Kenji Mizoguchi and
Ozu Yasujiro are two of Japan’s most famous film directors. Both of which are
renowned for having women as central subjects in their films. This essay aims to
briefly explore the common themes in these respective directors’ works, in
order to understand the importance of the roles that women played in their
films.
Geishas were depicted fairly often in Mizoguchi’s films.
Perhaps this stems from his humble background, which played a major role in the
development of geisha themes in his films. In 1905, his father went bankrupt
after a failed business venture at the end of the Russo-Japanese war. Film
historian Le Fanu (2005) states that “the failure necessitated a childhood move
from a relatively middle class area in Tokyo to a more plebian district close
to the theatre and brothel quarters” (pg.22). This move coincided with the
birth of his younger brother and the disappearance of his elder sister, Susumo,
who was a drain on family finances. It was shortly discovered that she was sold
intogeishadom. However, Susumo continued to play a huge part on Mizoguchi’s
young life, enabling him to acquire his first job through her professional
contacts,and bringing Mizoguchi and his brother under her shelter when their
mother passed away. There is a “parallel between the trajectory of Mizoguchi’s
adolescent life and the plots of numerous melodramatic shimpa dramas” (LeFanu,
2005, p.23), which recount the sacrifices made by geishas on behalf of the men
they are involved with. This aspect of Mizoguchi’s adolescent life is extremely
apt because the subject of women’s suffering is fundamental in all his work;
while “sacrifice – in particular, the sacrifice a sister makes for her brother”
–has a ubiquitous presence in many of his films in the 1930s. (Le Fanu, 2005,
Osaka Elegy and Sisters of the Gion are two Mizoguchi films
worth a mention. Although the milieus depicted in the two films differ greatly
(only Sisters of the Gion is specifically set in the world of Geisha), their
spiritual affinity is obvious when observed closely. Both films are centrally
concerned with what it means to scrabble for patronage. In the pre-war Kyoto
Geisha world depicted in Sisters of the Gion, Omocha and her sister search for
an elderly rich client to
support them financially. This search for patronage is not
quite as formalized in Osaka Elegy, where Ayako, the heroine is a lowly company
employee, rather than a “bird in a gilded cage” (Le Fanu, 2005, p. 71). But in
a way, she is a bird in a cage too as her quest is the same. In these two
films, Mizoguchi explores circumstances, which force beautiful yet desperate
women to exchange freedom for money. Mizoguchi thus seems to possess a fondness
for revealing the true nature of distressed women in times of turmoil in a
male-dominated society, main
reason being that his sister herself fell victim to family
circumstances and societal norms.
To many critics,
Mizoguchi is an impassioned defender of women’s rights who feels that women
have little choice under the Japanese patriarchy but to sacrifice themselves.
Their only way out is to “develop spiritual strength to transcend their
oppression” (Noletti & Desser, 1992, p.32). One such film, in which this
occurs, is The Life of Oharu. The heroine, Oharu, falls from a high position in
society and eventually becomes the lowest type of street prostitute. In
accordance to authors Noletti, Jr. and Desser (1992), critics have frequently
asserted that Oharu has “attained transcendence by the end of the film” (p.33).
It is interesting to note that because of Japan’s deep-rooted patriarchal
system, Mizoguchi could explore the repressed plights of women compared to
Japanese men, as men’s plights could never be as inherently piteous.
Ozu Yasujiro is
another famous Japanese director whose films often encompassed the role of
average Japanese women. His most acclaimed film, Tokyo Story, examines the
disunion between a stereotyped “traditional”Japanese female and the
characteristics that embodied the “modern” Japanese women in the early 1950s.
The film’s main theme centers on the disintegration of the family spurred on by
post-war urbanization, demonstrating how this shaped the demeanor of the female
protagonists, complex in their intricate fusion of Japanese and Western,
emotional and pragmatic, modest and independent.
(Sato, 2003, pg.3)
One example of this complexity of the feminine is Shige, the
eldest daughter and impudent wife. She fits the stereotype in some ways, but in
other ways she does not. Working at home as a hairdresser, her “domestic
occupation has been practiced by women since pre-modern times”. (Sato, 2003,
pg.6). However, her casual behaviour around her parents indicates the blase
attitude frequently associated with latter-day womanhood.
A clear example of
this would be in one scene where Shige deliberates with Koichi, her brother,
concerning an imminent visit to their debilitated mother. Shige, still unsure
of the critical state of their mother’s affliction, placidly asksKoichi whether
they ought to pack mourning garments. Surprised at her insensitivity, Koichi
hesitates before replying unenthusiastically. Shige immediately responds with
“Settled. Let’s pack them in case”. Despite her purported filial piety, her
judgment of the circumstances disturbs the frequently expressed perception of
Japanese women. (Sato, 2003, p.7).
Film Historian Sato (2003) states that Shige’s unembellished
servitude of family claims to the demands of her work makes Shige a
“disquieting image of domesticity” (p.7). In spite of that, Shige occasionally
embodies a hybrid of ‘old’ and ‘new’, and partakes in an effort to place
herself within broader social customs, such as those of urban and professional
working women. It is the working daughter-in-law Noriko who ostensibly reveals
the attributes of an
independent woman, professionally industrious in a broader
society, and not Shige herself. And yet, Noriko complies with befitting female
traditions within the family. While Shige and Koichi are too self-absorbed to
perform family-related activities, Noriko prevails as the personification of
filial piety, uncomplainingly leaving work in order to entertain her
parents-in-law during their Tokyo visit.
Subsequently, also staying by the father’s side after his
wife’s death, long after the rest have paid their desultory respects and left.
Noriko’s image as the “prevailing stereotype of the modern single woman” (Sato,
2003, p.9), contradicts her behavior, as it is she who resides independently in
a modern apartment, traveling daily to her desk-bound clerical job. Ultimately,
Ozu wanted to show the conflicts that Japanese women faced as they emerged from
the traditional and rigid old-world customs to the more liberal emancipation of
working women.
In conclusion, the portrayal of women in Mizoguchi’s and
Ozu’s films are starkly different, both carried out in a different fashion,
with different stylistic devices and different approaches in different
circumstances. However, one similarity between the two directors lies in the
need to showcase the plight of Japanese woman in a patriarchal old-fashioned
society, and also as not just an object of desire and subservience, but also
what it means to possess an indomitable spirit.
Written by Suzie Knight
List of References
LeFanu, Mark. Mizoguchi and Japan, Londo: Cromwell Press,
2005.
Mizoguchi, K. (Director) Fujiwara, T. (Writer) & Osaka,
S. (Writer) & Yoka, Y. (Writer) (1938)
Osaka Elegy. [Film DVD]. Japan: Daiichi Eiga.
Mizoguchi, K. (Director),. Kuprin, A. (Novelist) and
Mizoguchi, K. (Writer). (1938).
Sisters of the Gion [Film DVD] . Japan: Daiichi Eiga.
Noletti, Jr. & ;Desser,D. Reframing Japanese Cinema:
Authorship, Genre, History. Indiana University Press, USA, 1992.
Mizoguchi, K.(Director), Ihara, S.(Novelist) & Mizoguchi,
K. (Writer). (1952).
The Life of Oharu [Film?DVD]. Japan: Koi Productions
Sato,B. The New Japanese Woman: Modernity, Media, and Women
in Interwar Japan. Duke University Press, USA, 2003.
Ozu,Y.(Director), Noda,K.(Writer) & Ozu,Y. (Writer).?
(1953).
Tokyo Story.[Film DVD]. Japan: Shochiku Kinema Kenkyûjo
Source: sgnewwave.com
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