Watches
January 28, 2022
Though I can say that I'm a pretty devoted fan of Japanese cinema, I haven't seen too many pre-40s films yet. This early Mizoguchi didn't convince me I'm missing out on a lot I'm afraid. It turned out to be an extremely static and long-winded narrative that doesn't make great use of the medium.
Kikonosuke is the son of a famous stage actor. He becomes an actor himself and isn't unsuccessful, but then he discovers that he is only praised because of his father. Behind his back, people are making fun of him. He finds comfort with the woman taking care of his nephew, and decides to move away from Tokyo to start a new life.
Very static camerawork, uninviting decors and endless conversations make this film a pretty big drag. The theater scenes are a bit livelier, but not enough to offset the rest of the film. And at 150 minutes, it's also pretty long, which only made the experience worse. Not good.