Ozu and Mizoguchi

Ebony 2022-01-12 08:01:12

On the occasion of commemorating the 60th anniversary of the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japan, I was watching the old films of two "Japanese superb directors" Ozu Yasujiro and Mizoguchi Kenji. Ozu has been fired by the National People's Congress in recent years and has gained a great reputation. Mizoguchi's "Raugetsu Monogatari" was seen during the Japanese Film Week held in Shanghai 20 years ago and was very impressed, so once I saw his DVD set, I didn't hesitate to take it. Ozu has a lot of film critics, so I won't say much, here is the movie of Mizoguchi.

"Rain Moon Story" was taken in the early 1950s and describes the legend of a potter's family in a mountain village during the Warring States Period in Japan. The dream of a potter is to make good pottery and sell it at a good price for his wife to buy clothes to wear. His farming brother dreams of becoming a respected samurai. After helping his elder brother to sell pottery, the younger brother took the money to abandon the house, bought a helmet and sword, and finally became a samurai. After being abandoned, his wife was raped and turned into a prostitute. Because of the beautiful art of the pottery, the potter was caught in the eye of an aristocratic woman with rich artistic accomplishment in the market, and he was attracted to Huawu to help him become famous. The hillbilly became obsessed with forgetting home. Later, when a monk saw it through, it was a ghost, and the nobleman who built this family has long been wiped out. The waking potter returned home and found that his wife had been killed by the insurgents, leaving only the young children. After his brother was promoted to a small boss, he went to the brothel to find joy and reunited with his wife. At the end of the film, the potter returns to his old profession, often accompanied by the deceased wife's advice, the child worships at his mother's grave, and Yuan Jing is farming with his brother's family.

Mizoguchi Kenji is known as the first generation of "superconductors" among Japan's three super directors (Mizoguchi Kenji, Ozu Yasujiro, and Kurosawa Akira). One of the discs in the Mizoguchi Kenji DVD set is a collection of expert reviews, all of whom are from the French film industry. In fact, it was in the 1960s after his death that Mizoguchi's films were more released in Europe with the rapid economic growth of Japan. At that time, it was obvious that there was a Japanese movie boom, and the details of those French critics of Mizoguchi's movies are all treasured. The influence of Mizoguchi's film techniques on French New Wave films is unquestionable.

Mizoguchi's films are famous for their "female subjects", and they also exaggerate a lot of "Japanese traditional culture", but in fact they have a deep introspection of the country's culture, which is not fully noticed by those French critics. For example, "The Story of Rainy Moon" is actually a profound understanding of the Japanese after the war. It not only involves the "Bushido", but also deeply introspects the beautiful Japanese culture. In contrast, although Ozu has a more profound analysis of human nature, and has focused on cultivating tolerance and warmth, he has the meaning of renewing national culture and rebuilding morality. He also has a unique style in the so-called "aesthetics" of movies, but he has a great impact on his own culture. Compared with Mizoguchi's in-depth review, it is not trivial. Ozu is an exaggeration of the quietest and most beautiful part of Japanese culture (Ozu fans generally think it is "implicitly") advertising and people. Mizoguchi makes you think about what is going on behind the beauty.

In short, looking at Ozu makes me believe that Japanese culture has its advantages. The Japanese people have similar emotions and worries as people everywhere on this earth, and they want to work hard to do better. Even though I see those polite behaviors that are bothersome and polite, I always reflexively replay the grinning Japanese ghost images in "Tunnel Warfare" and "Mine Warfare" in my mind.

Looking at Mizoguchi, I think that if there are more Japanese like this, the Japanese nation can still be saved. Of course, I also hope that there will be more artists of this level in China. 2005-8-18

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Extended Reading
  • Athena 2022-03-27 09:01:14

    Japanese traditional ghost story, blurred ghost movie, wonderful long shot. And the ones that I always thought were ugly are really ghost-like... all kinds of female characters, the makeup = =#

  • Kennedy 2022-03-23 09:02:47

    #siff# Mizoguchi's reel long shot is much better than Ozu's, this is this guy, misogynistic

Ugetsu quotes

  • Ohama: Success always comes at a price, and we pay in suffering.