Rent The Lady of Musashino (1951)

Men Getting it All Wrong - The Lady of Musashino review by AP

I'm working steadily through Mizoguchi, and it's clear he makes films about how men don't make life easy for women, This film is no exception. I thought there were two main strands: Akiyama's professorial assertion of the acceptability of adultery and Ono's single-minded world of business. Akiyama thinks it's all right to go off with Ono's wife who feels ignored by her husband, but he's furious with his own wife, Michiko, who, as a samurai keen to retain her family's reputation, has had to spend a (sexless) night in a hotel with her cousin, Tsutomo, owing to a rainstorm. It is clear the cousins love each other, but Michiko is able to resist her temptations, while Akiyama isn't. Furthermore, Akiyama attempts to steal and cash in the deeds of Michiko's property. At the same time, Ono, who is also Michiko's brother, tries to borrow money from her for his failing business by asking her to mortage her property. By the end of the film, the only one to have saved face is the honourable Michiko.

I enjoyed the film, but found it a bit meodramatic. Nevertheless, the working-out of the inevitable tragedy was compelling enough to keep me watching, as was the acting all round.

Japanese Drama. - The Lady of Musashino review by Steve

Sensitive, melancholy reflection on the social revolution in Japan after WWII; particularly related to the changing status of women. This was a common theme in the period, but rarely dramatised with such poignancy.

Kinuyuo Tanaka plays the last of a declining dynasty of long ago aristocrats holding onto her small plot of land. She and her young cousin (Akihito Katayama) cling to this vanishing sense of tradition and order, while others exploit the permissiveness of the new laws and westernised moral code.

Her property is inexorably swept up in the expansion of Tokyo. She no longer belongs in the new society. Sometimes this feels like melodrama. And then, tragedy. Admittedly, an appreciation of this scenario depends on an interest in the postwar reconstruction of Japan…

Or at least empathy for the vulnerability and isolation of women throughout history… Still this is a film by Kenji Mizoguchi and is elevated by the poetry of his visual style and command of the cinematic art. Just on a sensual level, this is a rare, exotic experience.