Naruse: Bangiku (1954)
Bangiku (Late Chrysanthemums), made by Mikio Naruse in 1954.
Very sad, and very human. And a mastership in telling such sad stories nicely and fluently. One of the secrets is the editing, that makes these parallel stories to flow like a quiet river.
Here's what taipeistory has to say about this movie:
Mikio Naruse's Late Chrysanthemums deftly weaves three short stories by Fumiko Hayashi into a triumph of narrative form. Presented in a quiet and understated style that recalls the films of Yasujiro Ozu, yet told with the fluidity of Josef von Sternberg, the film is a stark portrait of three aging geishas as they struggle to retain their dignity in a cold and unfeeling world. Naruse's camera, sympathetic yet disconcertingly cold and detached, seems more interested in nuanced shifts of emotion than broad swaths of plot. By the final quarter of the film, Naruse abandons narrative progression and focuses on two extended encounters: a geisha-turned-moneylender grows increasingly disappointed by her dissolute ex-lover, while a pair of ex-geishas consoles each other for the loss of their adult children. He elegantly contrasts the two scenes to create an overall feeling of sadness and regret. Naruse's uncanny understanding of female psychology allowed him to bypass conventional depictions of his characters as innocent and self-sacrificing. Instead they are experienced, proud, and disillusioned. Without husbands to define and secure their social standing, they are left grasping for money and false promises; yet, as in all of Naruse's films, they manage to endure. Subtle yet emotionally affecting, Late Chrysanthemum is an often overlooked masterpiece of Japanese cinema.
(Naruse)
Very sad, and very human. And a mastership in telling such sad stories nicely and fluently. One of the secrets is the editing, that makes these parallel stories to flow like a quiet river.
Here's what taipeistory has to say about this movie:
Mikio Naruse's Late Chrysanthemums deftly weaves three short stories by Fumiko Hayashi into a triumph of narrative form. Presented in a quiet and understated style that recalls the films of Yasujiro Ozu, yet told with the fluidity of Josef von Sternberg, the film is a stark portrait of three aging geishas as they struggle to retain their dignity in a cold and unfeeling world. Naruse's camera, sympathetic yet disconcertingly cold and detached, seems more interested in nuanced shifts of emotion than broad swaths of plot. By the final quarter of the film, Naruse abandons narrative progression and focuses on two extended encounters: a geisha-turned-moneylender grows increasingly disappointed by her dissolute ex-lover, while a pair of ex-geishas consoles each other for the loss of their adult children. He elegantly contrasts the two scenes to create an overall feeling of sadness and regret. Naruse's uncanny understanding of female psychology allowed him to bypass conventional depictions of his characters as innocent and self-sacrificing. Instead they are experienced, proud, and disillusioned. Without husbands to define and secure their social standing, they are left grasping for money and false promises; yet, as in all of Naruse's films, they manage to endure. Subtle yet emotionally affecting, Late Chrysanthemum is an often overlooked masterpiece of Japanese cinema.
(Naruse)
Labels: Naruse
posted by Pierre Radulescu at
10:29 AM
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