My first film by Gosho, and I was expecting a soft social drama but this one ended up as a dark psychological tragedy. A very good film on formal levels and has an interesting story too. Ayako Oshima is a girl driven to prostitution by poverty and at her brothel, she gets involved in a dangerous death-web of fate with a father and his sons, and that slowly leads to an even greater tragedy. The film is melodramatic but fervently so, bringing into picture the extreme emotions raging within Ayako. The north Japan landscapes are beautifully shot and the confines of the brothel are well used to capture Ayako's self-discovery and eventful journey. The haunting soundtrack adds the correct flavor to the movie and the ending, even if it feels a bit staged, is intense and liberating. In fact, Jitsuko Yoshimura as Ayako is really good, effortlessly portraying the pain and despair of an accursed soul, and that factor really holds the movie together and makes the viewers feel her caged emotions. The movie overall has a classic Japanese feel, simple and universal, yet layered, and more of a witness to life than a judge.
3 Reviews
The Question of Guilt
boblipton26 August 2019
Jitsuko Yoshimura's father cannot go fishing in his boat, so her mother sells her to a brothel. Her first customer is a wealthy sawmill owner, and she soon becomes a popular girl, with many regulars. One day she takes a new customer, who turns out to be the estranged son of the mill owner. Before he leaves for the army, he makes her promise not to sleep with his father. The old man will not be denied, and dies in her arms. Some time later, she is questioned by military intelligence about her relationship with the son. He had gone mad, attacked a Royal Guardsman, and been killed.
Miss Yoshimura becomes the talk of the town; apparently it is bad luck to sleep with a father and a son, and she gains a threatening reputation, even though she thinks it nonsense. Then the sawmill owner's other son shows up.
It's a sad and eerie story about the Japanese culure and their attitudes toward women of pleasure and the inchoate animism that survives in the nation. In Miss Yoshimura, the film has an actress well suited for the part. She was a favorite actress for Shôhei Imamura, a director of weird and nasty stories about the lower classes. This is not an Imamura film, however. It was directed by Heinosuke Gosho, a respected workhorse director for Shochiku. He was born in 1902, and directed the first of his 99 movies in 1925; my favorite of the ones I have seen is THE DANCING GIRL OF IZU. He worked a lot in the Shomin-Geki genre, and although he was never considered as important as directors like Ozu or Naruse, he directed Japan's first sound film in 1931, the funny THE NEIGHBOR'S WIFE AND MINE. Over more than 40 years, he won many awards. In the 1950s, he won a special prize at the Berlin festival and was nominated for a Golden Lion at Venice twice. He retired in 1968 and died in 1981.
Miss Yoshimura becomes the talk of the town; apparently it is bad luck to sleep with a father and a son, and she gains a threatening reputation, even though she thinks it nonsense. Then the sawmill owner's other son shows up.
It's a sad and eerie story about the Japanese culure and their attitudes toward women of pleasure and the inchoate animism that survives in the nation. In Miss Yoshimura, the film has an actress well suited for the part. She was a favorite actress for Shôhei Imamura, a director of weird and nasty stories about the lower classes. This is not an Imamura film, however. It was directed by Heinosuke Gosho, a respected workhorse director for Shochiku. He was born in 1902, and directed the first of his 99 movies in 1925; my favorite of the ones I have seen is THE DANCING GIRL OF IZU. He worked a lot in the Shomin-Geki genre, and although he was never considered as important as directors like Ozu or Naruse, he directed Japan's first sound film in 1931, the funny THE NEIGHBOR'S WIFE AND MINE. Over more than 40 years, he won many awards. In the 1950s, he won a special prize at the Berlin festival and was nominated for a Golden Lion at Venice twice. He retired in 1968 and died in 1981.
Beaten To Death With Impunity!
net_orders15 December 2018
Warning: Spoilers
AN INNOCENT WITCH / WOMAN OF MOUNT OSORE [Lit.] / OSOREZAN NO ONNA. Viewed on Streaming. Director Heinosuke Gosho's take on the ever popular movie genre of Shouka-geki (brothel drama). This time it involves a short-lived young woman sold into prostitution to support her impoverished/incapacitated parents who quickly rises to become the top money-making attraction in a local brothel and just as quickly falls victim to superstitious nonsense that she is cursed (as a result of being coincidentally/
circumstantially linked to the death of three male customers from the same family) and must now undergo exorcism in a Shinto ceremony that kills her in order to rid her of evil spirits. The setting is rural Japan in the late 1930s and early 1940s. Gosho's film joins numerous other melodramas that have (and will) target the traditional mistreatment of women in Japan where repressive and abusive male authority prevails. (Of course, Japanese culture is far from unique in this regard.) The Director taps into the universal and seemingly timeless sad reality of superstitious and backward beliefs regarding women (held by both men and women) as well sexual oppression of women (conducted by both men and women). Direction is very good although Gosho overdoses a bit on narration to help establish the opening bookended scenes (which also lays the ground work for closing bookended scenes). Editing is so-so with a significant scene involving being hit by a truck obviously phony. Leading actress Jitsuko Yoshimura delivers a wide-ranging, versatile, and memorable performance (as usual). Supporting actors are pretty good, but with a tendency to go for the ham (especially the actresses playing blind characters). Subtitles are close enough for Kensai-ben. All signs are translated. Music is a successful blend of traditional and modern styles as well as some scene-enhancing and startling riffs. Recommended. WILLIAM FLANIGAN, PhD. Details: Streaming/Print (FilmStruck) = 8/9 stars; Direction = 7/8 stars; Performances = 7 stars; Cinematography (2.35 : 1, black and white) = 6 stars; Music = 6 stars; Sound = 6 stars; Subtitles = 6 stars; Editing = 5 stars.
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