Distant Observer: Masterpieces by Kenji Mizoguchi
Recognized as one of the 20th century's greatest directors, Kenji Mizoguchi made films unequalled for their pictorial and narrative richness and their emotional force. Although he started his career in 1923 he only became known to Western audiences shortly before his untimely death at 58 in 1956, when The Life of Oharu, Ugetsu and Sansho the Bailiff won awards at the Venice Film Festival in 1953, 1954 and 1955, respectively. Mizoguchi's portrayal of women remains one of the most central of his themes. Whether set in Japan's medieval past or in the streets of mid-1950s Tokyo, his films almost invariably focus on women suffering in a world that demeans, enslaves, or crushes them. Unlike Naruse's proud and willful heroines who strive for dignity, Mizoguchi's women selflessly devote themselves to the objects of their love.
"Of all Japanese directors I have the greatest respect for him..." Akira Kurosawa.
All films in Japanese with English subtitles.
We are pleased to present this retrospective of all new 35mm prints with new subtitles. Special thanks to James Quandt (Cinematheque Ontario), for curating this selection of films to mark the 50th Anniversary of Mizoguchi's death in 2006 and to Brian Belovarac (Janus Films).
Friday, September 7, 7:30 p.m.
Ugetsu Monogatari
Japan, 1953, 35mm, b/w, 97 min.
In Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
With Masayuki Mori, Machiko Kyô, Kinuyo Tanaka, Sakae Ozawa
In sixteenth-century Japan, a potter is seduced by a beautiful woman who turns out to be a phantom. With its beautifully atmospheric, long-shot, long takes and graceful camera movements, Ugetsu is considered by many critics to be one of the greatest Japanese films ever made. Winner of the Silver Lion at the Venice Film Festival.
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Friday, September 21, 7:30 p.m.
Street of Shame (Akasen chitai)
Japan, 1956, 35mm, b/w, 87 min.
In Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
With Machiko Kyô, Aiko Mimasu, Ayako Wakao, Michiyo Kogure
Rumors about an impending anti-prostitution law affect the lives of five women working in a Yoshiwara district brothel named Dreamland. Powerful in its indictment of women's oppression, Mizoguchi's last film stars an ensemble of Japan's finest actresses. According to Donald Richie, Street of Shame is "the best of all films examining the problems of women in postwar Japan."
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Friday, October 5, 7:30 p.m.
Sanshô the Bailiff (Sanshô dayû)
Japan, 1954, 35mm, b/w, 123 min.
In Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
With Kinuyo Tanaka, Yoshiaki Hanayaki, Kyôko Kagawa
In eleventh-century Japan, a family disperses after the father is exiled by a cruel governor. The mother (the legendary Kinuyo Tanaka) is sold as a courtesan, and the children are sent to a remote province as slaves. According to David Bordwell, Sanshô is one of the ten best films in the history of cinema. Winner of the 1954 Venice Silver Lion.
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Friday, October 19, 7:30 p.m.
The Life of Oharu (Saikaku ichidai onna)
Japan, 1952, 35mm, b/w, 144 min.
In Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
With Kinuyo Tanaka, Ichirô Sugai, Toshirô Mifune, Hisako Yamane
Based on Saikaku Ihara's 1686 novel, the film chronicles the tragic demise of Oharu, an imperious court lady of the Edo period who is exiled from Kyoto to the countryside for falling in love with someone below her class, Katsunosuke (Mifune) The Life of Oharu won the International Prize at Venice in 1952. Mizoguchi considered it his masterpiece.
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Friday, November 9, 7:30 p.m.
Utamaro and his Five Women (Utamaro o meguru gonin no onna)
Japan, 1946, 35mm, b/w, 94 min.
In Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
With Minosuke Bandô, Kinuyo Tanaka, Kôtarô Bandô, Hiroko Kawasaki
Jealousy, lust and deception run high in this fictionalized account of Japanese woodblock print artist Kitagawa Utamaro (1753-1806). Mizoguchi's most autobiographical film was also one of the first period films made in Japan under the American occupation. Roger Greenspun (NYT) called the deep focus, eye-level photography, "virtually a test of vision for the audience."
In cooperation with the Chazen Museum of Art's exhibition Competition and Collaboration: Japanese Prints of the Utagawa School.
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Friday, November 16, 7:30 p.m.
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (Zangiku monogatari)
Japan, 1939, 35mm, b/w, 142 min.
In Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
With Shôtarô Hanayagi, Kôkichi Takada, Gonjurô Kawarazaki
In 1885 Tokyo, a young actor is expelled from his clan because of his unprofessional attitude toward the art of Kabuki. He is saved from misery by the family's maid. Celebrated as a masterpiece of cinema style (a fluid camera captures entire scenes in single shots), Zangiku monogatari is often viewed as the first of Mizoguchi's mature works.
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Friday, November 30, 7:30 p.m.
Sisters of the Gion (Gion no shimai)
Japan, 1936, 35mm, b/w, 69 min.
In Japanese with English subtitles
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
With Isuzu Yamada, Yôko Umemura, Benkei Shiganoya
In the Gion, Kyoto's traditional pleasure quarter, sisters Umekichi and O-Mocha bring different attitudes to their work, the first traditional, the latter cynically modern. Mizoguchi's radical style (static long-shot, long takes) is positively breathtaking. The Japanese award for best film of the year, that Sisters of the Gion received was well-deserved.
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