Sisters of the Gion

i enjoyed this film and it's kinda hard to say why but like everything fit how it was supposed to and i liked how the story just kinda felt like a circle with no happy ending, somehow it really worked in this film

i enjoyed this film and it's kinda hard to say why but like everything fit how it was supposed to and i liked how the story just kinda felt like a circle with no happy ending, somehow it really worked in this film

You can’t blame a woman for fooling foolish men

You can’t blame a woman for fooling foolish men

*
From just the first minutes of this production, we’re met with a pair of geisha sisters. The eldest, Umekichi (Yôko Umemura), has conformed herself to the patriarchal and cultural reality of her womanhood, while the youngest, O-mocha *(Isuzu Yamada), refuses to settle into this harsh reality. 
She pulls strings here and there to get anything she and her sister might need to support themselves. Unfortunately, all things combined, eventually lead to a poor outcome.
Umekichi, on the other hand, despite the lack of value the men she crosses paths with – as well as the ones in her life – attribute to her, and in spite of the suffering she’s endured from them, still stands firm to the values and ideals that have been inflicted upon her. 
Both of the girls lament their inability to escape the tragic exploitation they endure. Their troubles are equal and their responses inherently intertwined, even if they’re seemingly on opposite ends of the spectrum. 
Sounds crazy, right? How a portrayal with themes of exploitation and tradition on the societal constraints of women, from almost a century ago, can be so… current.
It truly pains me to even talk about how timeless this piece is.

*
From just the first minutes of this production, we’re met with a pair of geisha sisters. The eldest, Umekichi (Yôko Umemura), has conformed herself to the patriarchal and cultural reality of her womanhood, while the youngest, O-mocha *(Isuzu Yamada), refuses to settle into this harsh reality. 
She pulls strings here and there to get anything she and her sister might need to support themselves. Unfortunately, all things combined, eventually lead to a poor outcome.
Umekichi, on the other hand, despite the lack of value the men she crosses paths with – as well as the ones in her life – attribute to her, and in spite of the suffering she’s endured from them, still stands firm to the values and ideals that have been inflicted upon her. 
Both of the girls lament their inability to escape the tragic exploitation they endure. Their troubles are equal and their responses inherently intertwined, even if they’re seemingly on opposite ends of the spectrum. 
Sounds crazy, right? How a portrayal with themes of exploitation and tradition on the societal constraints of women, from almost a century ago, can be so… current.
It truly pains me to even talk about how timeless this piece is.

Not long ago, I watched The Neighbor’s Wife and Mine. This was Japan’s first hit commercially and critically with sound in 1931. The reason I highlight this is because just five years later, we get this. It’s like going from One Fish Two Fish to The Scarlet Letter.

I haven’t seen a Mizoguchi in over 5 years. It’s astonishing how much more I was affected this time and a clarifier for just how much I missed before, despite my initial admiration. Mizoguchi, while yes, male, presents a palpable portrayal of the human female plight. At least in a way I could not help but be floored by. I think there’s a self-awareness uniquely male that actually accentuates more than hinders the expose of the exploitation.

The construction of the narrative is almost labyrinthine in momentum. Every moment another character is shifting gears in relation to another character. Constant maneuvering to get the upperhand, you can see the ubiquity of deceit and dishonesty inherent in a power structure as patriarchal as this.

With such rich text, at a slim 69 (nice) minutes, it’s one of those movies that makes you wonder why others have to be so unnecessarily long and even more ineffective, still.

The ending had my jaw open. To be clear, not because the images were shocking but because the cruel heartless objective tragedy of this world was so audacious. It’s an earlier striking example, of which i have seen, of this kind of misery. I might need to reprioritize a revisit of Mizoguchi after this.

Not long ago, I watched The Neighbor’s Wife and Mine. This was Japan’s first hit commercially and critically with sound in 1931. The reason I highlight this is because just five years later, we get this. It’s like going from One Fish Two Fish to The Scarlet Letter.

I haven’t seen a Mizoguchi in over 5 years. It’s astonishing how much more I was affected this time and a clarifier for just how much I missed before, despite my initial admiration. Mizoguchi, while yes, male, presents a palpable portrayal of the human female plight. At least in a way I could not help but be floored by. I think there’s a self-awareness uniquely male that actually accentuates more than hinders the expose of the exploitation.

The construction of the narrative is almost labyrinthine in momentum. Every moment another character is shifting gears in relation to another character. Constant maneuvering to get the upperhand, you can see the ubiquity of deceit and dishonesty inherent in a power structure as patriarchal as this.

With such rich text, at a slim 69 (nice) minutes, it’s one of those movies that makes you wonder why others have to be so unnecessarily long and even more ineffective, still.

The ending had my jaw open. To be clear, not because the images were shocking but because the cruel heartless objective tragedy of this world was so audacious. It’s an earlier striking example, of which i have seen, of this kind of misery. I might need to reprioritize a revisit of Mizoguchi after this.

65/100

Will schedule a time to binge watch Mizoguchi films.

65/100

Will schedule a time to binge watch Mizoguchi films.