Yotsuya kaidan - Oiwa no borei / 四谷怪談 お岩の亡霊 (‘Yotsuya kaidan: The Ghost of Oiwa,’1969)

Obscure Japanese Film #233

 

Kei Sato

 

This Daiei production was the seventh post-war film version of Japan’s most famous ghost story and the last made for the cinema until 1981. Coming just four years after Shiro Toyoda’s adaptation (known in English as Illusion of Blood), this one may have felt somewhat unnecessary, but it does add a couple of new twists and turns out to be surprisingly good. For those unfamiliar with the story, it concerns Iemon, a masterless samurai married to Oiwa and struggling to get by. When an opportunity to better his situation presents itself, he’s only too willing to take it even if it means poisoning his wife so that he can marry another woman (I’ll leave you to guess the rest). 

 

Tatsuya Nakadai had starred in the previous film, whereas here it’s his former classmate from the Haiyuza theatre school, Kei Sato, who may be the most cold-blooded Iemon of them all. This is partly down to the perfectly-cast Sato’s almost reptilian performance, but also the script, as I think this is the only version in which he knows in advance that the poison will disfigure his wife. Iemon is also clearly not haunted by guilt in this one, so the ghosts cannot be interpreted as a manifestation of his conscience. 

 

Sonosuke Sawamura and Sato

Fortunately, Sato is not the sort to overact, although the same cannot be said of certain members of the supporting cast, especially Sonosuke Sawamura, who plays the masseur, Takuetsu. The other major role, of course, is that of Oiwa herself, but though it may be a famous part, in many ways it’s not a very appealing one for an actress – in most versions, Oiwa is initially little more than a doormat for Iemon to wipe his feet upon, then a messy make-up job makes her look hideous and finally she just has to jump out of dark corners as a ghost and cackle maniacally. Despite this, Kinuyo Tanaka and Mariko Okada – both big stars – had played her in the past, but in this case it’s Kazuko Inano, a theatre actress who had made other films but was not a film star. She does a decent enough job here, but it’s Sato’s performance you’ll be more likely to remember. 

 

Kazuko Inano

 

The director of this version was Kazuo Mori, a veteran who had made his first film in 1936 and directed the previously-reviewed Suzakumon (1957) and The Saga of Tanegashima (1968). He was an above-average if not exceptional talent, and his choices here are mostly good ones (although the green fireball spirits that feature in one scene are more cute than scary). The film seems rather murkily photographed, which made me wonder whether the struggling Daiei studios were trying to save on electricity at the time by restricting the lighting available (I had similar thoughts about the studio’s 1968 picture The Pit of Death). On the other hand, this could equally have been an artistic choice, and it is one that would make sense as the story takes place in the days before electric light, In any case, it certainly suits the film, which also benefits from excellent sets and costumes as well as camerawork. 

 

Jun Hamamura pops up as one of Iemon's victims

Perhaps the real star of the show here, though, is the wonderfully atmospheric score by Ichiro Saito, which features a combination of furiously-strummed shamisen, a string section, single bass notes and ominous rumbling sounds, all of which is subtly effective and adds considerably to the feeling of unease. 

 

 

AKA The Oiwa Phantom / The Curse of the Ghost / The Curse of the Night, etc

DVD at Amazon Japan 

English subtitles at Open Subtitles 

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Suzakumon / 朱雀門 (aka The Love of a Princess, 1957)

Obscure Japanese Film #87

Ayako Wakao

1858. Princess Kazu no Miya (Ayako Wakao), the sister of the Emperor, has been engaged to Prince Arisugawa (Raizo Ichikawa) since childhood. Her maid, Yuhide (Fujiko Yamamoto), is more like a best friend than a servant, and it’s assumed that she will become the Prince’s concubine if the Princess fails to produce a male heir. Although the two women seem to have little problem with this, the Prince disagrees with the practice. However, it turns out to be irrelevant as their plans go awry in the wake of the signing of the Treaty of Amity and Commerce with the United States. As this action was undertaken by the Tokugawa Shogunate without the Emperor’s blessing, relations between the Shogunate and the Imperial Palace take a turn for the worse. 

 

Eijiro Tono

Yuhide’s father, Tomofusa (Eijiro Tono), spots an opportunity to improve his own position by putting forward a scheme to politician Tomomi Iwakura (Eitaro Ozawa) and daimyo Tadaaki Sakai (Masao Mishima) to arrange a marriage between the Princess and the new shogun, Iemochi Tokugawa (Yoichi Funaki), in order to cement ties between the shogunate and the palace. The Princess finds herself under pressure to break her engagement; aided by Yuhide, she attempts to flee, but this is anticipated by Tomofusa and the plan fails. Meanwhile, Yuhide is dealing with her own feelings for the Prince as well as suspicions about her own parentage when Tomofusa puts her life in danger but she is protected by a mysterious wandering monk (Eijiro Yanagai)… 

Fujiko Yamamoto

 

Produced at their Kyoto studios, this Daiei production was based on a 1953 novel entitled Kojo Kazu no Miya (literally ‘Imperial Princess Kazu of the Palace’) by Matsutaro Kawaguchi (father of actor Hiroshi Kawaguchi), who also happened to be head of production at Daiei. Although most of the characters are real historical figures, Yuhide, Tomofusa and the monk seem to be fictional inventions. The real Princess Kazu no Miya (1846-77) was only 12 in 1858, when this story begins, although that’s not apparent here, nor is the fact that the real events covered took place over a period of nearly 20 years. 

Ayako Wakao

 

Ayako Wakao is associated with contemporary roles to such an extent that it seems a little strange to see her in period costume, although it’s by no means the only occasion she appeared in a historical drama. This must also be the wimpiest role she ever played; as portrayed in Suzakumon, Kazu no Miya is a fragile and tragic victim of events, rather than a protagonist who instigates any of the action. Wakao is fine as always, but it’s hard to believe this is the same actress who played the tough prostitute out for revenge in Irezumi (1966). 

Raizo Ichikawa

 

Director Kazuo Mori (1911-89) was a competent but not especially distinguished filmmaker who had worked as an assistant to Daisuke Ito and later directed episodes in the Shinobi no mono and Zatoichi series as well as the previously-reviewed The Saga of Tanegashima, also featuring Ayako Wakao (in fact, he directed Wakao nine times). I found Ichiro Saito’s score quite beautiful and atmospheric at first, but unfortunately it is overused here and becomes repetitive and sometimes cloying.  It’s visually that this film stands out the most, and it’s no surprise that the colour cinematography by Kazuo Miyagawa (a favourite of Mizoguchi and Kurosawa) won a couple of awards, although I thought that the colour timing in the copy I saw could be improved. 

L-R: Eitaro Ozawa, Eijiro Tono and Masao Mishima

 

Suzakumon probably seemed quite old-fashioned and sentimental even in 1957 (the year of Masaki Kobayashi’s Black River and Yasuzo Masumura’s debut, Kisses) and there’s little in the way of action. However, it has enough good qualities to make it worth seeing for fans of Japanese period dramas, including alongside its star trio a strong supporting cast featuring Eijiro Tono, Eitaro Ozawa and Masao Mishima, three stalwarts from Haiyuza, the theatre company and acting school which also produced Tatsuya Nakadai; Tono has the juiciest role of the three here and certainly makes the most of it. 

 

Note on the title:

It’s unclear why the title of the novel was not used but, according to Wikipedia, “The Suzakumon was the main gate built in the center of the south end of the imperial palaces in the Japanese ancient capitals of Fujiwara-kyō, Heijō-kyō, and later Heian-kyō. The placement followed the ancient Chinese palace model requirements at the time, where Suzaku, the Vermilion Bird was the Guardian of the South. It was said to be the site where foreign dignitaries were received by the Emperor.”