisc I guess.

[Michael Kerpan]

David -- as I recall, one does also see Mifune earlier as well -- though he is very hard to recognize. ;~}

I share your anticipation.

[HerrSchreck]

I must be a cheap date and easy... I just pulled my AEye out to refresh myself with this film as it'd been a few years, and. . . I dunno- the element for this film, and the presentation (minus the burnt subs) looks virtually like any other Mizo that's out there, and very similar to dozens of other Toho masters (this isn't a Shochiku film).

Of course it lacks the MTIing and especially black boosting (thus the contrast is a touch flat), but this looks like an endless litany of other Ozus, Mizos, and others from the era. I don't see the total wreck others see, but rather a status quo for the type.

And yep, that is one youuunnng Mifune in there. Not as young as Drunken Angel etc, but quite boyish indeed!

[andyli]

The introductory commentary turns out to be:

New audio commentary for the opening of the movie by film scholar Dudley Andrew

[andyli]

Beaver.

[Michael Kerpan]

If the screen shots are representative, I'd have to say that this looks a LOT better than I anticipated. I wonder if Criterion found a better source than has been available for previous home video releases (and even prints).

[hearthesilence]

They worked similar miracles with The Music Room, and for that title they were using some sort of new process/machine. I wonder if that's the case here as well?

[Jack Phillips]

Gary states: "The Life of Oharu is a touching and indiscreet examination of human violation, suffering, and humiliation." And then he goes on to show, in his final screen cap, Oharu in her nun's attire, quite beyond suffering and humiliation. She even has the rosary-like beads in one hand which Buddhists use to chant with. Yes, violation, suffering, and humiliation are part of the story--but they aren't the whole of it.

[Zot!]

Gary states: "The Life of Oharu is a touching and indiscreet examination of human violation, suffering, and humiliation." And then he goes on to show, in his final screen cap, Oharu in her nun's attire, quite beyond suffering and humiliation. She even has the rosary-like beads in one hand which Buddhists use to chant with. Yes, violation, suffering, and humiliation are part of the story--but they aren't the whole of it.

Gary's reviews are focused on the technical aspect of the discs. Usually the plot summaries are borrowed from other sources and his comments are typically candid and informal. I wouldn't get too hung up on it.

[Jack Phillips]

Gary states: "The Life of Oharu is a touching and indiscreet examination of human violation, suffering, and humiliation." And then he goes on to show, in his final screen cap, Oharu in her nun's attire, quite beyond suffering and humiliation. She even has the rosary-like beads in one hand which Buddhists use to chant with. Yes, violation, suffering, and humiliation are part of the story--but they aren't the whole of it.

Gary's reviews are focused on the technical aspect of the discs. Usually the plot summaries are borrowed from other sources and his comments are typically candid and informal. I wouldn't get too hung up on it.

I'm not. Gary tends to represent the consensus view of things. My point is that the consensus view in this case (I should say, maybe, the consensus view outside of Asia) doesn't cover the film in its entirety, to the point where the significance of the final scene is ignored. Anyone who looks at that final screen cap and doesn't know what they're looking at doesn't understand the film.

[Zot!]

Gotcha, I have not seen this in a long time, so you've convinced me to revisit, thanks!

[Emilio]

Beaver.

That looks terrific, filmic and the amount of details is just amazing...!

[Jack Phillips]

From the end of the Criterion booklet essay “Not Reconciled,” by Gilberto Perez:

The film’s concluding shot follows [Oharu] as she goes from one house to another reciting a prayer for mercy, which a chorus on the soundtrack takes up as she moves along. The camera moving with her comes to a pause as she pauses and bows to a pagoda in the distance, but when she starts moving again, it does not keep pace, letting her leave view and at the same time ascending, so that the final image centers on the screen the pagoda pointing toward the sky. In his later years—he died of leukemia in 1956, at the age of fifty-eight—Mizoguchi was drawn to Buddhism. But the Buddhist recognition that suffering is inevitable does not mean resignation to injustice. In every circumstance she finds herself in, Oharu stands for an alternative to the dominant order. To the world she is soon to leave, she is surely not reconciled.

The author’s account of the final shot is well observed, but I question some of his conclusions. By the end of the film, reconciliation with the world is no longer Oharu’s concern. Her path has become one of renunciation.

[Lowry_Sam]

Anyone know enough to assess the differences in translations? From the beaver's screen grabs, there looks to be a substantial difference:

I am nothing but a spectacle of an ill-fated woman. (Artificial Eye)

I think he was giving them a lesson in karmic retribution. (Criterion)

[AidanKing]

Dudley Andrew's BFI Film Classic on Sansho Dayu (co-written with Carole Cavanaugh) is also pretty good.

I think David's wonderful analysis above clearly shows one of the things I love about Mizoguchi, which is that form is absolutely inseparable from content in his work and that both form and content work together and re-inforce each other to provide the meaning of his films. Robin Wood's and David Bordwell's styles of criticism seem to both work equally well for Mizoguchi but a synthesis of the two would be best.

[Jack Phillips]

Speaking of Dudley Andrew, he mentions in his commentary that Kon Ichikawa made a film (a kind of docu-drama, I gather) about Tanaka called Actress which ends with the making of Oharu. (Andrew explains that, even though it wasn't Tanaka's last film, Ichikawa felt it was the summit of her creative life, and therefore a good place to end). Well, that being the case, wouldn't Actress have been the ideal supplement for this release? OK, it's a 130 minute film--what about an excerpt pertaining to the making of Oharu? I can't believe Criterion is holding this back to give it its own individual release.

[Michael Kerpan]

I've seen Ichikawa's film (script by Shindo) and thought it was pretty much rubbish. It seemed exploitative more than it seemed to "honor" Tanaka. (It didn't help that it had an even worse score tyhan the Makioka Sisters).

[movielocke]

I paused this halfway through to take a breather from unrelenting misery--though granted the scene of dismissing all the girls of Kyoto for non existant flaws was the highlight of the first half. So far the film opens at a piercing nine and then quickly ratchets the suffering up to ten and then leaves it there for the rest of the picture, I think I am now tone deaf, as dreaded Mizoguchi-fatigue set in faster than it has on any other picture. I must admit to a bitter, sobbing laugh just after the birth of the son, when she's happy for four or five seconds, because I knew I was watching a Mizoguchi film and happiness is only an illusion. Happiness is Mizoguchi's favorite manipulative tool, it is used to maximize the punishment levied on the audience, so I gave a bitter laugh and took the Mizoguchi sucker punch that followed the one or two seconds of happiness Oharu was unfortunate enough to experience.

I read the booklet and this thread because I figured knowing what the next steps of misery, shit and degradation were coming might make them easier to take.

Here's to round 2, starting up soon, the slog of slogs

[Michael Kerpan]

movielocke -- Have you seen Crucified Lovers? Paradoxically, knowing the couple is doomed from the outset allows an occasional lighter mood (even some humor, albeit often grim) and the nature of the suffering _feels_ different somehow. (My favorite Mizoguchi -- and also AK's favorite).

[domino harvey]

I will never understand people who stop a movie halfway through to come here and post about it

[Kauno]

I will never understand people who stop a movie halfway through to come here and post about it

We must be stupid, don't kill me cold.

[movielocke]

No, I haven't seen Crucified Lovers, that and Utamaro and his five women are my biggest Mizoguchi blindspots now.

I think Oharu, which leaves a viewer numb is a special enough case that it's understandable I paused it halfway through. Mizoguchi is pretty unrelenting in the film, and I think breaking the film into two viewings helps me to appreciate the film and it's craft more. For comparison, the first time I saw Sansho, I saw it in the theatre. It was a miserable, soul crushing experience, and I'd probably like the film more if I hadn't had to sit there dying inside at all the unrelenting agony. OTOH, you never know how a film is going to play out for you; the first time I ever saw Ugetsu was also in a theatre, and I didn't experience a series of little deaths while watching it, rather I was elated at all aspects of the film.

[Theresa0214]

I owned the British Artificial Eye version of Oharu and it was always one of my favorite films - However, this new release (on Blu Ray) is absolutely incredible. Well done Criterion for such an amazing release. I have not seen as many films by Mizoguchi as some of you guys, but what I have seen, I have thoroughly enjoyed. I do have to say though that about six months ago I read an article (maybe a chapter) about the director, and in-particular this film. The chapter I read really opened my eyes to a lot of things that were going on in the movie and made the whole viewing experience a whole lot tenser!! Also, it was a lot better and more revealing than the booklet that came with the Blu Ray. I will try to remember and link the article because I think that many of you would really enjoy it.

[manicsounds]

imdb, jmdb, wikipedia lists 148 minutes.
Toho site, National Film Center of Japan, Criterion Blu-ray lists 137 minutes.

Can't find any info about the movie being shortened or cut.

[Michael Kerpan]

I've never read any book/article that suggested there is any "longer version" of Oharu.