Obscure Japanese Film #2
 |
| Toshiro Mifune and Takashi Shimura |
One year
after Rashomon, Daiei Studios decided
to reunite stars Toshiro Mifune, Machiko Kyo and Takashi Shimura in The Life of a Horse-Trader, based on a
novel by Masao Nakayama. Although the film has little else in common with Rashomon, it should delight fans of
Kurosawa regulars Mifune and Shimura and, as a bonus, features another of that
director’s favourites, Bokuzen Hidari – he of the Noh-mask-like face. The film
also features an excellent score by Kurosawa’s regular composer, Fumio
Hayasaka.
Set in
Hokkaido just before the arrival of automobiles, it tells the story of Yonetaro
Katayama (Mifune), a horse-trader who is good at his job but much given to
drinking, fighting and gambling. As a result of these pastimes, he neglects his
wife and young child and is in an ongoing feud with Rokutaro Kosaka (Shimura),
a carriage-driver turned money-lender with political ambitions. However, when his wife dies, Yonetaro must
change his ways in order to care for his son. Meanwhile, Yuki (Kyo), who works
as a waitress at the inn he frequents, is in love with him and patiently
waiting for him to notice.
Although The Life of a Horse-Trader is an
old-fashioned and sentimental drama, the use of real locations alongside
meticulously detailed sets lend it a welcome air of realism unusual for 1951.
Mifune gives one of his most committed performances outside of a Kurosawa film
and, in one memorable sequence, even performs in three bouts of sumo one after
the other to great effect. Equally pleasing is the fact that Shimura has one of
his best roles as the villain of the piece, who may not be quite such a bastard
after all. Kyo is less well-served as her role is not as interesting, but she
makes the most of it and has some amusing moments.
Director
Keigo Kimura seems forgotten today, but the only other film I’ve seen by him (Diary of a Mad Old Man) is also good,
and this one is extremely well-made, with first-class black-and-white cinematography
by Shigeyoshi Mine.
A word of warning
for horse-lovers: there is a scene in which Mifune and his son are encouraging
their sick horse to stand up, and we see the horse flailing around. There is
then a very odd cut and the scene ends abruptly, after which we are told that
said horse did get back on its hooves after all. I suspect the reason for the
strange cut is that they had the horse tied down or something like that. Worse
still, there is a horse racing sequence in which a horse takes a tumble in such
a way it made me gasp, and I very much doubt it could have survived.
Aside from
the horse abuse, The Life of a Horse-Trader
is an entertaining film which should be of great interest to fans of Mifune and
Shimura at least. It must have been successful at the time, as there was a
sequel the following year (albeit one made by a different director and without
Mifune, Shimura or Kyo), plus a remake in 1963 with Rentaro Mikuni.
Funnily
enough, the film has a remarkably similar ending to the one in The Saga of Tanegashima (see previous
post). In typical Japanese-film style, it ends with the parting of two of the
main characters, who shout each other’s names over and over again as each
recedes into the distance.
