As the first Hong Kong-Japanese co-production, the film "Yang Guifei" was directed by the famous Kenji Mizoguchi and co-produced by Shaw and Japan's Daiei in 1955.
At that time, Shaw's investment in this film was mainly to learn Japan's advanced color film production technology, as a late work of director Kenji Mizoguchi, the film was labeled mediocre from the beginning of its birth, so is this really the case?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >01 Tadao Sato's definition of the mediocre yang guifei</h1>
In his book Kenji Mizoguchi, Tadao Sato had this to say about the film "Yang Guifei": "Due to the lack of information, the desire to recreate ancient Chinese customs has finally failed, and can only rely on absurd and nonsensical fabrications."
In Tadao Sato's evaluation, he always believed that the film was just a farce, and it was difficult to equate with Kenji Mizoguchi's serious style.
Obviously, from these words, it can be seen that Tadao Sato's interest in the movie "Yang Guifei" is not very large, and he has brushed over this movie in just a few sentences.
However, this is irresponsible for a historian, because there is no in-depth understanding of the film, but it is biased based on his subjective impression.
As for the characteristics of the Tang Dynasty and the authenticity of Yang Guifei's story, which Sato Tadao said, it should be a category that historians need to consider, and for a director, these things do not need to be carefully calculated.
In fact, this involves a more difficult to judge problem, that is, the understanding of the Chinese and Japanese historians of the Sheng Tang culture.
Kenji Mizoguchi, as a Japanese director to shoot the film "Yang Guifei", it is easy to doubt the Chinese style of the Tang Dynasty in the film, although it is guided by historical consultants from China.
It is on the basis of this evaluation that Tadao Sato thinks that the film is just a farce, but he may have forgotten to analyze the difference between the story of this movie and Kenji Mizoguchi's other story works.
Therefore, he judged the quality of this film by the characteristics of Director Kenji Mizoguchi's inherent works, which is undoubtedly very subjective, and the most important thing for a film critic should be to study the work itself, rather than to hastily define the work before this.
Is "Yang Guifei", which is defined as a mediocre work, really have nothing to offer?
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >02 There are both historical and fictional creative interpretations</h1>
Before we can interpret Kenji Mizoguchi's "Yang Guifei", we may need to have our own understanding of the term "Sheng Tang".
Sheng Tang is not only the pride of China's heart, but also has a pivotal position for the Japanese, and it seems common for people to exaggerate the beauty of history.
However, if you carefully study this movie, you will find that Mizoguchi Kenji is extremely cautious in depicting the scene of the Tang Dynasty, as can be seen from the appearance of Yang Guifei in the movie.
For the creation of film and television works, it is necessary to respect history, but it is also extremely important to add the history of the creator's understanding to the film, otherwise it is better to read through the history books.
In the movie "Yang Guifei", Kenji Mizoguchi strives to remove Yang Guifei's historical aura and make her a flesh-and-blood character, thus reflecting the authenticity of the film's situation.
So in this movie we see a typical "groove-style" heroine, with a low birth, but simple and kind.
In the subsequent development of the story, Mizoguchi Kenji also did not make a 100% record of Chinese history, including the expression of the wild history record in the 1962 "Yang Guifei".
For example, the plot of Yang Guifei leaving the palace is interpreted in the 1962 version of the film as Yang Guifei and Mei Fei arguing, and then Tang Xuanzong punished her, which also became the most exciting bridge section in the movie.
What's the solution?
No one blames such fictional plots in the 1962 edition of "Yang Guifei", but the creative expression of Kenji Mizoguchi is considered inappropriate by countless people, and in the final analysis, it is caused by prejudice.
In contrast, in terms of reconstructing characters, Kenji Mizoguchi obviously went more far-reaching, not only reconstructing Yang Guifei and Tang Xuanzong, but even Yang Guozhong and An Lushan became the objects of his creative expression.
Tang Xuanzong lost his beloved wife in the movie, so An Lushan conspired with Yang Guozhong to give Yang Guifei to Tang Xuanzong in order to curry favor with the supreme ruler of the empire.
For Yang Guifei, she did not know what her fate would be after entering the palace, but for the sake of the family, she did not have any right to choose.
However, Yang Guifei, who had just entered the palace, was lucky, and there was an enviable love between the emperor and her, and a picture of love was really enviable.
However, this situation did not last long, because the contradiction between Yang Guozhong and An Lushan was getting bigger and bigger, and both of them were arrogant people, and neither of them would take a step back.
Yang Guifei knew that the arrogance of the two was entirely due to their special status, so she told Tang Xuanzong her thoughts, but this time Tang Xuanzong did not understand Guifei's thoughts, and Yang Guifei decided to leave the palace after several thoughts.
After Yang Guifei left the palace, Tang Xuanzong's longing for her became increasingly strong, and soon after he recalled Yang Guifei to the palace, but at this time, the situation in the court was no longer under the control of Tang Xuanzong, An Lushan chose to rebel, and the imperial family fled the capital in a hurry.
This was followed by all kinds of resentment, which they believed were all the sins of Yang Guifei, so Yang Guifei was eventually hanged in Ma Songpo.
Both in the historical records and in the films of Kenji Mizoguchi, Yang Guozhong and An Lushan exist as supporting characters in the love story between Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei.
In addition, Kenji Mizoguchi also wants to show his historical and political logic by reconstructing the two: the power players are nothing more than An Lushan and Yang Guozhong, the former Kong Wu is powerful and ambitious, and the latter is good at concealment, and once he gains power, he will be extremely barbaric.
As a typical "Goukou style" male protagonist, Tang Xuanzong, like Yang Guifei, was involuntarily restrained by various forces above the court.
The setting of a simple relationship between Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei makes the portrayal of the characters in the movie "Yang Guifei" seem more real, which is not a valuable choice.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" >03 Kenji Mizoguchi's unique oriental aesthetic: with the tragedy of his home country as the core</h1>
It is true that there is indeed a single emotional line expression in the movie "Yang Guifei", but such an emotional line may not be single under the details, because there are many things hidden in the emotional line between Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei.
Yang Guifei's acquaintance with Tang Xuanzong was already in the midst of a political conspiracy, and even so, the two even almost passed each other.
Having a common love of music led the two to come together, and the two did have a sweet time.
However, as Tang Xuanzong's love for Yang Guifei deepened, the Yang family gradually became arrogant, which caused a rift in the love between Tang Xuanzong and Yang Guifei.
For Yang Guifei in Kenji Mizoguchi's movie, there is an important problem at this time, that is, the stumbling in the emotional life.
In the second half of the film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, Tang Xuanzong loses Yang Guifei because he listens to the rumors of the traitors and the weak factors in his own character.
In the face of inevitable death, Yang Guifei chose a dignified way of death - self-hanging, under this description, Yang Guifei's final ending became a poignant and sad love story.
After Yang Guifei's death, Tang Xuanzong trapped himself in an empty room all day long, because for Tang Xuanzong this may be the most real relationship he has ever experienced.
Therefore, for the love story of Yang Guifei and Tang Xuanzong, Mizoguchi Kenji handled it with great compassion, which is indeed a pure "Mizoguchi-style" expression, but also avoids the description of the crowd.
In Kenji Mizoguchi's reconstruction of the characters in the film, this oriental aesthetic charm is vividly reflected, and we should not blame it too much.
Just like the Shakespeare series adapted by Japanese director Akira Kurosawa, we can't help but look at the film itself and directly accuse it of lacking British charm.
Author: Empty Realm