"The Tale of the Rainy Moon" is a literary masterpiece by the famous Japanese writer Akiari Ueda in the Edo period, and the story content in the work is based on the Chinese "Three Words and Two Beats" and "Cutting the Lamp New Talk", which is composed of nine short and medium-length Zhiwei novels, representing the peak of the adapted novels at that time. When adapting, Ueda Akinari did not blindly copy the plot, language and theme of the original work, but rearranged it according to his own ideas, expressing his unique ideological connotation.
In 1953, The Japanese film director Kenji Mizoguchi adapted two of the short stories "Asagusa" and "Snake Sex" on the big screen, and the two stories after the adaptation were combined into one, telling the story between the potter Genjuro and his wife and the ghost Wakasa through a long lens with mysterious beauty, which greatly improved the connotation of the film and showed a profound idea that was completely different from the novel.
Tadao Sato once commented that Kenji Mizoguchi was "deeply influenced by the new style of drama throughout his life in terms of theme selection, drama methods, and directing skills", and he absorbed the essence of traditional drama and applied it to film works, forming a unique creative style. Akinari Ueda uses the image of a ghost to pin the feelings and desires of the characters, while Kenji Mizoguchi interprets the irreconcilable contradictions and struggles of reality and ideals, personality and ethics with a delicate and fluent film language. Although the two are different in the field of art, they have their own characteristics in the presentation of themes.
Today, I would like to start with kenji Mizoguchi's long-shot art characteristics, analyze the traditional ideas and progressive ideas reflected in the simple storyline, and provide another analytical perspective for the audience to better appreciate the film.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >01, the long, rhythmic lens under the mysterious beauty reflects the traditional idea of ancestor worship</h1>
Kenji Mizoguchi is well known for his rare long shots, often using only one shot for a scene, which tests not only the director's directing ability, but also the emotion and coherence of the actor's performance. In 1953, a scene not only contained all the thematic ideas that wanted to be expressed, but also allowed the audience to fully represent, which in itself was an extremely difficult job, but for Kenji Mizoguchi, he was obsessed with rhythmic long shots, and a large part of the reason was the mysterious beauty of long shots.
The beauty of Yu xuan is a concept in Japanese Noh, its core is "residual feelings", pay attention to "the environment is like outside", in the style has also undergone a transformation from charming to idyllic, through the audience to experience the hidden artistic conception, and then trigger imagination, conveying the rich ideological connotation of the film.
The artistic style of Kenji Mizoguchi is very different from that of Yasujiro Ozu, who is good at maintaining the balance of composition in sports, allowing the actors to be natural and realistic in their performances, and using the actors' interpretation of the script to render the theme of the film. However, Ozu uses tatami lenses step by step, and the characters cannot get up and move casually, because this will destroy the overall beauty of the picture. Because of this difference in shooting, Ozu's films always lack a sense of rhythm and movement, and the artistic presentation of the beauty of Yugen is far from Thatuchi Kenji Mizoguchi.
In the film, when Genjuro sells the pottery, he happily takes the money he earns and chats with his wife Miyagi at the stove, Miyagi is not like many women in Ozu's movies while tasting sake and chatting, but constantly busy cooking on the fire, standing up and walking back and forth is unacceptable for Ozu, the fixed position of the camera will be changed, so once you have to stand up and move during the shooting, Ozu will use a montage to edit. However, for Kenji Mizoguchi, the actor is the focus and soul of the whole film, so it is natural to sacrifice part of the picture beauty, so he still insists on replacing the lost picture beauty with the rhythm of the long shot, and strives to present the real joy and emotion in life.
The mysterious beauty of Kenji Mizoguchi's long lens is also reflected in the undulating movement of the lens. He always tries to avoid using close-ups to present the mood and sorrow of the characters, but places the characters in a specific environment, creating a slightly sad but unforgettable atmosphere through panoramic or long-range methods.
When the camera is on Miyagi, the simple and rich breath of life comes to the face, she holds the child to send off her husband, there is no slightest delicacy in the face of war, and when Genjuro returns home again, he looks for her everywhere and does not see her, until suddenly Miyagi appears in front of Genjuro like a shadow, this ghostly long-shot expression not only sets off Genjuro's eager mood, but also creates a mysterious and wonderful atmosphere, and the sense of proportion is grasped just right, pointing out the essence of Miyagi's death at this time, constituting the best display of the beauty of Yuxuan.
This mood reflects that the core of the Japanese nation's belief is ancestor worship, and this traditional idea is interpreted in the image of the virtuous and capable Miyagi, expressing the reverence for the ancestors of the dead. The Japanese theological concept emphasizes the dual unity of pantheism and animism, in which the undead can often protect the living from disaster, this traditional idea is deeply rooted, and Miyagi expresses this idea vividly through the language and formal beauty of the lens.
Miyagi worked housework, taught her husband and children at home, even after becoming a ghost, she still continued to raise her children, waiting for her husband's return alone, the pity in her eyes was like a naïve child, after her husband's return, she also silently sewed clothes under the lamp, showing infinite warmth like a mother. Miyagi exudes a maternal radiance without a trace of ghostly fear, which reflects Kenji Mizoguchi's homage to the faith of the national soul.
<h1 class= "pgc-h-arrow-right" >02, the simple and ancient style contains the original author Akira Ueda's idea of subverting retroism, and the classical mood is full of affirmation of Confucianism and Buddhist thought</h1>
At the time of the publication of The Tale of the Rainy Moon, cultural figures represented by the Japanese master of sinology, Honju Nobunaga, began to promote the retro-ism of national ideas, but Ueda Akisei took a negative attitude towards this idea, believing that each country has different historical and cultural characteristics and should be respected and passed on, and did not agree with the certainty and retro-ism of the ancient Spirit of Japan proposed by Honju Nobunaga. Kenji Mizoguchi actually supports this idea of Akira Ueda through its simple and ancient meaning in the film, which constitutes a subversion of retroism.
Taking the ancient times of Japan as the ideal era, Honju Nobunaga believed that contemporary people should take the spiritual thoughts of the time as their code of conduct through the study of ancient texts, and therefore should return to the simple and pure life presented at that time. But the credibility of the literature, the accuracy of the research methods, and the authenticity of absolute beliefs are debatable. It was Akira Ueda who had serious doubts about methodology that he created works like "The Tale of the Rainy Moon" that subverted retroist ideas.
In the film, Kenji Mizoguchi perfectly presents a simple ancient style and a comfortable life through the ghost Wakasa. As a snake demon, Wakasa is single-minded, living in a paradise environment, she is brave and strong, but ruthless, she tries to have the love of the world, but it is ultimately unattainable, which actually contains the desire for an ideal life. But there is always an insurmountable gap between reality and ideals. In the novel, Wakasa eventually dies out of jealousy, expressing the spiritual orientation of the infatuated Bai Suzhen who died for love in "The Legend of the White Snake", which implies the depression of ideals and the uncertainty of ancient life.
In Ueda Akisei's view, the ancient noble spirit and human lust are mixed together, modern people are not enough to restore the original mental state, the simple ancient style is gradually disappearing, replaced by people's increasingly strong desires and feelings. Throughout the film, the protagonist's journey from man to ghost is actually a confession of desire, which contains both a vision of beautiful love and an exposure of evil human nature.
Miyagi's inseparability to her husband confirms the existence of beautiful love, but Miyagi's death just shows that this realm is hindered by real life, the soldier who skillfully robs, the expansion of inner desire, and the constant temptation of the outside world all make Genjuro swing left and right between ideal and reality, thus showing an imperfect real world and breaking the illusion of the ancient sublime spirit. What Kenji Mizoguchi wants to express is that contemporary people should pay more attention to their own hearts and avoid being too tempted by the outside world. In this respect, once the temptation of desire can be discarded, life has entered a new world, and the ancient noble spiritual world has become an innocuous false proposition.
Through the creation of classical sentiments, Kenji Mizoguchi fully affirms the Confucian and Buddhist ideas revealed in the novel. Ueda Akiari's Confucian view can be summarized as "valuing heavenly karma, keeping filial piety, and being loyal and desireless", while the Buddhist view is to abandon all pursuits of fame and fortune and "give up what you have and return to nothing". Genjuro adheres to the concept of a potter, pays attention to the inheritance of craftsmanship, and he goes from being full of desire to returning to his family, doing his best for friends, and merging with the spirit of his wife, all of which explain the original intention of abandoning evil and promoting good. The image of a high monk appears five times in the film, not only exhorting Fujibei to look back at the family, but also reminding Genjuro several times to stay away from desire, which essentially shows that it is necessary to follow the origin of buddhism's idea of "giving up what is there to have", abandoning the pursuit of fame and fortune, and expressing the affirmation of Confucianism and Buddhist thought in Akiari Ueda's works.
<h1 class = "pgc-h-arrow-right" >03, the desire for pure humanity and feminist praises are full of Mizoguchi Kenji's critique of patriarchal society, and the redemption of broad love transcends human life and death</h1>
The film incorporates Kenji Mizoguchi's philosophical reflections on life, including a desire for pure humanity and a celebration of feminism. From the storyline of human ghost love, we can clearly understand that Kenji Mizoguchi identifies with the purity of human nature and has expectations and expectations for love. In this regard, he differs from Akiari Ueda. Akisei Ueda does not believe in love and human nature, and his love is subject to various constraints of real life, and human nature also shows the duality of evil and goodness. Kenji Mizoguchi likes to discuss love and human nature in reality from a philosophical perspective.
The film is more meticulous and sensitive than the novel, incorporating the ideological impact brought about by the changes of the times, not only telling the story of a man's inner struggle and contradictions, but also the thinking of human nature from the inside out in the face of destructive war. The extremes of human nature are expressed through fantastic ghost stories, making the noble elements more noble, and the despicable elements more despicable. Implicit in this is the question that Kenji Mizoguchi asked the audience: Why is there such a chaotic world? Should the humanity brought about by war be criticized only by human beings themselves? This deep thinking is implicit in the appearance of the story, adding a more profound philosophical reflection than the novel.
Kenji Mizoguchi is recognized as a "master of feminism" in Japan, who has devoted his life to making films that focus on the lives of women at the bottom, and the rich and indelible humanitarian concern in this film shines like a warm light on each beloved female character, expressed in a thorough and cold critique of the patriarchy that caused their tragic fate. War is a struggle of men, but it is the death of a woman as a victim, and the irony is self-evident. Miyagi's painful struggles as he is stabbed and the soldiers snatching food mirror each other, and Kenji Mizoguchi uses a shoe stuck in the mud to show Abin's fate of being ravaged by soldiers, thus revealing the great trauma of male warfare for women.
In contrast, women in this process, when men pursue fame and fortune at the same time, they shoulder the heavy responsibility of the family, become the protector of the family, maintain the living habits of sunrise and sunset, and the glory of the successful men permeates their selfless dedication, and the redemption of this broad love has transcended the life and death of human beings and become a spiritual inheritance of maternal brilliance.
Wakasa's original intention of seducing Genjuro was only to compensate for her regret of lack of love, and her tragic life was extremely regrettable, and while people resented Genjuro's absolute injustice, it actually constituted a concern for Wakasa's fate, which itself was exactly the manifestation of Mizoguchi Kenji's humanitarian care for women.
At the end of the film, the men find their lost selves under the influence of the women, Fujibei gave up the glory and wealth and returned home with his wife Abin, Genjuro also returned from the fall, as the wife of the ghost soothed his wounded heart, the countryside rose again the green smoke of burning ceramics, at this time it is already human, and the price is the silent selfless dedication of women throughout their lives.
Kenji Mizoguchi sings the great sentiments of feminism and their great contribution to the fate of mankind with a high degree of concern for the fate of women, they have simple wisdom and keen intuition, tenacity and beauty, and it is precisely because of their persistence that men dispel the temptation of desire and reach innocence and kindness, thus expressing Kenji Mizoguchi's simple point of view: poverty and happiness, contentment and happiness.
Kenji Mizoguchi's "The Tale of the Rainy Moon" has a strong national style and personal characteristics, the rhythmic long lens under the beauty of The Mysterious Reflects the traditional ideas of ancestor worship, the gentle temperament and the unique way of moving the mirror are unforgettable, and what is more rare is that in the simple and ancient style, it contains the original author Akira Ueda's idea of subverting retroism, and uses classical sentiments to express the affirmation of Confucianism and Buddhist thought. Through the perfect integration of content and form, it conveys the profound cultural connotation and national psychology, expresses the desire for pure humanity and the praise of feminism. In this sense, the philosophical conception of this film far exceeds the value of film aesthetics.
Note: The picture in this article comes from the network, if there is infringement, please contact to delete. Thank you.