Introducing Mizoguchi Kenji

Mizoguchi Kenji

Brief introduction of Kenji Mizoguchi

Japanese film director. Born in Tokyo on March 16, 1898, died in Kyoto on August 25, 1956. In 1920, Mizoguchi Kenji joined Nikkatsu Company's Mukaishima Studios as an assistant director, and has since entered the film industry. In 1923, he released his debut film "Love Revival Day", and his fifth film "The Song of the Defeated Army" attracted people's attention. However, his early artistic creations were not stable. "Fog Harbor" (1923) imitated the play of American writer E. O'Neill and was considered to be a copy of "Anna Christie". By 1934, he had shot fifty silent films in one go, but unfortunately only three copies exist today. From Nikkatsu's first talkie "Hometown" in 1930 to his death in Kyoto in 1956, Mizoguchi Kenji completed 38 talkies in one year. Mizoguchi Kenji's films have a wide range of themes, including detectives, popular films, satires, comedies, and even films with militarism and proletarian tendencies. However, the capital that allows him to stand among the world's film masters is his appreciation of Japanese art and art. Works on traditional Japanese female tragedy themes. In 1936, Kenji Mizoguchi shot two films that established the realism style of Japanese films: "Osaka Elegy" and "The Gion Sisters." In 1937, he filmed "Love Gorge" and "The Story of Canju". Most of these films take the tragic fate of women being enslaved and sacrificed as their themes. At the same time, the shooting techniques have also formed a long-shot expression technique of "one scene, one shot". During World War II, Mizoguchi Kenji's more important works mainly include the costume drama "The 47 Ronin, 1942", which is a revenge drama with a solemn form and gorgeous production. The epic momentum of the film later came to its heyday. The works of the period have become a genre of their own. In 1952, he released the famous "Life of Oharu" (Life of Oharu, 1952), which presented the historical world of Japan on the screen in the form of scrolls and epics. As a result, he won the first prize at the 17th Venice Film Festival. Best Director Award. In 1953, Mizoguchi Kenji's "Tales Of Ugetsu" 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 one of the most important works in Japanese film history. The film uses the experiences of two couples in the war years to reflect the tragic fate of women who are hurt and tortured in troubled times. The story outline is taken from the work of Ueda Akunari, who has a very eerie, mysterious and gloomy atmosphere. The entire film uses lenses and special effects. The effect was very good, filling the film with a mysterious, hazy and poignant atmosphere. Coupled with the actors' vivid performances, Mizoguchi's reputation as a "female film master" spread for a while. In 1954, Kenji Mizoguchi once again became famous in Venice. "Sansho the Bailiff" (Sansho the Bailiff, 1954) once again won the Silver Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, and another work of the same year, "Chikamatsu Monogatari" (Chikamatsu Monogatari, 1954), was also well received. The picturesque and tragic classical sentiments in his films are extremely moving, and his long-shot expression techniques are especially praised by French film critics and the new generation of directors. After that, Mizoguchi Kenji also produced "Yang Guifei" (1955), which was adapted from the "Song of Everlasting Sorrow" by the ancient Chinese poet Bai Juyi, and "Shin Heike Monogatari" (1955). His last film was based on Shibaki Yoshi. (Street of Shame, 1956), Mizoguchi Kenji died of leukemia in Kyoto on August 24 of the same year. In recognition of his contribution to the Japanese film industry, the Japanese government awarded him the Purple Ribbon Medal. After his death, he was posthumously awarded the Fourth Class Ruibao Medal.

Chronology of Kenji Mizoguchi's works

In 1922, he shot his first film "The Day Love Revived", "813" (based on Maurice LeBlanc's "Arsen Robin" adaptation).

1923: "Rubin Monod" (detective film), "The Coin King" (detective film).

1924: "Dandong", "The Unknown Site" (detective film), "Song of the Hills", "Port of Fog" (adapted from E. O'Neill's original work), "Blood and Soul" 》.

1925: "Street Scene".

1926: "Paper Man Hurts Spring", "No Money, No War".

1927: "Lily the Dude Bride" (adapted from the original work by Goldsworthy).

1928: "The Love of a Primary School Female Teacher".

1929: "Tokyo March". Many of the films made between 1923 and 1929 were based on famous novels from the Meiji era.

1929: "Urban Symphony".

1930: "Homeland" (the first sound film).

1932: "The Day Love Resurrected", "But They Keep Going".

1933: "Today's Clan Gods", "Falling Waterfall", "Gion Festival".

1934: "Kamikaze Company".

1935: "Ball of Suet" (adapted from Maupassant's original work), "Poppy Poppy".

1936: "Gion Sisters", "Elegy of the Waves" (screenwriters: Mizoguchi Kenji and Yoshikawa, main actor: Yamada Isuzu).

1937: "The Valley of Love and Resentment".

1938: "The Story of Canju".

1940: "The Woman of Osaka" ("The Dandy").

1941: "The Career of an Actor", "The Genealogy of Yuanlu's Loyal Ministers" (Part 1).

1942: "Genealogy of Yuanlu's Loyal Ministers" (Later Collection).

1943: "The Third Generation Danjuro" (divided into three episodes).

1947: "The Triumph of Woman", "The Love of Actress Sumako".

1948: "The Night Woman".

1950: "The Fate of Mrs. Snow" (starring Chiyo Kigure).

1951: "Mrs. Musashino" (starring Naka Morita).

1951: "Nishizuru, the First Girl" ("The Life of Haruko", starring Machiko Kyō).

1952: "Ugetsu Monogatari" (photographed by: Miyagawa, starring: Kyō Machiko).

1953: "Gion Sisters" (remake).

1954: "The Story of Chikamatsu" and "Sansho Doctor".

1955: "Yang Guifei" (co-produced with Hong Kong, color film, photography: Sugiyama, main actors: Kyoko Machiko, Mori, Yamamura).

1955: "The Blasphemous Hero" ("The Story of the New Heike").

1956: "Red Line Zone". ***Produced about 100 films.

Died in Kyoto on August 24, 1956.