Japanese film classicist Kenji Mizoguchi, his film severely criticizes men and society that sacrifice women, he treats actors and staff like evil spirits, and Out of the studio, he smiled and was kind and approachable. He is a person full of contradictions and flaws, and he has as many bad works as masterpieces. Nagisa Oshima made the following comments in comparison with the two masters of Ozu and Mizoguchi: "Ozu only works within the scope of what he likes to do. He knows what he likes, so he is happy; but Mizoguchi doesn’t know what he wants to do all his life. He worked hard, so he had a very hard life."
We are often confused by the question "Why so-and-so can become a master", because many masters cannot be judged before they become masters. Mizoguchi Kenji graduated from elementary school. Although he became famous after the age of 30, he only showed his mastery in the last 4 years of his life. Half a century after his death, we discovered that the Japanese film director of the same generation who can rival Ozu Yasujiro is probably only Mizoguchi Kenji.
Birth and death
March 16, 1898 Born in Tokyo.
He died of leukemia in Kyoto on August 25, 1956, and entered the film industry at the end of his
life
. Engaged in a variety of occupations when he was young. Learned Western painting. In 1920, he joined the daily life company Xiangdao Studio as an assistant director.
Silent movie period. From 1923 to 1934, a total of 50 silent films were shot. In 1923, he made his debut "Love Recovery Day"; his fifth film "The Tragic Song of the Defeated Army" attracted people's attention. However, the early artistic creation was not stable.
Sound film period. From 1930 to 1956, a total of 38 sound films were completed.
In 1930. The first audio film "Hometown" of the "Nikko" company.
From 1936 to 1937. In 1936, Kenji Mizoguchi made two films that established the realism style of Japanese cinema: "Osaka Elegy" and "Sisters in the Brothel". In 1937, he filmed "Love Gorge" and "The Story of Residual Chrysanthemum". Most of these films are based on the tragic fate of women being enslaved and sacrificed. At the same time, the filming technique has also formed a long-shot expression of "one scene, one shot".
During World War II. During this period, Mizoguchi once put aside his passion for female subjects in his films and turned to advocating the traditional spirit of Japan. The most important works are the costume drama "The Collection of Yuan Lu Zhongchen · The First and Last" (The 47 Ronin, 1942). The epic of the film is of its own kind.
After the war. Works such as "Women in the Night" (1948) and "Mrs. Snow Drawing" (1950) have been well received and are considered to be the liberation of Mizoguchi's mind.
From 1952 to 1956. In the last four years when Mizoguchi was about to die, he shot a total of 8 films, each of which showed the weight of a master.
"Life of Oharu" (1952), which showed Japanese history on the screen in the form of scrolls and epics, won the Best Director Award at the 17th Venice Film Festival.
"Tales Of Ugetsu" (Tales Of Ugetsu, 1953) once again won the top silver lion award at the Venice Film Festival (there was no Golden Lion award that year). This film is also considered to be one of the most important works in Japanese film history. In the same year, "The Gion Sisters" was also filmed.
Sansho the Bailiff (1954) won the Silver Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival again, and you can see the shadow of the director's autobiography; another work of the same year, Chikamatsu Monogatari (1954), was also well received.
"Gui Fei Yang" (1955) is based on the ancient Chinese poet Bai Juyi's "Song of Everlasting Regret"; "Shin Heike Monogatari" (Shin Heike Monogatari, 1955).
His last film was "Street of Shame" (1956), which was based on the work of Yoshiko Shibaki, which overturned the old routine of the "Mother-Mother Opera" in Japan.
Features
: Mizoguchi Kenji's movies have a wide range of themes, including detective, popular, satire, comedy, and even militarism and proletarian movies, but the capital that made him based in the world of film masters is traditional Japanese women. Works on tragedy themes. It is generally believed that Mizoguchi is a naturalistic realist, but during the war, his thinking once turned to nationalism, emphasizing maintaining the traditional spirit of Japan. Mizoguchi’s closest partner in the script is Yoshikata Yoda, and most of his works are written or adapted by Yoshikata.
Sentiment: "Paper-sticked screens with slanting shadows and slanting, dark fragrance floating, window pane calendars, and ancient style full of charm." The poetic, picturesque and tragic and lingering classical sentiment in his film is extremely moving. In addition, unlike the open-minded and open-minded characters of Ozu's movies, the characters in Mizoguchi's movies are often more rigid and mean. I have seen Mizoguchi's movies, but my mood will not be good. The types of works always reveal a certain insoluble gloom and unpredictability.
Long shot: Mizoguchi followed the montage theory in the early days of filming. However, Mizoguchi disliked it more and more. He believed that the actor's acting skills would be cut off and he hoped that it would be as uninterrupted as a Japanese drama. Mizoguchi’s representative works generally follow the “one-shot” approach. If the actor acts in the story, the camera will follow it until the end of the scene. Mizoguchi's long-shot performance techniques are highly praised by French film critics and a new generation of directors. Bazin’s long-shot theory emphasizes “the unity of narrative time and space within the same lens”; but Mizoguchi’s long-shot lens is still very free in time and space. "Yuyue Monogatari" is a typical work in which the characters enter without a trace in their actions. Another time and space, so that "things are human and not", and touch the eyes.
"Panoramicism": There are almost no close-ups in Mizoguchi's movies. He believes that close-ups are not expressive. When the characters walk towards the camera, the camera will back up, always keeping the lens and the subject at a certain distance. This sense of distance is like being afraid of shocking the characters in the story. In this modest, respectful, quiet, and silent attitude, it makes the audience aware of the bleakness of life. Japanese movies, represented by Mizoguchi and Ozu, use panoramic lenses extensively and are called "panoramicism", which embodies a different attitude to "people" from the West: the West focuses on people and scenery is incidental; while Japan focuses on people. Affect the human environment. Therefore, we can often see their fascination with "empty shots" without characters in the works of Mizoguchi and Ozu.
"reflection". When Mizoguchi was filming, he always auditioned in silence. When an actor has questions, Mizoguchi replied: "Acting is the actor's job, so I think about how to act." When Mizoguchi gives acting guidance to actors, the most frequently used sentence is: "Please reflect." As a mystery, Mizoguchi himself never explained the true meaning. Mizoguchi values the actors' inner experience of the role, and hopes that the actors can reflect in the performance, so "reflection" is often used by Mizoguchi. Mizoguchi gives the actors creative space and freedom. The actors make a plan for their scenes before the actual filming and show them to Mizoguchi. Mizoguchi rarely has any objections. When several powerful actors perform together, these actors also negotiate how to perform on their own. Mizoguchi did not ask, which is in sharp contrast to Ozu Yasujiro.
"Japanese female directors": Japan is a society with a strong sense of patriarchy. Most of Mizoguchi's works have given sympathy and attention to Japanese women, and most of his works are about the issue of sexual desire between men and women, which is related to the real experience of Mizoguchi.
Mizoguchi has a sister and a younger brother. His father lost his ability to work. Coupled with the failure of speculation, Mizoguchi's family is very poor. When Mizoguchi was 17, his mother died of fatigue. The relationship between Mizoguchi and his father has also deteriorated, and the male images reflected in Mizoguchi's works are often brazen. After the death of his mother, his sister took up the burden of life for the whole family and became a geisha, and later became the concubine of the nobleman. At this time, Mizoguchi had been out of school, and he could not even go to middle school. She was boarding with her sister's house and changed jobs very willfully.
Mizoguchi entered the film industry and rarely had scandals with actresses. His interest lay in geishas or prostitutes. When he was young, Mizoguchi acted promiscuously. He had a close relationship with Kyoto prostitute Yuriko. Once Yuriko stabbed Mizoguchi with a knife, Yuriko was arrested, but Mizoguchi, who was almost killed, gave up the prosecution. After Mizoguchi recovered from his injury, he chased Yuriko to Tokyo. This incident became a sensation. Mizoguchi said: "That day, the blood flowing down from my back stained the ground with scarlet scarlet. I will never forget the red, miserable and sad, but faintly warm." This can't be erased. The scar has almost become the source of Mizoguchi's creation. Many years later, Mizoguchi once looked at the scar on his body and said to others: "Because of it, I know how to portray a woman."
Mitsuguchi's wife, Chieko, suddenly became insane in 1941. This was a sudden tragedy for Mizoguchi. At that time, he was filming "Genroku Zhongchen Zou". Mizoguchi wondered if he had a venereal disease and passed it to his wife. He was very guilty, but the doctor checked afterwards, but that was not the case. However, Mizoguchi still regrets his vain life. From that time, Mizoguchi’s movie world began to have a sense of atonement for women, and motherly women who forgave their men’s vain behavior, and sacrificed women to achieve their goals. Condemned by the men. Some people say that he used the movie to apologize to women in the world.
Music: Mizoguchi's organic use of Japanese folk music in the sound structure of films is also a must. A large number of tones in Japanese classical music are very similar to the sounds of daily life, and are not limited to the tonal structure, which is especially suitable for the dynamics of the film and the sense of rhythm that does not follow the beat in the editing. Mizoguchi's use of Japanese traditional music with the environment and sound effects has reached a harmonious state. Music sometimes interacts with visual images in his movies, which is reflected in his "Kinmatsu Monogatari". . If the music and sound effects of this work are cancelled, perhaps this film will not be included in the 100 classics of Japanese movies. This kind of film with a deep national imprint can only be viewed from a distance and is difficult to imitate in the West, so Godard can only say with envy: "The film of Mizoguchi is perfect."
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