This article is written by Li Su
In the long river of film history in japan's Showa period, there is an actress who does not have the national color of Yoshinaga's unkempt head and rough clothes, nor is she different from Nakano Ryoko's fresh and majestic vitality full of wildness. She is like a pearl left on the beach in the dark night, still shining under the starlight that has lasted for half a century.
She is a Japanese national treasure actress - Hideko Takayama.
In 1964, directed by Japanese master director Yoshio Naruse and starring hideko Takayama, the film "Love Obsession" was the first film I walked into this national treasure goddess.
It seems that every master director has one of his inspirational muses, and Hideko Takayama is to Kioto Naruse as Mucha Hara is to Yasujiro Ozu. Starting from the early "Conductor Show", in the past thirty years, they have successively created more than twenty films such as "Floating Clouds", "When a Woman Steps up the Stairs", "Confused", "Libertine" and so on, which can be recorded in the history of Japanese cinema, and they have also witnessed the magnificent transformation of the Japanese film industry from a child to a prime-age.
"Confused Love", Douban scored 9.1, is already a classic among classics.
During World War II, the station in a small town in Japan was bustling with people. The heroine Reiko sat there, her expression a little wooden, looking thoughtfully out the window. The passengers in the car went up and down, and Reiko looked up and found a familiar figure, and the man also looked back at her with a sharp mind, revealing a smile as innocent as the first blossom. Reiko froze for a moment, and an unexpected warm current rose in her heart, and she lowered her eyes, an inadvertent transparent flower, shining in her eyes. The train rumbled and went on, unaware that it was probably the best time of their lives.
Reiko lives in this remote town and makes a living by running a small street shop, Moritaya. Her husband unfortunately died in the battlefield, her mother-in-law was old and weak, the two sisters-in-law were still studying, and the little uncle was still young, so she never left, dutifully, painstakingly running a small shop and maintaining the family's life.
Fast forward more than ten years, the two sisters-in-law have become a family, and the little brother-in-law also has a good job in Tokyo. During this period, there have always been enthusiastic people to help her introduce suitable objects, and she has also declined one by one. Reiko still regards this place as her home in her heart, and she thinks that as long as she runs a small shop and takes care of her family, it will be the greatest happiness.
However, due to the impact of large supermarkets on the street, the business of Reiko's small shop is becoming more and more difficult to maintain. The younger brother-in-law Yukiji quit his job in Tokyo because he was "unfree" and spent all day idle, either drinking and fighting with his fox friends or asking his sister to stay home at night.
Reiko was worried about internal and external troubles, and after bringing back Yukiji who was detained for fighting from the police station on this day, she couldn't help but complain a few words, she wanted Yukiji to take responsibility and take over Moritaya. Koji disagreed, unwilling to take over the shop, nor did he agree with Reiko's hard work.
Not long after, a friend of Yukiji hanged himself because of poor business management, which gave Yukiji a big shock, and he began to seriously consider the future of the small shop, so he invited his brother-in-law who understood business to help him plan. The brother-in-law believes that although the business of the small shop is not good, but the location is acceptable, he is willing to take out funds to rectify the small shop into a large supermarket, and the right to operate is naturally him. The original operator, Reiko, could only serve as an ordinary clerk.
Yukiji listened, a little angry in his heart, Reiko has been operating hard for so many years, has been well managed, how can he bear to let her go directly out, this is also too impersonal! So Koji didn't say yes. The matter was also stranded.
One day, a young and fashionable girl comes to Koji to return the watch he left off last night, and the girl's frivolous demeanor makes Reiko vaguely worried. When Yukiji returned, Reiko wanted to patiently persuade Yukiji, but she didn't want the two to argue without speculation, and Yukiji asked Reiko not to worry about other people's affairs anymore, she hadn't really lived in the past ten years, and her time was wasted in this family. Reiko was silent after hearing this, and Koji suddenly could not suppress her inner impulse and confessed to Reiko. He tells Reiko that he quit Tokyo and lives at home because he loves her and wants to be with her, but he really can't stand Reiko's overbearing patience and sacrifice, and he wants Reiko to think about herself.
Reiko was shocked by his sudden confession, she had always regarded Yukiji as her brother, it was really difficult to accept the emotional dislocation impact, she hurriedly stepped back, trying to make Yukiji not say it again!
Yukiji really didn't say anything, and was willing to go to Moritaya to help, but the two could never go back to the past, although trying to avoid the embarrassment of being alone, but the throbbing that was difficult to hide, and the two sisters-in-law's deliberate quarrels still made Reiko secretly make a big decision. She lied that she was ready to remarry and decided to leave the town and return to her hometown. The mother-in-law knows the kindness and gentleness of Reiko and keeps her again and again, but Reiko's heart has already been decided.
In the crowded station, the passengers on the car went up and down, and Reiko sat there and inadvertently found this familiar figure. He smiled at her as pure as a first flower, and he insisted on sending her.
The train sped forward, and the trees outside the window sped backwards. There were fewer people in the car, and it was a rare quiet time for the two of them, and Reiko couldn't help but burst into tears as she looked at Yukiji's slightly childlike handsome and cute face. She had never thought that she was only a woman after all, she had never had a life surrounded by love, but she was familiar with that longing and desolation.
Because of the special status of the two, she couldn't take this risk, she couldn't let Yukiji become the laughing stock of others after dinner, he was still so young, he had a good future. Therefore, she can only bury this love deep in her heart!
In the face of Chang Lun, she has the holiness, self-control and tolerance of the earth.
The train stops at the platform, and Reiko tells Yukiji that she decided to go herself on the next road, and asks Yukiji not to send her again. The two find a small hotel to rest, Reiko helps Yukiji weave a straw ring, and the two return to the happy appearance they had when they were children.
Reiko looked at Yukiji tenderly and said, I am a woman, and I was very happy when I heard you say that you liked me that day.
The moment the two looked at each other, the flames were hot, and a feeling of being lost and unaware suddenly rose in their hearts. Confused, the two embraced each other tightly. Suddenly, as if realizing something, Reiko pushed Yukiji away fiercely, and Yukiji couldn't ask for it, angry and bitter, and snatched the door out in a fit of anger.
The next morning, the street was crowded, and everyone was talking about how someone had fallen to his death last night when he was drunk. Reiko rushed into the street like a madman, and in the midst of the noise, she saw the ring on the finger of the man who had lost his foot.
Japanese aesthetics advocate the beauty of mourning. They believe that the demise and withering of all things in the world is the ultimate beauty. The most beautiful thing is not the cherry blossoms, but the fall of the cherry blossoms.
And what is love? In the face of love, moral boundaries are sometimes blurred, and in the face of love, in the face of true pure love, everything becomes eclipsed. It's just that if you really step out of this edge, you will fall into the abyss of endless pain.
For good people, even if they face their own sincerity, they will blame themselves.
What love is, reminds me of Salinger's poem: Love is a kiss at six o'clock in the morning, a bunch of children, maybe it's true. But do you know what I think, love is a hand that wants to touch and withdraw.
(Image from the Internet, copyright belongs to the original author)