The Tale of Konmatsu and Kenji Mizoguchi's cinematic aesthetics

Author: Zhao Jianzhong, researcher of Shanghai Academy of Social Sciences and director of Shanghai Film Critics Society

The original intention of watching Kenji Mizoguchi's film "The Tale of Kinmatsu" was to pay tribute to the predecessors of the film, and to do a little research on the history of Japanese cinema, but I did not expect that this film, which was shot in 1954, was very attractive, and after 102 minutes, it was still unfinished. The plot of the film itself is not twisted and bizarre, but Kenji Mizoguchi has told the whole story with his superb directing skills, which is gripping.

The picture shows the movie poster of "The Tale of Konmatsu"

Excellent use of traditional techniques

"The Tale of Kinmatsu" is a Monogatari style work, the storyline is old-fashioned, and there is no fancy structure. The film adopts a traditional linear narrative mode, and under the excellent use of Kenji Mizoguchi, the film has an irresistible charm. This shows that as long as the technology is used properly, under the guidance of traditional means, it can still produce high-quality masterpieces. It is also like the Shanghai films of the 1930s.

First, the story scene is typical. The film begins with a street in front of a printing workshop, and a panoramic overhead shot shows a typical scene of a Japanese city during the shogunate era. Subsequently, a set of smooth shots covered the inside and outside of a printing workshop. Workers and servants were busy in the workshop, and a man and a woman were tied up in mules and paraded in the streets, causing panic and discussion among the people, reflecting the deterrence of etiquette and religion to the people. The first half of the film unfolds in the printing workshop, showing the closure and conservatism of civilian life at that time; after the hero and heroine leave, the activity space suddenly expands, and the scene changes continuously, thus alluding to the hero's and heroine's will to life and the breakthrough of the boundary of life.

Second, the narrative is fast-paced. At the beginning of the film, the main characters and story clues are explained in 10 minutes: Ah Shan's brother borrowed money from her, but because of her husband's miserliness and indifference of the great scribe YiChun, he had to ask Mao Bingwei for help; Mao Bingwei agreed to help out of admiration and sympathy for her, and took the opportunity to borrow the master's seal to embezzle funds; the maid Ayu loved Mao Bingwei deeply, but the two were limited to friendship, on the other hand, Chun coveted Ayu's beauty, and constantly harassed her Ayu had to refuse on the pretext of marrying Mao Bingwei The foreman helped the right guard to catch a glimpse of Mao Bingwei stealing the seal to blackmail, and after the attempt, he reported it to the master, so he caused a disaster against Xiao Wall. The film intersperses multiple characters and multiple clues with each other, and the pace is bright and orderly. Although the surface of the film is not noisy, the inner rhythm is tense, and everywhere let the human body feel the tension of the film.

Third, the lens language is simple. The film highlights the identity and personality of the characters through a minimalist lens language. In order to show the supremacy and power of Yi Chun in the family workshop, the film shows the pomp and circumstance when he returns home: Yi Chun comes from afar, staying in different spaces, and the workers and servants fall to the ground in an endless stream. Mao Bingwei was sick in bed, and the little child laborer said, "Only you can distinguish between different brocades, please get up." This shows the workshop's dependence on Mao Bingwei, a diligent, skilled and willing to help others. The hostess, Ah Shan, appeared in the action of wiping the instrument, indicating Ah Shan's identity, taste, and interest, as well as the social and economic status of the merchant family, and the relationship with the upper nobility.

Oriental charm in the style of video

Three of Kenji Mizoguchi's works have been selected as one of the top 100 films of the century by Japan's "Movie Shunbun", and "The Story of Konmatsu" is one of them. The film is very popular in Japan, perhaps mainly due to the film's aesthetic style has a strong Japanese national character. Kenji Mizoguchi combines his deep accumulation in art and drama with his unique personal style of "one shot at a time" shooting method, so whether it is basic composition or lens movement, it has a delicate, lingering, and long oriental aesthetic.

In the History of Japanese Cinema, Iwasaki wrote: "The most obvious difference in the style of Japanese cinema and foreign cinema is that there are many shots in long-distance photographic positions such as japanese cinematic visions and panoramas." He believes that this difference reflects the difference in the attitudes of Japanese and Westerners towards nature and man. In the Oriental art tradition, emotional expression emphasizes the connection between emotion and the environment, pays attention to the use of endowment, comparison, and excitement, and advocates "blending of scenes" or "all scenery is love language", so Mizoguchi Kenji rarely shows the scenery alone, but in a coherent long shot that includes characters. In "The Tale of Konmatsu Monogatari", Kenji Mizoguchi uses long shots that slowly unfold to simulate traditional Japanese scroll paintings when filming scenes inside and outside the printing workshop and the streets, boats, lakes, and hillsides where the hero and heroine escape, which embodies a long sense of space and a sense of natural flow, which is very expressive. In addition, Kenji Mizoguchi believed that close-ups were not very expressive, so his films rarely featured close-ups, basically using medium-shot and panoramic shots. For this reason, Kenji Mizoguchi's images often reveal the poignant and desolate artistic conception unique to Oriental art. This mirror aesthetic is admired even by the masters of the French New Wave. This also shows that only the national is the world.

Kenji Mizoguchi has loved painting since childhood and has a high artistic talent. Before entering the film industry, he illustrated newspapers, painted kimonos, and was highly accomplished in traditional Japanese scroll painting. Kenji Mizoguchi once said, "My training in Japanese ink painting taught me how to observe and shoot scenes. At the same time, he also loves Japanese Kabuki art. In the film, Kenji Mizoguchi delicately shows the state of various people talking, walking, and meditating, as if it were a flowing secular style painting. In the film, the protagonist Shigebei is sick in bed, and the way he appears with his back to the camera has the characteristics of ukiyo-e character performance and kabuki performance, and the actor Kazuo Hasegawa's eyebrows and expressions are the same as those of the characters in ukiyo-e; the hostess A-shan wipes the instrument a group of shots of the scene and character actions, moods quite soothing and elegant, but also very Japanese Kabuki art stage sense.

The fierce poignancy of the female figure

The four great masters of Japanese cinema – Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu, Kio Naruse and Kenji Mizoguchi – were all born in the Meiji period, and their artistic styles were similar but different. Among them, Kenji Mizoguchi is best at women's themes and is known for caring about women's fate. Most of his works depict the beauty of women, and he is known as "the master of touching women with cameras". Goethe expressed his praise for women in Faust with the verse "Eternal Woman, Leading Us Forward", while Kenji Mizoguchi composed a series of female odes in films such as "The Tale of the Remnant", "The Daughter of the West Crane Generation", "The Tale of the Rain Moon", and "The Tale of Kinmatsu".

The expression of giving women many good qualities and criticizing Japanese society was rare among Japanese directors at that time. The love and even coddling of women stemmed from Kenji Mizoguchi's early years. Kenji Mizoguchi's father was a snobber, and when he was 17 years old, his mother died, and due to the poverty of his family, Kenji Mizoguchi's sister was sent to a geisha hall at the age of ten to learn art, and later became a concubine, supporting the whole family, allowing Mizoguchi Kenji to do his favorite work and learn his favorite skills. In 1921, Kenji Mizoguchi's wife, Chieko, suddenly went insane, and Kenji Mizoguchi felt that it was caused by his own life of debauchery, so he regretted it and has always had a sense of atonement for women ever since. In addition, Kenji Mizoguchi seems to be unruly, but he has a pure and shy heart in front of the woman he loves. He has always had a crush on his royal heroine, Tanaka Atsuyo, but has never officially confessed, and it is said that he does not even dare to look at each other. These experiences and psychological characteristics make Kenji Mizoguchi full of love, reverence and compassion for women; the women in his films are ordinary and great, brave and strong in the face of the misfortunes of life and feelings, shining with maternal warmth and brilliance.

The Tale of Konmatsu is the same as The Lady musashino and The Tale of the Rainy Moon, and tells the story of eastern martyrdom. The workshop painter Mao Bingwei was misunderstood to have an adulterous affair with the wife of the Great Scribe, Ah Shan, and the two were forced to flee in a hurry. On the way, the fierce Personality Ah Shan could not bear the humiliation caused by the damage to her reputation and decided to commit suicide by throwing herself into the lake. But because of Mao Bingwei's confession, she re-emerged hope for life and ignited the spark of love. When Mao Bingwei wanted to retreat from the etiquette, she dared to be bold, bravely disregarded herself, and boldly showed love. In the end, A-Shan calmly died for love. When she paraded the streets, there was no pain on her face, only a smile of relief, so that the onlookers on the street said: "Never seen Madame so happy."

There is a word in Japanese called "heart", which translates to Chinese, which means that men and women who love each other commit suicide together. Although In the eyes of the viewers, Ah Shan was executed by the government for adultery, in fact, she did not want to live and was willing to dedicate herself to love. Therefore, her death is also "in the heart". The writer André Malraux, a former French minister of culture, said: "Art is all about resisting death." In this magical scene, Kenji Mizoguchi composed a poignant and moving colorful movement for Ashan, a woman who is perfect, passionate, strong and brave. Ashan is still alive and dead.

Akira Kurosawa once said a harsh word: Later generations did not systematically study Kenji Mizoguchi, which is the greatest shame in the history of cinema. French New Wave director Godard once paid homage to Kenji Mizoguchi's shrine where kenji mizoguchi was buried; later, Mizoguchi's ashes were moved to a cemetery in Tokyo, where only the tombstones remain, but filmmakers from all over the world still flock to visit. It is a little regrettable that as one of the four major directors in Japan, compared with Akira Kurosawa, Yasujiro Ozu and Kio Naruse, Kenji Mizoguchi is not well known in China, and the degree of attention is not enough. Kenji Mizoguchi's works are valuable and worth carefully observing and studying, experiencing aesthetic pleasures from them, and gaining useful enlightenment. (Zhao Jianzhong)