Being a huge fan of other work from the period, I have recently heard of much praise for the director Kenji Mizoguchi. This film went straight to the top of my list of films to watch. It is a fascinating look at post-war Japan. The film begins in the midst of war, we hear planes, and bombs going off. A young couple who lose their house move in with their parents. Whilst digging a bomb shelter a human skull is discovered and the dying mother says that the place is cursed. This film is not supernatural in the slightest though. It is a beautiful portrait of morality and changing times. Towards the beginning of the film their are many narrative ellipses. A father comforts his daughter by assuring her that he will not die. In the next scene he has died. We are never given strong details of what exactly happens, and some viewers may not be used to this quick paced technique. The important thing is that it works, we as the audience do not need to see how the father or mother dies. We do not need to see the end of the war. What is important is what happens after these events. The first twenty minutes is like a prologue, and a very good and interesting one. Once the film really gets going we see how sensibilities are changing. Men believe in adultery and the political climate is heating up. Akiyama is one man who believes that there is nothing wrong with cheating on his wife, and that it is natural. He attempts to initiate an affair with Tomiko. Tsutomu tries to seduce his cousin Michiko. Michiko is shown as the lasts sense of morality in a fast changing society. She knows her husband is unfaithful (or at least would be), she is in love with Tsumotu, but she refuses to give up on the commitment of marriage. After her husband does leave her, she attempts suicide in one of cinemas greatest sacrifices, in an attempt to stop her husband gaining the property. It is heartbreaking how far Michiko will go, how she refuses to conform. The performances are fantastic, never over the top and really capture the essence of their characters. The beautiful use of scenery, in which we see the last remnants of peaceful nature, such as the lake and the long flowing beautiful grass. It is a great film, which may have lost some of its relevance over the years. No matter, it is a fantastic picture that should be seen by all fans of cinema.
Review of Musashino fujin
