Directed by Yasujiro Ozu and written by Ozu and Kogo Noda, Early Spring is the story of a married salary man who begins an extramarital affair with a co-worker to escape his monotonous life of marriage and work. The film is an exploration into the world of adultery as well as the trappings of marriage. Starring Ryo Ikebe, Keiko Kishi, and Chikage Awashima. Early Spring is a fascinating yet touching melodrama from Yasujiro Ozu.
The film is an exploration into the life of a married salary man who becomes bored by not just his life at work but also in his marriage which has lost its passion. Upon meeting a typist at the building he works at, the two begin an affair which they keep secret until gossiping among their co-workers and the suspicions of his wife begins to take its toll. It’s a film that explores not just a world that is changing but also attitudes where a man named Shoji Sugiyama (Ryo Ikebe) is a salary man who lives a pretty mundane life as his relationship with his wife Masako (Chikage Awashima) is still loving but seems to be lost as they’re still dealing with the death of their son several years ago. When Shoji chats with this young typist whom everyone call Goldfish (Keiko Kishi) during a hike with fellow co-workers. He finds someone he can talk to which leads to this affair.
The film’s screenplay explores not just the idea of extramarital affairs and marriage but also the world of being a salaried officer worker who does his job and gets paid. It plays into not just some of the constraints of postwar Japan where its economy starts to flourish but also the expectations that Shoji has to deal with. In his affair with Goldfish, he finds an escape in his work life and in his marriage yet he and Goldfish keep it a secret so that no one can gossip and such. Unfortunately, the gossip would emerge where Goldfish is confronted at a party while Masako keeps asking her husband why he’s been coming home late while he is also dealing with a friend (Junji Masuda) that is dying. The growing distance between Shoji and Masako becomes evident in the second act where Shoji comes home drunk with a couple of old friends who served the war with him as it would upset Masako. The third act would involve Masako knowing the truth but also the drawbacks of Shoji’s affair with Goldfish as it would affect his career and his life.
Yasujiro Ozu’s direction is mesmerizing not just in his simplicity but also in the way he captures a typical modern life in Japan where a lot of it is shot in Tokyo and suburbs nearby. While there are a few scenes and shots where Ozu moves the camera on a dolly shot such as the hike or a slow zoom at an office. Much of the direction has Ozu rely on his trademark, low-angle static shot where he would shoot much of the action that occurs throughout the film. Notably in the way he presents Tokyo and its nearby suburbs as this world that is becoming modern with relics of the past still around. Much of which has Ozu using a lot of wide and medium shots to present that world while maintaining an intimacy in the scenes between the actors where he would get them in one single short or a two-shot in a medium shot.
Much of the intimacy that Ozu creates play into the drama as he often has the camera right at the faces of the actors without the need of a close-up. It plays into a lot of the drama that occurs including the scenes where Shoji and Goldfish’s co-workers are eating in bars and such talking as Ozu has everyone in that room in the frame. Most notably the scene where Goldfish is being questioned by Shoji’s co-workers about their relationship where Ozu just has the camera be in place to see how Goldfish would react. Things become much wider in its scope in its full-frame presentation in the film’s third act to play into not just the decisions that Shoji has made but also the future that he will face as it’s one that he would have to deal with. Overall, Ozu creates a very rich yet compelling film about a man’s journey into adultery and its impact.
Cinematographer Yuharu Atsuta does excellent work with the film‘s black-and-white photography to capture the look of Tokyo in its emerging, modern setting as well as its use of lights for some of the scenes at the bar and at the home of Shoji and Masako. Editor Yoshiyasu Hamamura does nice work with the editing as it‘s mostly straightforward while emphasizing on a few rhythmic cuts for its dramatic moments. Art director Tatsuo Hamada and set decorator Kintaro Yamamoto do amazing work with the set pieces such as the home of Shoji and Masako as well as the place where Shoji and Goldfish work at.
Costume designer Yuji Nagashima does terrific work with the clothes where it is a mixture of traditional Japanese robes and casual clothes to play into the world of postwar Japan. The sound work of Yoshisaburo Senoo is superb for the natural approach to sound that is played throughout the film. The film’s music by Kojun Saito is just brilliant for its serene yet somber string-based score to play into some of the film’s melodrama with its emphasis on traditional Japanese string music as well as other pieces that is played in the background.
The film’s incredible cast includes some notable small performances from Haruko Sugimara as Masako’s mother, So Yamamura and Teiji Takahashi as a couple of Shoji’s co-workers, Junji Masuda as Shoji’s dying friend Miura, and Chishu Ryu as a widower that Shoji befriends who would later have Shoji face some truths about himself. Keiko Kishi is wonderful as the young typist Goldfish who has an exuberance that Shoji is attracted by as she is willing to keep their affair a secret until gossip starts to emerge. Ryo Ikebe is excellent as Shoji Sugiyama as this man feeling repressed by his environment at home and at work where he would engage into an affair only to question the decisions he’s made. Finally, there’s Chikage Awashima in a fantastic performance as Shoji’s wife Masako as this woman who is this representation of tradition as opposed to Goldfish’s more modern persona as a woman who becomes annoyed by her husband’s lateness and neglectfulness while dealing with some of the cracks that are emerging in her marriage.
Early Spring is a remarkable film from Yasujiro Ozu. Thanks to its cast and its sensitive approach to the themes of adultery and social oppression. It’s a film that is among one of Ozu’s quintessential films as well as the way he can create something so simply in a story that has huge questions about postwar Japan as it emerges into the modern world. In the end, Early Spring is a phenomenal film from Yasujiro Ozu.
Yasujiro Ozu Films: (Sword of Penitence) - (Days of Youth) - Tokyo Chorus - I Was Born, But... - (Dragnet Girl) - Passing Fancy - (A Mother Should Be Loved) - A Story of Floating Weeds - (An Inn in Tokyo) - (The Only Son) - (What Did the Lady Forget?) - (Brothers and Sisters of the Toda Family) - (There Was a Father) - Record of a Tenement Gentleman - (A Hen in the Wind) - Late Spring - Early Summer - (The Flavor of Green Tea Over Rice) - Tokyo Story - Tokyo Twilight - (Equinox Flower) - Good Morning - Floating Weeds - Late Autumn - The End of Summer - An Autumn Afternoon
© thevoid99 2013
Directed by Masaki Kobayashi and written by Yoko Mizuki from an original story by Yakumo Koizumi, Kwaidan is a collection of four chilling stories based on the folk stories of Lafcadio Hearn. The stories revel in the world of ghosts and their encounters with humans in the course of different periods in Japan. Starring Rentaro Mikuni, Keiko Kishi, Michiyo Aratama, Misako Watanabe, Tatsuya Nakadai, and Takashi Shimura. Kwaidan is a mesmerizing yet exotic film from Masaki Kobayashi.
In the first story entitled The Black Hair, a samurai warrior (Rentaro Mikuni) leaves his wife (Michiyo Aratama) in order to gain some sort of social status after being left in poverty by a lord. After marrying a governor’s daughter (Misako Watanabe), the warrior finds himself longing for simpler times as well as his first wife. In The Woman of the Snow, a woodcutter and his young apprentice (Tatsuya Nakadai) deal with a harsh winter where they stay at a hut only to get a visit from a mysterious ghost (Keiko Kishi) who takes the life of the woodcutter as his apprentice watches in horror. After making a vow to the ghost, the apprentice becomes a family man after marrying a beautiful young woman as his peace is shattered by recollections of the mysterious ghost.
In Hoichi the Earless, a young blind monk (Katsuo Nakamura) hears the voice of a mysterious ghost (Tetsuro Tanaba) who takes him to an old tomb so that his masters can hear him sing about a great war between two clans. The monk’s frequent disappearances gets the attention of the head priest (Takashi Shimura) who learns what is happening as he tries to do something to stop the ghosts from retrieving the young monk. The final segment entitled In a Cup of Tea has the film’s narrator (Osamu Takizawa) writing where he tries to finish a story about an encounter between a samurai warrior (Kan’emon Nakamura) and a mysterious ghost (Noburo Nakaya) where paranoia starts to ensue.
The film is essentially a collection of four ghosts stories that reveals man’s encounter with ghosts and the impact that it causes. Through these very intricate tales, the film explores the world of the supernatural as well as the way man deals with these encounters. In The Black Hair, the film explores the world of selfishness and regret where this samurai warrior copes with the decision he’s made. In The Woman of the Snow, a young woodcutter apprentice meets a mysterious ghost of the winter where he makes a vow to not reveal what he saw as he would eventually undo the newfound peace and family life that he had just gained. In Hoichi the Earless, a blind musician is unaware of the visitors he’s singing for which brings the attention of his monastery who do whatever they can to get rid of the ghosts. The fourth and final story In a Cup of Tea is essentially a fragment of an unfinished story the film’s narrator tries to write about a samurai warrior fighting with a ghost.
Each story reveals in a lot of themes that is based on folk lore as they all reveal a lot about man’s fallacy about themselves where they each make strange encounters with not just ghosts but themselves. Notably for some of the protagonists in the story where they would make decisions that would change the course of their life. Some with regret while others would face the unknown like Hoichi who is unaware of the role he’s playing as it raises a lot of fear in his masters. It’s part of the script’s intentions to reveal a world where the supernatural is all around everyone yet they don’t know what these individuals would face.
Masaki Kobayashi’s direction is a real highlight of the film for unique visual presentation that he creates for each segment. Notably in the backdrops that he brings to the film’s scenes where it plays up a world that is expressionistic and surreal as if it’s a world that may not be real yet the situations could be. While segments like The Black Hair and In a Cup of Tea employ a more straightforward presentation. Kobayashi does bring in a lot of interesting images to those segments where it plays up that unique world of the supernatural. Though The Black Hair is more of a drama that explores the world of regret, it’s climax is where the film’s horror is revealed as it shows exactly what the samurai warrior has to cope with.
For segments like The Woman of the Snow and Hoichi the Earless, Kobayashi’s presentation is grand and elaborate in terms of the scenes he creates and the surroundings that the characters inhabit. Notably in the use of the surreal backdrops that adds a sense of fantasy to these segments. In the Hoichi the Earless segment, it’s for this amazing and sprawling recreation of the famous Battle of Dan-no-ura between Emperor Antoku and Minamoto no Yoritomo in the Genpai War. It’s a moment in the film that is unlike anything where Kobayashi uses lots of a strange framing devices and movements to capture this battle as if it was made in a theater with all of these production staging and such. It’s truly a grand moment that is followed by the more low-key In a Cup of Tea segment that ends the film but with a truly unsettling climax. Overall, Kobayashi creates a marvel of a film that emphasizes strong visuals and universal themes to tell a very dazzling horror story.
Cinematographer Yoshio Miyajima does fantastic work with the film‘s very colorful and stylish photography from the usage of blue and orange lights for The Woman of the Snow segment to the lush coloring schemes of the battle re-creation of the Hoichi the Earless segment. Editor Hisashi Sagara does brilliant work with the editing by employing lots of stylish cuts to play out the suspense as well as slow, methodical rhythms to play out those moments including some of its dramatic scenes. Art director Shigemasa Toda does spectacular work with the set pieces to recreate old Japan with its homes and such along with the expressionistic backdrops and set pieces that really plays to the film‘s majestic beauty.
The sound work of Hideo Nishizaki is incredible for the atmosphere it creates in many of the film‘s segments from the intimacy in the conversations to the chilling moments that involves the ghosts and the surroundings. The film’s music by Toru Takemitsu is amazing for the its very intricate yet unsettling arrangements with string instruments and percussions to create a brooding mood that plays to the horror for all of the segments in the film.
The film’s ensemble cast is excellent for the performances they provide in the different segments of the film. From The Black Hair segment, there’s terrific performances from Rentaro Mikuni as the samurai who deals with his choices, Michiyo Aratama as the kind and loving first wife, and Misako Watanabe as the more spoiled and cruel second wife. From The Woman of the Snow segment, there’s wonderful performances from Tatsuya Nakadai as the woodcutter’s apprentice, Yuko Mochizuki as the apprentice’s mother, and Keiko Kishi in a terrifying performance as the Woman of the Snow.
From the Hoichi the Earless, there’s superb performances from Tetsuro Tanaba as the ghost warrior, Katsuo Nakamura as the blind musician Hoichi, and Takashi Shimura in warm performance as the head priest. In the In a Cup of Tea segment, there’s excellent performances from Kan’emon Nakamura as the disturbed samurai warrior, Noboru Nakaya as the ghost samurai, and Osamu Takizawa in a remarkable performance as the film’s narrator.
Kwaidan is an outstanding film from Masaki Kobayashi. While it’s not a conventional horror film, it is still a visually-entrancing one in terms of its presentation and the stories it tells. Particularly as it features some fascinating stories about the supernatural and the powers it have over humanity. In the end, Kwaidan is a sensational film from Masaki Kobayashi.
Masaki Kobayashi Films: (Black River) - The Human Condition - Harakiri - Samurai Rebellion - (Hymn to a Tired Man) - (The Fossil) - (Tokyo Trial)
© thevoid99 2012
