Obscure Japanese Film #75
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Isuzu Yamada
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Sonoda (Takashi
Shimura) is a wealthy businessman who owns a restaurant run by Aya (Isuzu
Yamada), whom he has repeatedly tried and failed to seduce. She’s actually
having an affair with the cook, Igarashi (Tatsuya Mihashi), who has a foot injury
as a result of being forced to work barefoot when he was a prisoner-of-war in
Siberia. Aya’s daughter, Miyako (Yoko Tsukasa), is also in love with Igarashi
but unaware of her mother’s affair. The restaurant has several geisha who
entertain the guests. These include Kintaro (Yaeko Mizutani), who tends to get
drunk a lot and is eventually raped in a car while intoxicated; Beniko (Etsuko
Ichihara), who regularly attempts suicide for obscure reasons; and Masae
(Mitsuko Kusabue), who has been left by her husband, Nozaki (Kazuo Kitamura), and
is now in a relationship with a salesman (Akira Takarada), although Nizaki
keeps turning up to sponge off her.
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Takashi Shimura
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This Toho production is unusual in being a collaboration between two directors – Mikio Naruse and Yuzo Kawashima – and it seems to have come about as a result of Kawashima’s admiration for his senior colleague. Reportedly, Naruse directed most of the interiors in the studio, while Kawashima handled the scenes shot on location, and it certainly looks that way. As might be expected from this approach, there is a certain unevenness of tone. Kawashima’s opening scene set at a swimming pool suggests we’re in for a moronic sex comedy, but the film becomes more serious and interesting as it progresses.
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Tatsuya Mihashi
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The geisha portrayed here are not the high-class prostitutes of period dramas, but simply female companions and entertainers for hire, which is what geisha had become by the time this film was made (it’s set in what was then the present day). Nevertheless, it’s surprising to see geisha emulating westerners on their days off. They ride around in American sports cars, go to jazz bars and drink highballs, and it’s made clear that their shamisen skills are somewhat lacking compared to the geisha of the past. In fact, their materialism, pursuit of pleasure and lack of spirituality are almost akin to the ‘sun tribe’ youths seen in films such as Crazed Fruit (1956). However, although these women seem pretty vacuous at first, they do become more sympathetic as the various sub-plots unfold, and Kintaro’s rebellion is gratifying when it comes.
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Kazuo Kitamura and Akira Takarada
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The film was based on an original screenplay by frequent Naruse collaborator Toshiro Ide, and Zenzo Matsuyama, soon to become a director himself. It seems that Ide wrote the Naruse portions, while Matsuyama wrote Kawashima’s scenes. Each director also worked with a different cinematographer. I suspect that Naruse might have had an undeveloped, set-bound script by Ide on his hands and suggested that Kawashima add some exteriors showing what the women get up to on their days off (though this is pure speculation on my part). In any case, I felt that the Naruse scenes were stronger, though this might be partly due to the fact that he directed all the sections featuring Isuzu Yamada, who is exceptional. I don’t think I’ve ever seen another actor burst into real tears as suddenly as she does here. Yoko Tsukasa is equally convincing as her daughter, while Yaeko Mizutani proves herself the master of the drunk scene. The music score by Ichiro Saito features jazz guitar quite prominently and has not dated well, but on the whole this often maligned film rewards the patient viewer and is by no means the failure its reputation suggests.
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Yoko Tsukasa
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Isuzu Yamada
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Yaeko Mizutani
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