(Played in Competition for the Palme d’Or at the 1955 Cannes Film Festival)
Based on the musical play by Chikamatsu Monzaemon, The Crucified Lovers is the story of a wealthy man who accuses his wife and an employee of having an affair as the two run away together. Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi and screenplay by Matsutaro Kawaguchi and Yoshikata Yoda, the film is an exploration of jealousy and neglect set in 17th Century Kyoto. Starring Kazuo Hasegawa, Kyoko Kagawa, Yoko Minamida, and Eitaro Shindo. The Crucified Lovers is a compelling and gripping film from Kenji Mizoguchi.
The film revolves around a wealthy but selfish scroll maker who would accuse his wife and his top employee of having an affair when the reality is that the wife needed money to pay her brother’s debts which the husband refuses to do as she turns to his top apprentice for help. It’s a film that is about a man who drives away his wife and his top man into chaos all because he doesn’t want to spend the money he makes and have it wasted on things he thinks are mindless. The film’s screenplay is quite simple as it explores a man’s greed and his unwillingness to help people as he would treat his wife cruelly as well as those who work for him as he would often try to engage into an affair with a young maid who has feelings for the top apprentice. The first half is about the trouble the wife in Osan (Kyoko Kagawa) would unfortunately create while the second half is about her and the apprentice Mohei (Kazuo Hasegawa) running away as they deal with what to do next as they’re being pursued by people working for Osan’s husband Ishun (Eitaro Shindo) who wants to deal with them himself rather than report them to the authorities.
Kenji Mizoguchi’s direction is definitely engaging for the way he captures life in 17th Century feudal-Japan where it’s run by warlords and such as there’s people willing to profit from these conflicts. Much of the film is shot in countryside locations in Japan as it plays into a world that is thriving yet there are rules that are quite cruel. Mizoguchi’s usage of the wide shots would capture this sense of oppression where there is a scene of a couple that is being shamed publicly and later crucified because they committed adultery which adds a sense of dramatic weight into the film. Yet, Mizoguchi would favor more intimate shots such as close-ups and medium shots to play into the drama which include these scenes at these lavish yet traditional Japanese homes as well in the forest where he would create a sense of theatricality into the acting as well as raise the stakes into what Osan and Mohei would endure. Especially in the third act as it play into not just the selfishness of Ishun finally catching up with him but the effects it would play into Osan and Mohei’s lives. Overall, Mizoguchi creates a riveting and haunting film about a wealthy man’s selfishness as he drives his wife and top apprentice into an affair.
Cinematographer Kazuo Miyagawa does brilliant work with the film’s black-and-white photography for its usage of lights for many of the interior/exterior scenes set at night while going for something more natural in the daytime scenes. Editor Kanji Sugawara does excellent work with the editing as it is straightforward to play into the build of the dramatic intensity as well as in some of the moments of dramatic suspense. Production designer Hisakazu Tsuji, with set decorator Yaichi Ebise and art director Hiroshi Mizutani, does fantastic work with the look of the home of Ishun as well as his shop where he runs his scroll making business as well as some of the interior gardens. Costume designer Natsu Ito does wonderful work with the costumes from the design of the robes and clothes that the men and women wore in those times. The sound work of Iwao Otani is terrific for its natural approach to the sound as it help create some tension in the drama. The film’s music by Fumio Hayasaka and Tamezo Mochizuki is amazing for its unsettling yet enchanting score as its usage of percussions and string instruments help add weight to the drama as it is a major highlight of the film.
The film’s superb cast feature a few notable small roles from Haruo Tanaka as Osan’s brother, Yoko Minamida as the maid Otama who is in love with Mohei, and Eitaro Ozawa as the scroll maker manager Sukeemon as a man who would try to defuse the situation only to cause more trouble. Eitaro Shindo is excellent as Ishun as a wealthy owner of a scroll making business who is a man that is very selfish as he neglects his wife and is indifferent about the feeling of his workers as he would plot a way to deal with his wife and Mohei. Kazuo Hasegawa is brilliant as Mohei as a scroll-making apprentice who is good at his job until he is asked to help Osan into giving her money where everything goes wrong as he deals with his growing disdain towards Ishun and his feelings for Osan. Finally, there’s Kyoko Kagawa in an amazing performance as Osan as Ishun’s wife who is trying to help her family as she puts herself and Mohei into a terrible situation as she becomes angry over her husband’s insensitivity as she would try and make a life of her own only to realize how difficult it is.
The Crucified Lovers is a marvelous film from Kenji Mizoguchi. Featuring a great cast, gorgeous visuals, a captivating script, and an eerie music score. It’s a film that explores Japanese society where everything is unruly during its feudal times as well as a woman dealing with the selfishness of her husband and the help of another man. In the end, The Crucified Lovers is a remarkable film from Kenji Mizoguchi.
Kenji Mizoguchi Films: (Tokyo March) - (The Water Magician) - (Aizo Toge) - (The Downfall of Ozen) - Osaka Elegy - (Sisters of the Gion) - (The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums) - The 47 Ronin (1941 film) - (Utamaro and his Five Women) - (The Love of the Actress Sumako) - (Portrait of Madame Yuki) - (Miss Oyu) - (The Lady of Musashino) - The Life of Oharu - Ugetsu - (A Geisha) - Sansho the Bailiff - (The Woman in the Rumor) - (Princess Yang Kwei-Fei) - (Tales of Taira Clan) - (Street of Shame)
© thevoid99 2017
Directed by Nobuhiko Obayashi and screenplay by Chiho Katsura from a story by Chigumi Obayashi, Hausu (House) is the story of a schoolgirl who goes to her ailing aunt’s country home with six schoolmates where they encounter strange and supernatural beings. The film is a surreal yet haunting take on the world of the haunted house as it mixes elements of the absurd and dark humor. Starring Kimiko Ikegami, Miki Jinbo, Kumiko Oba, Ai Matubara, Mieko Sato, Eriko Tanaka, Masayo Miyako, and Yoko Minamida. Hausu is an absolutely absurd and extremely fucked-up film from Nobuhiko Obayashi.
The film revolves around a young student who brings her six schoolmates for a trip at the country home of her aunt just before summer vacation is to begin. Yet, something strange goes on at the house where a lot of scary and weird things happen as the girls try to figure out what the hell is going. It’s essentially a haunted house story where a group of young women go there to have fun but things become troubling. Even as the young girl named Gorgeous (Kimiko Ikegami) was the one who suggested in going to her aunt’s house to cope with her father’s news that he just married someone who would become her step-mother. Needing to get away from this sudden news, Gorgeous and her friends visit her aunt (Yoko Minamida) whom she hadn’t seen in years as they’re invited. Once the story progresses, things do get weirder as it goes on as well as some background on why this house is haunted. Since it is a horror film, the film does involve itself in a traditional formula where characters do get killed off one-by-one yet it’s done in very inventive ways.
Nobuhiko Obayashi’s direction is definitely off-the-wall as it doesn’t start out nor does it feel like a horror film at first. Instead, he creates something where it is this world that is completely artificial from the backdrops of skylines, colorful backdrops, and all sorts of things that feels like a Hollywood movie set in Japan. There are also these moments that are very playful where Obayashi doesn’t set things out to create a horror film at first instance which includes homage to silent films, war movies, and all sorts of things which play into the story of Gorgeous’ aunt. Once Gorgeous and her friends arrive at the house, the sense of whimsy still occurs in the film but it would eventually take a darker turn as it moves into areas that are surreal and absurd.
With its usage of close-ups and medium shots as well as some stylish camera angles, Obayashi maintains an intimacy of what is going on yet would create these moments that are scary but has an air of dark humor to it. Notably in the way some of the characters are killed off as well as the involvement of this white cat which Gorgeous found earlier in the film but is unaware of what kind of power the cat has. There is also that sense of mystique in the house itself while the visual effects that Obayashi creates definitely look and feel fake. It doesn’t deter from what it wants to do where it knows it doesn’t look great while it has that odd approach to dark humor which makes it funnier in the way the characters get killed and such. Even in the way it ends where it has this odd idea of innocence that is mixed in with terror. Overall, Obayashi creates an absolutely mind-fuck of a film where a group of girls go to a house unaware that it’s haunted.
Cinematographer Yoshitaka Sakamoto does brilliant work with the film‘s very colorful cinematography with its approach to lighting styles for some of the interior settings in day and night as well as play up some of the artificial elements for some of its exterior scenes. Editor Nobuo Ogawa does amazing work with the editing as it is very stylish with its usage of jump-cuts, slow-motion, frame-speeds, split-screens, and other elements to play up its offbeat approach to humor and horror. Production designer Kazuo Satsuya does excellent work with the look of the haunted house in its many rooms as well as some of the backdrops that just add this warped sense of artificiality to the film.
Sound designer Shohei Hayashi does fantastic work with the sound in creating weird sound effects as well as play into the atmosphere of the house itself. The film’s music by Asei Kobayashi and Mickie Yoshino with performance by Godiego is superb for its mixture of piano-based pieces that includes the film‘s theme which is somber and eerie to very off-kilter pieces that ranges from rock, disco, and folk that Godiego would provide as it would be intense as well as dreamy to play into whatever the film‘s tone is.
The film’s incredible cast includes some notable small roles from Saho Sasazawa as Gorgeous’ father, Ryoko Ema as Gorgeous’ new stepmother, and Kiyohiko Ozaki as a school teacher that was supposed to accompany the girls to the house where he ends up in a series of comical misfortunes. Yoko Minamida is excellent as Gorgeous’ aunt as this old woman who used to be a piano teacher as she lives alone where she invites the girls into her home while being very weird around them. In the roles of the six of seven girls, there’s amazing performances from Masayo Miyako as the clean and helpful Sweet, Eriko Tanaka as the musically-gifted Melody, Mieko Sato as the food-loving Mac, Ai Matubara as the brainy Prof, Miki Jinbo as the athletic and martial-arts fanatic Kung Fu, and Kumiko Oba as the innocent Fantasy. Finally, there’s Kimiko Ikegami in a brilliant performance as Gorgeous as this young woman who is coping with the change in her family life as she goes to her aunt with her friends for a good time only for things to get very weird upon meeting her ailing aunt.
Hausu is a wild and magnificent film from Nobuhiko Obayashi. Armed with a great cast, gorgeous visuals, a compelling premise, and some very odd visual effects. The film is truly unlike anything as it’s not afraid of being ridiculous as well as just being weird for the sake of being weird. In the end, Hausu is a phenomenal film from Nobuhiko Obayashi.
Nobuhiko Obayashi Films: (Furimukeba Ai) - (Exchange Students) - (The Girl Who Lept Through Time) - (Lonely Heart) - (His Motorbike, Her Island) - (The Drifting Classroom) - (The Discarnates) - (Chizuko’s Younger Sister) - (Sada)
© thevoid99 2015
