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WE WISH TO THANK
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Downloaded from
YTS.BZ
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THE VARIOUS MAGAZINES,
ARCHIVES, AND ORGANIZATIONS
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Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.BZ
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THAT HELPED US MAKE THIS FILM,
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AND THE MIZOGUCHI SCHOLARS
WHOSE WORK WE CONSULTED.
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A KINDAI EIGA KYOKAI PRODUCTION
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KENJI MIZOGUCHI:
THE LIFE OF A FILM DIRECTOR
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FEATURING:
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KINUYO TANAKA, YOSHIKATA YODA
MASASHIGE NARUSAWA
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KUMEKO URABE, YOSHIKAZU
HAYASHI, MATSUTARO KAWAGUCHI
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EIJI NAKANO, HISAO ITOYA
TATSUO SAKAI
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MASARU ARAKAWA
KAKUKO MORI, TAKAKO IRIE
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MASAICHI NAGATA, GORO
KONTAIBO, SEI ICHIRO UCHIKAWA
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GENGO OBORA, KYOKO KAGAWA
MICHIYO KOGURE
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ISUZU YAMADA, SHIGERU MIKI
KIYOHIKO USHIHARA
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FUMIKO YAMAJI
HIDEO TSUMURA, MACHIKO KYO
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DAISUKE ITO, KAZUO MIYAGAWA
KENICHI OKAMOTO
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TADAOTO KAINOSHO
TAZUKO SAKANE, NOBUKO OTOWA
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GANJIRO NAKAMURA
EITARO SHINDO, EIJIRO YANAGI
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EITARO OZAWA
YASUZO MASUMURA, AYAKO WAKAO
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YOSHIYUKI TAKATSU, MOTOHISA
ANDO, MATSUJI OHNO AND OTHERS
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Cinematography by
YOSHIYUKI MIYAKE
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Sound Recording by
SHINPEI KIKUCHI
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Edited by
MITSUO KONDO and KEIKO FUJITA
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Produced and Directed by
KANETO SHINDO
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On August 24, 1956, at I:55 a.m.,
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Kenji Mizoguchi died
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at the age of 58.
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KYOTO MUNICIPAL HOSPITAL
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I'm sorry,
but I can't allow you in.
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It disturbs the patients.
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I understand your situation,
but it's just not possible.
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We won't enter
the sickrooms, of course.
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We'll just stay in the hallway.
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Film director Kenji Mizoguchi
represented the spirit of Kyoto.
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He died in a private ward here
on August 24th, 1956.
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We're making a film about his life.
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00:02:50,466 --> 00:02:55,054
We've filmed a lot in Kyoto
over the past ten days.
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00:02:55,221 --> 00:02:59,392
I assume it's no problem
to shoot the exteriors,
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00:02:59,558 --> 00:03:04,480
but I'd hoped we could also film
the fourth-floor corridor.
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00:03:04,647 --> 00:03:09,652
We'll just film it as is,
without lighting.
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00:03:09,819 --> 00:03:12,446
We won't disturb the patients,
of course.
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No photographers are allowed
for any reason.
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We don't want patients filmed,
even inadvertently,
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and besides,
the nurses are very busy.
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PRIVATE WARD, FOURTH FLOOR
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MANGAN TEMPLE, KYOTO
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KENJI MIZOGUCHI'S TOMBSTONE
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00:04:01,829 --> 00:04:04,373
STREET OF SHAME
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Your films were very often
about women.
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INTERVIEW WITH MIZOGUCHI
FEBRUARY 11, 1950
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Yes, though that wasn't
my intent at first.
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As you know,
about lo years ago,
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director Minoru Murata
passed away.
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00:04:27,646 --> 00:04:30,900
He was like
an older brother to me.
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00:04:31,066 --> 00:04:34,779
Almost all his films
were about men.
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00:04:36,614 --> 00:04:38,699
Those were the kinds
of films he made.
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00:04:39,575 --> 00:04:42,912
The studio couldn't have
two directors making similar films,
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so they told me
to make films about women.
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It was a commercial decision.
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That was the original impetus.
You could say I just fell into it.
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00:04:54,673 --> 00:04:57,468
But over time, my interest
in the subject deepened.
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I read in a newspaper article
that you wrote that,
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after making Osaka Elegy
and Sisters of the Gion --
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00:05:08,771 --> 00:05:11,106
- both masterpieces, in my opinion --
- No, no.
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You felt you'd gained a better
understanding of human nature.
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Well, in youth you lose yourself
in what you're doing.
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Good films aren't made
by conscious deliberation
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but rather by an inner passion.
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00:05:36,048 --> 00:05:40,553
Perhaps I've gained some
understanding of people since then,
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though even now I wonder
how much I really understand.
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FORMERLY SHINHANA, YUSHIMA
HONGO DISTRICT, TOKYO
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MASASHIGE NARUSAWA --
SCREENWRITER
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00:06:08,163 --> 00:06:11,876
This area used to be called Block 11
of the Shinhana neighborhood.
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Mizoguchi was born here
on May 16, 1898,
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the first son
of Zentaro Mizoguchi.
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This was his birthplace.
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00:06:25,264 --> 00:06:29,393
The Yushima Tenjin shrine
is nearby, isn’t it?
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00:06:31,562 --> 00:06:34,899
Anyway, after his father's
business failed,
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00:06:35,065 --> 00:06:39,862
they moved to the working-class
district of Asakusa.
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00:06:40,029 --> 00:06:43,324
He first attended
a small private school,
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and then Ishihama Primary School,
where he met Kawaguchi.
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MATSUTARO KAWAGUCHI -- WRITER
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ls the school in Asakusa
where you met Mizoguchi still there?
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00:07:01,383 --> 00:07:07,890
I have no idea.
I really should check.
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00:07:10,017 --> 00:07:14,939
The other day
I had some business
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00:07:15,105 --> 00:07:17,775
in Yoshiwara,
the former brothel district,
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00:07:17,942 --> 00:07:25,074
so I decided
to take a look around.
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00:07:25,240 --> 00:07:28,911
There wasn't a single reminder
left of the old days.
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00:07:29,036 --> 00:07:32,289
ISHIHAMA PRIMARY SCHOOL
FOUNDED JUNE 1907
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MIZOGUCHI ENTERED THE SCHOOL
THE YEAR IT WAS FOUNDED
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00:07:39,964 --> 00:07:45,678
Where a person spends his childhood
has a tremendous impact on him.
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For that reason I'm sure
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00:07:48,514 --> 00:07:57,064
we'll never find another director
so thoroughly Japanese
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as Mizoguchi was.
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You may be right.
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00:08:04,822 --> 00:08:08,617
Of course, we'll always have
good directors,
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but none able to produce works
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so Japanese that only a Japanese
person could have made them.
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The way he portrayed
his characters
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was so different
from the European approach.
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He was thoroughly Japanese.
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I think that was precisely
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00:08:29,179 --> 00:08:34,226
what the Western film world
so valued about him.
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00:08:34,393 --> 00:08:38,439
His films were unique, with no trace
of influence from the outside world,
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and that's why they were so admired,
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because they offered something
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that could be found nowhere else.
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00:08:55,289 --> 00:09:01,086
His older sister looked after him.
What was she like?
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00:09:02,588 --> 00:09:08,719
Their father is said to have been
of high-ranking samurai stock,
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00:09:08,886 --> 00:09:14,516
but he worked as a roofer,
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00:09:14,641 --> 00:09:17,311
although the details
of that aren't clear.
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00:09:17,478 --> 00:09:23,233
He apparently drank a lot
and wasn't very fond of working.
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00:09:23,400 --> 00:09:26,487
At some point, a viscount
by the name of Matsudaira
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00:09:26,653 --> 00:09:31,283
met Suzuko, Mizoguchi's sister.
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00:09:31,450 --> 00:09:35,913
She was working then
as a geisha in Nihonbashi, right?
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00:09:36,080 --> 00:09:41,668
Where was Viscount Matsudaira's
Tokyo residence located?
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00:09:41,835 --> 00:09:46,465
He lived much of his life
in Shimoshinmei.
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00:09:46,632 --> 00:09:51,637
Before that,
I think he lived in Teppozu.
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00:09:53,222 --> 00:09:56,809
And his ancestral home
was in Shinshu Ueda?
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00:09:56,975 --> 00:09:57,935
That's correct.
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00:09:58,102 --> 00:10:01,438
In any event,
she became his mistress.
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00:10:02,356 --> 00:10:06,068
She later left Nihonbashi
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00:10:06,235 --> 00:10:11,031
and moved to the viscount's
second residence in Teppozu.
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00:10:11,198 --> 00:10:14,034
- She lived there?
- Yes, as his mistress.
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00:10:14,201 --> 00:10:15,911
And she later married him?
128
00:10:16,036 --> 00:10:18,330
Yes, they were eventually
legally married,
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00:10:18,497 --> 00:10:21,959
so she became
Suzuko Matsudaira.
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00:10:22,292 --> 00:10:26,004
Mizoguchi lived there with her.
They took care of him.
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00:10:26,171 --> 00:10:33,137
Many of Mizoguchi's films convey
real hatred for father figures.
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00:10:33,303 --> 00:10:36,682
None depicts the father favorably.
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00:10:36,849 --> 00:10:41,061
I think the father in Osaka Elegy
is modeled after his own.
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00:10:41,228 --> 00:10:43,147
IMADOBASHI
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00:10:43,772 --> 00:10:47,234
He spent his childhood around here.
136
00:10:47,860 --> 00:10:52,739
After finishing school, he went to stay
with a pharmacist relative in Morioka,
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00:10:52,906 --> 00:10:55,117
but he soon returned.
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00:10:55,784 --> 00:10:59,496
At I 7, he worked
for a pattern maker,
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00:10:59,663 --> 00:11:01,748
but he didn't stay long.
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00:11:01,915 --> 00:11:07,963
He enrolled in Seiki Kuroda's school
of Western painting in Tameike.
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00:11:08,505 --> 00:11:11,884
At 19 he began working
for a newspaper in Kobe,
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00:11:12,050 --> 00:11:16,346
but that too was short-lived,
lasting only a year.
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00:11:17,472 --> 00:11:20,434
He entered the film world
quite by chance.
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00:11:20,684 --> 00:11:26,273
He lived near Asakusa, across the river
from Nikkatsu's Mukojima studio.
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00:11:26,440 --> 00:11:30,068
The studio was on the riverbank,
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00:11:30,235 --> 00:11:33,822
only loo yards from the Shirahige
Bridge, which spanned the river.
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00:11:33,989 --> 00:11:36,533
He became friends
with actor Tadashi Tomishima,
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00:11:36,950 --> 00:11:40,245
who introduced him to a director
named Osamu Wakayama.
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00:11:40,412 --> 00:11:43,165
This allowed him
to join the company very easily.
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00:11:43,707 --> 00:11:47,419
His ambition was to act,
but he was made an assistant director,
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00:11:47,586 --> 00:11:49,838
which in those days
amounted to errand boy.
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00:11:50,380 --> 00:11:54,426
That was in June of 1920.
He was 22.
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00:11:54,718 --> 00:11:59,056
After a number of false starts,
he'd found his path in life.
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00:11:59,223 --> 00:12:00,807
NIKKATSU'S GLASS SOUNDSTAGE
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00:12:02,017 --> 00:12:07,731
It later became a glass sound stage,
but it was a tent when I started.
156
00:12:08,398 --> 00:12:11,401
There was no glass stage.
157
00:12:11,735 --> 00:12:13,820
NIKKATSU CAMERAMAN
GENGO OBORA, 85 YEARS OLD
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00:12:14,238 --> 00:12:18,325
It was before the age
of the glass sound stage.
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00:12:19,159 --> 00:12:23,163
Even before Mizoguchi's day.
- That's okay. Please go ahead.
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00:12:23,330 --> 00:12:26,583
Well, I think this is
documented somewhere...
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00:12:29,419 --> 00:12:36,635
but the tent flaps
would fly open in a strong wind.
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00:12:36,927 --> 00:12:41,515
Besides that, there were
gaps in the joints of the tent
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00:12:41,723 --> 00:12:44,685
that would open up,
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00:12:44,851 --> 00:12:49,356
allowing sunlight
to shine onto the stage.
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00:12:49,523 --> 00:12:53,610
We just had to ignore it
and keep shooting.
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00:12:53,777 --> 00:12:56,613
But it wasn't a workable situation...
167
00:12:59,074 --> 00:13:04,621
and the glass sound stage
was built in 1913.
168
00:13:04,788 --> 00:13:07,582
So in fact you then
made use of the sunlight.
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00:13:07,749 --> 00:13:10,627
Yes, the sunlight shone
through the glass.
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00:13:10,794 --> 00:13:18,802
These days the roof is covered,
and they use artificial lighting.
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00:13:18,969 --> 00:13:24,099
In the old days
we filmed in the sunlight.
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00:13:26,810 --> 00:13:29,479
If the sky turned cloudy,
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00:13:29,646 --> 00:13:33,984
the cameraman had to adjust
the exposure himself,
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00:13:34,151 --> 00:13:38,739
since we didn't have
assistants back then.
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00:13:40,157 --> 00:13:44,911
You never knew
when the sky might change.
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00:13:46,413 --> 00:13:50,250
The cameras weren't motorized,
177
00:13:50,417 --> 00:13:54,504
so your left hand focused
while your right turned the crank.
178
00:13:54,796 --> 00:13:57,841
Panning was also more difficult.
179
00:13:58,008 --> 00:14:01,595
You had to pan by winding a gear
with your left hand,
180
00:14:01,762 --> 00:14:05,390
all the while
cranking with your right.
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00:14:05,557 --> 00:14:10,854
I think cameramen these days,
including your man right there,
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00:14:11,021 --> 00:14:13,315
have really got it good.
183
00:14:13,482 --> 00:14:16,526
We even had to develop the film.
- The cameramen?
184
00:14:16,693 --> 00:14:18,904
That was all
the cameraman's responsibility,
185
00:14:19,071 --> 00:14:22,324
and it spurred you on to do a good job.
186
00:14:22,532 --> 00:14:26,787
You were always wondering
how the footage turned out.
187
00:14:26,953 --> 00:14:31,041
Its not like today,
when others do the developing.
188
00:14:31,208 --> 00:14:33,460
You did it yourself.
189
00:14:33,627 --> 00:14:38,423
That allowed me
to adjust the developing process
190
00:14:38,590 --> 00:14:41,051
to suit lighting conditions.
191
00:14:42,177 --> 00:14:45,430
How long did it take
to shoot a film back then?
192
00:14:45,597 --> 00:14:47,349
Generally about a week.
193
00:14:47,808 --> 00:14:50,602
It must have seemed over
before it even really began.
194
00:14:50,727 --> 00:14:56,733
It seems fast by today's standards,
but 7-10 days was the norm then.
195
00:14:56,900 --> 00:15:02,906
It took much longer to shoot
The Dance of the Skull, though.
196
00:15:03,782 --> 00:15:08,370
KIYOHIKO USHIHARA -- DIRECTOR
197
00:15:08,537 --> 00:15:11,665
I began at Shochiku's Kamata studio
the year it was founded,
198
00:15:11,790 --> 00:15:14,543
when the studio was a tent.
199
00:15:14,668 --> 00:15:21,341
But they soon built a glass studio.
200
00:15:23,593 --> 00:15:26,096
First they built...
201
00:15:27,597 --> 00:15:33,311
the east and south walls,
which were glass,
202
00:15:33,478 --> 00:15:36,940
and then they finished
the rest with wood.
203
00:15:37,107 --> 00:15:40,902
Later they rebuilt it
entirely in glass.
204
00:15:41,069 --> 00:15:44,698
All four sides were glass,
as well as the roof.
205
00:15:45,282 --> 00:15:47,492
What are your memories
of Mizoguchi?
206
00:15:47,659 --> 00:15:50,328
- He was a gentle man.
- I see.
207
00:15:50,495 --> 00:15:54,916
He was fond of women and sake,
but gentle nonetheless.
208
00:15:55,083 --> 00:15:57,752
He really loved women, didn't he?
209
00:15:57,919 --> 00:16:00,380
Boy, did he ever.
210
00:16:00,547 --> 00:16:04,301
- Did you ever talk with him?
- Yes.
211
00:16:04,468 --> 00:16:07,262
-You worked at the same studio?
-Yes.
212
00:16:09,639 --> 00:16:14,144
But I don't know anything
about his personal life.
213
00:16:14,811 --> 00:16:19,191
He was a good person,
friendly and honest with everybody.
214
00:16:19,566 --> 00:16:24,029
He had a deep voice,
215
00:16:24,196 --> 00:16:27,032
but his manner was gentle,
like a woman's.
216
00:16:27,199 --> 00:16:28,867
He was a good man.
217
00:16:28,992 --> 00:16:31,036
He was Eizo Tanaka's assistant, right?
218
00:16:31,203 --> 00:16:32,120
That's right.
219
00:16:33,205 --> 00:16:35,415
EIZO TANAKA -- DIRECTOR
220
00:16:35,665 --> 00:16:38,627
Eizo Tanaka was
an ambitious young director
221
00:16:38,793 --> 00:16:42,964
at Nikkatsu's Mukojima Studios
at the time.
222
00:16:43,340 --> 00:16:49,012
The Kyoya Collar Shop, in the naturalist
style, is considered his best film.
223
00:16:49,179 --> 00:16:52,182
Mizoguchi was his assistant
on that film.
224
00:16:53,391 --> 00:17:01,149
In 1920 Jun'ichiro Tanizaki and
Thomas Kurihara made Amateur Club.
225
00:17:01,316 --> 00:17:05,695
In 1919, Norimasa Kaeriyama
made The Glow of Life.
226
00:17:07,656 --> 00:17:13,537
In 1921, Kaoru Osanai produced
and starred in Souls on the Road.
227
00:17:14,287 --> 00:17:21,878
These three films were attempts to turn
Japanese cinema into a serious art.
228
00:17:22,003 --> 00:17:26,007
They brought film into the limelight
as the art form of the new century.
229
00:17:26,174 --> 00:17:31,012
Mizoguchi became a director
after two years as an assistant.
230
00:17:31,346 --> 00:17:36,726
At that time,
men still played women's roles.
231
00:17:36,893 --> 00:17:40,564
That practice ended as Japanese
cinema moved towards greater realism.
232
00:17:40,730 --> 00:17:44,609
Eighteen famous female impersonators,
including Teinosuke Kinugasa,
233
00:17:44,776 --> 00:17:47,904
retired en masse.
234
00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:50,031
The studio was shorthanded,
235
00:17:50,156 --> 00:17:55,370
so Mizoguchi was promoted
more quickly than usual.
236
00:17:55,495 --> 00:17:59,541
His first film appeared in 1923 and was
in the melodramatic shinpa style.
237
00:17:59,708 --> 00:18:02,752
Entitled The Resurrection of Love,
it featured biwa lute accompaniment.
238
00:18:03,920 --> 00:18:07,424
Over the course
of the next six months,
239
00:18:07,924 --> 00:18:10,760
he made six more films.
240
00:18:10,927 --> 00:18:16,016
Dramas, detective stories, horror films --
he tried his hand at any genre he could.
241
00:18:16,182 --> 00:18:19,394
When we went
on location in Uenohara,
242
00:18:19,561 --> 00:18:24,190
we'd bring two scripts.
243
00:18:25,108 --> 00:18:28,820
The same actor would have
two sets of costumes.
244
00:18:29,446 --> 00:18:32,616
We'd shoot a scene from film A,
245
00:18:32,782 --> 00:18:36,244
then go nearby and shoot
a scene from film B.
246
00:18:36,411 --> 00:18:40,540
Shooting two films this way
247
00:18:40,665 --> 00:18:43,668
was common practice back then.
248
00:18:43,835 --> 00:18:46,671
When Henry Kotani
came back from the U.S.,
249
00:18:47,172 --> 00:18:53,303
he came to Shochikus
Kamata studio in a motorcade.
250
00:18:53,637 --> 00:18:58,808
Director Zanmu Kako and I were
shooting in a tent studio at that moment.
251
00:18:58,975 --> 00:19:04,230
Henry's car made a grand entrance
through the gate,
252
00:19:04,397 --> 00:19:06,816
which was very close to the tent.
253
00:19:07,150 --> 00:19:09,903
Henry got out of the car
with a flourish,
254
00:19:10,070 --> 00:19:13,907
took the light reflector
from the assistant director's hand,
255
00:19:14,824 --> 00:19:18,119
climbed up the studio wall,
256
00:19:18,286 --> 00:19:22,957
and aimed the reflector like this,
257
00:19:23,083 --> 00:19:25,835
shining the light on the scene.
258
00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:30,173
Kaoru Osanai led a faction
at Shochiku Kamata
259
00:19:30,340 --> 00:19:32,926
that was pointing the way
to a new cinema.
260
00:19:33,968 --> 00:19:37,972
DAISUKE ITO -- DIRECTOR
261
00:19:38,098 --> 00:19:42,686
All the members, young and old,
acted in the films,
262
00:19:42,852 --> 00:19:46,606
including Tsutsumi,
who later became a director.
263
00:19:46,773 --> 00:19:48,900
He was a lodger at my house then.
264
00:19:49,693 --> 00:19:54,781
All of them could act, write scripts,
265
00:19:54,948 --> 00:19:57,283
hold the light reflector,
what have you.
266
00:19:57,409 --> 00:19:59,536
That was the system in place.
267
00:19:59,661 --> 00:20:04,958
At the time,
I was devoting myself
268
00:20:05,125 --> 00:20:09,546
to writing plays for the theater.
269
00:20:10,088 --> 00:20:14,801
I showed Osanai my one-act plays,
looking for advice.
270
00:20:15,593 --> 00:20:20,056
He hadn't started doing films yet.
271
00:20:20,265 --> 00:20:23,935
Screenwriters do
the same thing these days.
272
00:20:24,394 --> 00:20:27,564
He very kindly gave me
his guidance.
273
00:20:27,772 --> 00:20:31,192
What were scripts like
in those early days?
274
00:20:31,359 --> 00:20:33,820
At Nikkatsu, for example,
275
00:20:33,987 --> 00:20:39,200
the director stood beside the camera
and read the script out loud,
276
00:20:39,367 --> 00:20:42,912
while the female impersonators
277
00:20:43,329 --> 00:20:45,498
did what they were told.
278
00:20:46,249 --> 00:20:50,253
I think it was probably Kaeriyama
279
00:20:50,420 --> 00:20:53,757
who wrote the first real film script.
280
00:20:53,923 --> 00:20:56,050
I didn't really know
how to write scripts...
281
00:20:57,802 --> 00:21:00,930
though Id been watching
film adaptations of classic books
282
00:21:01,097 --> 00:21:04,559
and reading
Motion Picture Magazine,
283
00:21:05,143 --> 00:21:10,440
in which I found an ad for a guidebook
called How to Write A Scenario.
284
00:21:10,857 --> 00:21:13,485
I had a bookstore
special-order a copy for me,
285
00:21:13,610 --> 00:21:15,612
but the book was useless.
286
00:21:16,279 --> 00:21:20,617
I learned a lot more
just watching Italian movies.
287
00:21:21,826 --> 00:21:26,456
Mizoguchi's fifth film, a naturalistic
tragedy called Failure's Song ls Sad,
288
00:21:26,623 --> 00:21:31,294
provided a glimpse of his later style.
289
00:21:33,046 --> 00:21:35,340
THE GREAT KANTO EARTHQUAKE
SEPTEMBER 1, 1923
290
00:21:35,507 --> 00:21:38,218
In 1923, the Nikkatsu studios
were destroyed by the earthquake,
291
00:21:38,384 --> 00:21:42,847
and the company moved all production
to the Taishogun studio in Kyoto.
292
00:21:44,557 --> 00:21:49,979
When I think of how I met
Okochi and Osanai,
293
00:21:50,563 --> 00:21:55,235
Aoyama, Kaji Yamamoto,
and Tomoda,
294
00:21:55,401 --> 00:21:59,531
I feel it must have been fate.
295
00:21:59,697 --> 00:22:03,159
Was Mizoguchi at Taishogun, too?
296
00:22:04,118 --> 00:22:08,748
Yes. Since the earthquake
destroyed the studios at Mukojima,
297
00:22:08,915 --> 00:22:15,505
everyone moved to Taishogun
to make both modern and period films.
298
00:22:16,089 --> 00:22:18,007
TAISHOGUN
299
00:22:19,092 --> 00:22:23,012
FORMER SITE OF
NIKKATSU'S TAISHOGUN STUDIO
300
00:22:26,891 --> 00:22:28,935
Was it around here?
301
00:22:30,103 --> 00:22:31,479
Yes, the gate was here.
302
00:22:31,646 --> 00:22:33,982
KENICHI OKAMOTO --
LIGHTING TECHNICIAN
303
00:22:34,148 --> 00:22:39,571
That was an empty lot
for cars used on location.
304
00:22:41,531 --> 00:22:45,451
The studio was here from 1923 --
305
00:22:45,618 --> 00:22:48,913
Until about 1928 or 1929.
306
00:22:50,373 --> 00:22:55,086
By 1930, shooting had already moved
to the Uzusama studio, also in Kyoto.
307
00:22:58,172 --> 00:23:01,092
The move to Kyoto
308
00:23:01,259 --> 00:23:04,929
had a decisive impact
on Mizoguchi's life.
309
00:23:05,889 --> 00:23:08,850
His character had been shaped
by the old downtown of Tokyo,
310
00:23:09,017 --> 00:23:14,564
but the vastly different Kansai region
infused his blood with a new spirit.
311
00:23:15,315 --> 00:23:17,567
This mixture
312
00:23:17,734 --> 00:23:21,529
laid the foundation
for the art of his later years.
313
00:23:27,327 --> 00:23:31,581
Melodramas, spy thrillers,
action films, comedies:
314
00:23:31,748 --> 00:23:35,501
There was nothing Mizoguchi
wouldn't try at the time,
315
00:23:35,668 --> 00:23:37,879
though none of the films
were very impressive.
316
00:23:38,046 --> 00:23:41,507
While making the spy thriller
Shining in the Red Sunset,
317
00:23:42,634 --> 00:23:45,178
a major event in his life occurred:
318
00:23:45,345 --> 00:23:47,931
He met Yuriko Ichijo.
319
00:23:49,015 --> 00:23:52,936
We're curious about Mizoguchi's youth.
EIJI NAKANO -- ACTOR
320
00:23:53,519 --> 00:23:59,567
Can you tell us first about
Shining in the Red Sunset?
321
00:23:59,734 --> 00:24:03,321
I was 19 or 20 at the time.
322
00:24:03,488 --> 00:24:09,285
I just did what Mizoguchi told me.
I don't have much memory of it.
323
00:24:09,452 --> 00:24:15,166
We only worked with him
for three days.
324
00:24:15,333 --> 00:24:20,546
He had to stop because Yuriko Ichijo
literally stabbed him in the back.
325
00:24:20,713 --> 00:24:25,218
Genjiro Saegusa finished
directing the picture.
326
00:24:25,468 --> 00:24:31,099
Today we'd call it a crime of passion.
Was he fired over it?
327
00:24:31,265 --> 00:24:34,185
First he was taken to the hospital.
328
00:24:34,352 --> 00:24:40,483
Newspapers reported it
in the "human interest section,'
329
00:24:40,650 --> 00:24:43,152
not the film section.
330
00:24:43,319 --> 00:24:48,074
The page devoted
to local crimes and gossip.
331
00:24:49,784 --> 00:24:53,162
He was in disgrace.
He locked himself up at home.
332
00:24:53,538 --> 00:24:55,832
- On the studio's orders?
- Yes.
333
00:24:55,999 --> 00:25:01,295
He was put on leave
and did nothing for about six months.
334
00:25:02,839 --> 00:25:09,262
So after I worked with him,
he did nothing for six months.
335
00:25:10,388 --> 00:25:14,308
So she stabbed him in the back?
KUMEKO URABE -- ACTRESS
336
00:25:14,517 --> 00:25:16,227
Yes.
337
00:25:16,853 --> 00:25:20,773
But that was before he married.
338
00:25:21,607 --> 00:25:23,443
Long before.
339
00:25:23,609 --> 00:25:25,486
Were you there?
340
00:25:25,653 --> 00:25:32,118
I lived in the neighborhood,
at Yoneko Sakais house.
341
00:25:32,285 --> 00:25:34,746
Perhaps you know her.
342
00:25:34,912 --> 00:25:38,541
Myself, the actor Koichi Katsuragi,
343
00:25:38,708 --> 00:25:42,879
and an older lady
named Harue Ichikawa
344
00:25:43,046 --> 00:25:46,549
were all there that evening,
having a good time.
345
00:25:46,674 --> 00:25:49,302
Katsuragi was drinking a bit.
346
00:25:49,469 --> 00:25:53,765
We women weren't drinking,
just playing cards.
347
00:25:53,931 --> 00:25:59,645
These days people play mah-jongg,
but back then we played hanafuda.
348
00:25:59,812 --> 00:26:09,739
Suddenly, the wife of a talent manager
named Genzaburo Sasaya
349
00:26:09,906 --> 00:26:13,868
came from next door, all pale,
and told us that Kenji had been cut.
350
00:26:14,035 --> 00:26:19,373
She kept screaming "Kenji!' so
we couldn't really make out her words.
351
00:26:19,540 --> 00:26:28,341
We knew it had to be serious,
so we went running to see.
352
00:26:29,425 --> 00:26:32,970
Unfortunately, my two great mentors,
Mizoguchi and Minoru Murata,
353
00:26:33,096 --> 00:26:37,016
both loved brothels.
354
00:26:37,141 --> 00:26:39,393
They adored them.
355
00:26:39,560 --> 00:26:42,814
They were like characters
out of a Kafu Nagai novel.
356
00:26:42,939 --> 00:26:45,066
- Murata too?
- You bet.
357
00:26:45,233 --> 00:26:46,943
They liked the atmosphere.
358
00:26:47,110 --> 00:26:51,239
Well, Mizoguchi's
most successful films
359
00:26:51,405 --> 00:26:54,992
are often about fallen women.
360
00:26:55,159 --> 00:27:00,081
It's hard to explain why,
361
00:27:00,248 --> 00:27:03,835
although there may be
good reasons.
362
00:27:04,001 --> 00:27:07,797
The woman who cut him, Yuriko Ichijo,
was a prostitute, wasn't she?
363
00:27:07,922 --> 00:27:13,970
Yes, the kind they used to call
a yatona in Kyoto,
364
00:27:14,137 --> 00:27:17,890
one who paid house calls.
365
00:27:18,933 --> 00:27:22,812
I used to join him at bath time to chat
and learn more about filmmaking.
366
00:27:22,979 --> 00:27:25,148
SEI ICHIRO UCHIKAWA --
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
367
00:27:25,314 --> 00:27:29,318
I offered to rinse his back,
and that's when I saw the wound.
368
00:27:29,485 --> 00:27:32,071
He gave it a hard slap
and said in a debauched tone,
369
00:27:32,196 --> 00:27:35,324
"You cant understand women
if you don't have one of these.'
370
00:27:35,491 --> 00:27:37,994
I followed suit by saying,
371
00:27:38,161 --> 00:27:43,332
"Gee, sensei, I wish I could
get stabbed by a woman too!'
372
00:27:44,959 --> 00:27:50,673
He was stabbed by a yatona
from Kiyamachi, right?
373
00:27:51,174 --> 00:27:54,594
It seems he ran away after it happened,
374
00:27:54,760 --> 00:27:58,097
which was a bit unbecoming,
but I liked that about him.
375
00:27:58,222 --> 00:28:02,852
He apparently cried in pain
instead of toughing it out.
376
00:28:03,019 --> 00:28:05,396
But that's how he was.
377
00:28:05,563 --> 00:28:10,067
He could traffic in weighty matters
and in mundane things,
378
00:28:10,234 --> 00:28:12,486
alternating between them.
379
00:28:12,653 --> 00:28:16,365
He wasn't the sensible bystander,
judging others.
380
00:28:16,532 --> 00:28:20,953
He contained multitudes
within himself, and besides that,
381
00:28:21,120 --> 00:28:26,209
he was able to create
a mythology around himself.
382
00:28:27,335 --> 00:28:31,214
A Paper Doll's Whisper of Spring, written
by Mizoguchi's mentor Eizo Tanaka,
383
00:28:31,380 --> 00:28:33,591
is a love story about common people.
384
00:28:33,716 --> 00:28:37,511
The film demonstrates Mizoguchi's
gradual evolution as a director.
385
00:28:38,596 --> 00:28:40,765
THE PASSION OF A WOMAN TEACHER
(1926)
386
00:28:40,932 --> 00:28:45,728
With this film he worked for the first
time with Matsutaro Kawaguchi,
387
00:28:46,103 --> 00:28:48,898
who would become
a lifetime confidant and collaborator.
388
00:28:50,316 --> 00:28:53,444
You knew Mizoguchi
389
00:28:53,611 --> 00:28:58,282
at the time of the Yuriko Ichijo incident.
390
00:28:58,449 --> 00:29:01,577
After that, he got married.
391
00:29:01,744 --> 00:29:04,872
You knew his wife Chieko?
392
00:29:05,039 --> 00:29:10,294
Yes, she was friends with the woman
I was living with at the time.
393
00:29:10,461 --> 00:29:13,506
My girlfriend often
brought her over to visit.
394
00:29:13,673 --> 00:29:17,051
That's how I came to meet her.
395
00:29:17,218 --> 00:29:20,096
- What did she do?
- She was a dancer.
396
00:29:21,264 --> 00:29:26,978
She worked in a dance hall
called "Paulista' in Osaka.
397
00:29:27,144 --> 00:29:33,651
My girlfriend Chiyoko worked there too.
398
00:29:33,818 --> 00:29:35,778
Chiyoko lived with me
399
00:29:35,945 --> 00:29:38,948
and commuted to Osaka
to work in the dance hall.
400
00:29:39,115 --> 00:29:41,993
So it was you and Chiyoko,
and Mizoguchi and Chieko.
401
00:29:42,159 --> 00:29:44,161
We all got along well.
402
00:29:44,287 --> 00:29:47,540
Mizoguchi and I once shared a house too.
403
00:29:49,292 --> 00:29:54,255
- Where was that?
- He was shooting at Taishogun studio.
404
00:29:54,422 --> 00:29:59,468
I'd been with Nikkatsu
three or four months.
405
00:29:59,593 --> 00:30:03,097
He was living above
a public bathhouse near the studio
406
00:30:03,264 --> 00:30:05,683
called Yamaguchiya.
407
00:30:05,850 --> 00:30:12,690
I had no money and no home.
He took me in.
408
00:30:13,941 --> 00:30:20,156
We lived that way for six months.
409
00:30:20,323 --> 00:30:25,995
His room was bare
except for a futon and books.
410
00:30:26,162 --> 00:30:29,248
Books everywhere,
novels and so on.
411
00:30:29,415 --> 00:30:32,293
He used a box
covered with cloth as a table.
412
00:30:32,418 --> 00:30:34,670
We had our meals out.
413
00:30:34,795 --> 00:30:38,674
For six months
we shared the same futon.
414
00:30:39,342 --> 00:30:41,635
- You and he?
-Yes.
415
00:30:41,844 --> 00:30:44,764
When Chieko and Chiyoko
would come to visit,
416
00:30:45,306 --> 00:30:51,354
Chiyoko and I would leave
so they could be alone.
417
00:30:51,520 --> 00:30:54,106
That's how we all
became very close.
418
00:30:54,273 --> 00:30:56,108
Could Mizoguchi dance?
419
00:30:56,275 --> 00:31:01,238
He learned for her sake.
I taught him how.
420
00:31:01,864 --> 00:31:05,743
So you're the one
who introduced him to Chieko.
421
00:31:05,910 --> 00:31:08,454
And you took him
to the dance hall?
422
00:31:09,080 --> 00:31:12,375
Anyway,
they soon began to quarrel.
423
00:31:12,541 --> 00:31:18,047
Chieko had a husband
whom she hadn't divorced yet.
424
00:31:19,173 --> 00:31:23,761
We first got to know each other
MASAICHI NAGATA --
FORMER PRESIDENT OF DAIEI
425
00:31:23,928 --> 00:31:26,847
at Nikkatsu's
Taishogun studio in Kyoto.
426
00:31:26,972 --> 00:31:30,684
I had come in as a trainee.
427
00:31:30,976 --> 00:31:34,397
Matsunosuke Onoe
was at the height of his fame then.
428
00:31:34,522 --> 00:31:39,402
He was probably the top actor in Japan.
That was around 1924.
429
00:31:39,568 --> 00:31:44,740
In 1925 I started working
as a regular employee
430
00:31:44,907 --> 00:31:50,913
in general administration
at Nikkatsu.
431
00:31:51,080 --> 00:31:59,505
Mizoguchi had just
been made a director.
432
00:31:59,672 --> 00:32:03,759
Our relationship then
433
00:32:03,926 --> 00:32:10,224
was basically collegial
and business-like.
434
00:32:10,391 --> 00:32:15,604
One day it came to my attention
435
00:32:15,771 --> 00:32:20,192
that he wanted to marry Chieko.
436
00:32:20,359 --> 00:32:26,240
I learned that she was separated
437
00:32:26,407 --> 00:32:29,618
but not divorced.
438
00:32:29,785 --> 00:32:36,959
We had to find a way
to settle this matter.
439
00:32:37,376 --> 00:32:42,882
Her husband, who passed away
some time ago, was in Kobe.
440
00:32:43,048 --> 00:32:46,594
He had underworld connections
but was otherwise a decent man.
441
00:32:46,719 --> 00:32:50,931
I talked it over with him,
and he agreed to an amicable divorce.
442
00:32:51,098 --> 00:32:57,688
Chieko and I were chorus girls
at the Naniwa Shojo Kageki music hall,
443
00:32:57,855 --> 00:33:01,984
in the nightlife district of Osaka.
444
00:33:03,068 --> 00:33:05,070
We were good friends.
445
00:33:05,321 --> 00:33:10,367
Why do you think
she married Mizoguchi?
446
00:33:10,534 --> 00:33:14,497
I don't know. I really don't.
447
00:33:15,164 --> 00:33:18,918
One day at the public bathhouse
in Kyoto,
448
00:33:19,084 --> 00:33:21,545
I heard my name.
449
00:33:21,670 --> 00:33:23,881
It was Chieko calling me.
450
00:33:24,048 --> 00:33:26,842
My nickname for her
was "Sagachi,'
451
00:33:27,009 --> 00:33:33,098
and since my name then was
Chidori Toyama, she called me "Tochi.'
452
00:33:33,766 --> 00:33:38,103
I heard someone say, "Tochi,'
and who do I see? Sagachi.
453
00:33:38,270 --> 00:33:40,689
I asked what she was doing there.
454
00:33:41,106 --> 00:33:45,194
She said she'd married
the director Mizoguchi
455
00:33:45,361 --> 00:33:49,865
and invited me to stop by their place.
It was quite a surprise.
456
00:33:50,991 --> 00:33:54,995
The Nihon Bridge was a Meiji-period
story by Kyoka Izumi.
457
00:33:57,498 --> 00:34:02,545
Social unrest after the 1923 earthquake
was followed by economic collapse,
458
00:34:02,711 --> 00:34:04,547
corruption and decadence.
459
00:34:04,713 --> 00:34:07,341
It was a time of "EroGroNonsense"..
Eroticism -- Grotesque -- Nonsense.
460
00:34:07,466 --> 00:34:09,885
HOME TOWN (1930)
MIZOGUCHI'S FIRST TALKIE
461
00:34:11,011 --> 00:34:13,222
MISTRESS OF A FOREIGNER (1930)
462
00:34:14,348 --> 00:34:19,270
Metropolitan Symphony,
a so-called "leftist film"
463
00:34:19,395 --> 00:34:22,398
with a conspicuous ideology,
marks his "proletarian period."
464
00:34:22,565 --> 00:34:25,401
The film bears the influence
of Fusao Hayashi,
465
00:34:25,568 --> 00:34:29,738
a radical proletarian writer
with whom Mizoguchi was then friendly.
466
00:34:29,863 --> 00:34:32,074
MAN OF THE MOMENT (1932)
467
00:34:33,200 --> 00:34:37,871
Movies respond to changing times,
and Mizoguchi's films were no exception.
468
00:34:38,038 --> 00:34:42,001
After he made The Dawn of Mongolia,
469
00:34:42,167 --> 00:34:46,171
he started acting a bit strange.
470
00:34:46,338 --> 00:34:49,967
He'd shot so much footage
that he couldn't edit that film.
471
00:34:50,593 --> 00:34:53,345
He left Shinko studios
472
00:34:53,512 --> 00:34:57,474
and did nothing for about a year.
473
00:34:57,641 --> 00:34:59,310
He just stayed at home.
474
00:34:59,476 --> 00:35:04,607
He made his comeback with
The Water Magician.
475
00:35:05,107 --> 00:35:08,861
But that was the second time
I'd seen him have a kind of breakdown.
476
00:35:08,986 --> 00:35:14,533
What do you mean when you say
he started acting "strange'?
477
00:35:14,700 --> 00:35:16,952
He felt lost.
478
00:35:18,579 --> 00:35:21,790
Mizoguchi is unusual
in that his films tend to be
479
00:35:21,957 --> 00:35:26,295
either masterpieces
or complete failures.
480
00:35:26,462 --> 00:35:29,465
I was with him
through two of those failures.
481
00:35:30,549 --> 00:35:32,760
THE WATER MAGICIAN (1933)
482
00:35:32,885 --> 00:35:35,721
To the public you were the image
of the modern woman,
483
00:35:35,888 --> 00:35:39,058
known for
your fashionable style sense.
484
00:35:39,224 --> 00:35:43,103
TAKAKO IRIE -- ACTRESS
485
00:35:43,270 --> 00:35:49,485
We were all wondering
how the film would turn out,
486
00:35:49,652 --> 00:35:53,030
with you playing the role
of a water magician.
487
00:35:53,197 --> 00:35:55,991
We were all surprised
at how wonderful the film was.
488
00:35:56,158 --> 00:36:01,580
Could you tell us
about Mizoguchi at that time?
489
00:36:10,631 --> 00:36:15,344
Did you already know him then?
490
00:36:15,511 --> 00:36:19,890
Yes, I'd known him since
Metropolitan Symphony.
491
00:36:21,558 --> 00:36:27,022
But this was my first film
set in the Meiji period.
492
00:36:27,523 --> 00:36:31,193
He was so passionate
about detail,
493
00:36:31,360 --> 00:36:37,032
down to the size of the buttons
on the costumes.
494
00:36:39,702 --> 00:36:45,874
He was very demanding,
even then.
495
00:36:46,041 --> 00:36:48,544
Yes, he was.
496
00:36:49,294 --> 00:36:52,464
Yet he always took the time
497
00:36:52,631 --> 00:36:55,217
to explain everything carefully,
498
00:36:55,384 --> 00:37:00,389
what he wanted
and what he disliked.
499
00:37:00,723 --> 00:37:06,854
Alas, we didn't always
meet his expectations.
500
00:37:07,062 --> 00:37:11,483
Yet he was unfailingly
enthusiastic,
501
00:37:11,650 --> 00:37:18,574
and he had a lovely sense of humor.
502
00:37:19,950 --> 00:37:21,618
He was 35 at the time.
503
00:37:21,785 --> 00:37:23,829
Yes, he was young.
504
00:37:23,996 --> 00:37:27,916
It was a film from his younger days.
505
00:37:28,083 --> 00:37:30,461
How old were you at the time?
506
00:37:30,627 --> 00:37:34,757
Twenty-two, I think.
507
00:37:40,053 --> 00:37:42,264
Because I was 21 when
The Dawn of Mongolia came out.
508
00:37:43,348 --> 00:37:45,934
He'd wanted to make
this film for a long time.
509
00:37:46,101 --> 00:37:49,271
GORO KONTAIBO -- THEN HEAD
OF PRODUCTION AT SHINKO CINEMA
510
00:37:52,816 --> 00:37:57,696
Irie was a Nikkatsu star.
511
00:37:57,863 --> 00:38:01,950
She was the most popular,
512
00:38:02,117 --> 00:38:05,537
but in terms of studio rankings,
she was number two.
513
00:38:07,748 --> 00:38:10,292
You might say she sat
in the second seat.
514
00:38:10,417 --> 00:38:16,423
Her brother was the director
Yasunaga Higashibojo.
515
00:38:19,718 --> 00:38:23,555
He thought it was unfair.
He thought she should be No. 1.
516
00:38:23,722 --> 00:38:28,393
At Nikkatsu she was the modern,
upper-crust woman, in fur and all that.
517
00:38:28,560 --> 00:38:34,358
But Shinko wanted her
to be more Japanese.
518
00:38:34,525 --> 00:38:38,612
They said Nikkatsu didn't show
the real Japan -- they showed Hawaii!
519
00:38:38,779 --> 00:38:41,990
They felt audiences
wouldn't go for it.
520
00:38:42,157 --> 00:38:45,619
Shinko had its own audience,
and Irie had to please them.
521
00:38:45,786 --> 00:38:50,999
They made it an ironclad rule
that she was to play
522
00:38:51,166 --> 00:38:55,462
70% of her roles in Japanese dress
and 30% in Western dress.
523
00:38:56,547 --> 00:39:00,467
The biggest problem was that
SHIGERU MIKI -- CAMERAMAN
524
00:39:00,634 --> 00:39:03,178
there was no finished script
for The Water Magician.
525
00:39:03,303 --> 00:39:06,390
He wrote it piecemeal
from one day to the next.
526
00:39:06,557 --> 00:39:09,560
Mizoguchi's method
was to shoot takes
527
00:39:09,726 --> 00:39:13,188
several times as long
as other directors' takes.
528
00:39:13,564 --> 00:39:19,069
Every single take
was exhausting in itself.
529
00:39:19,570 --> 00:39:23,407
With a director who has
a more relaxed approach,
530
00:39:23,574 --> 00:39:28,453
you can shoot many takes
and not get too tired.
531
00:39:28,620 --> 00:39:31,373
But with him,
we'd get tired after a single take.
532
00:39:31,540 --> 00:39:35,043
Id lose count
of how many takes we'd done.
533
00:39:38,922 --> 00:39:42,634
He was like
an orchestra conductor,
534
00:39:42,801 --> 00:39:45,387
leading us as if with his baton.
535
00:39:45,554 --> 00:39:49,141
He was good to work for
as a cameraman, wasn't he?
536
00:39:49,308 --> 00:39:53,061
He never looked through the camera.
He just trusted you.
537
00:39:54,271 --> 00:39:57,733
It made you try all the harder
to merit that trust.
538
00:40:02,195 --> 00:40:05,490
When did you first start
working with Mizoguchi?
539
00:40:05,657 --> 00:40:08,368
TAZUKO SAKANE -- SCRIPT GIRL
AND FIRST FEMALE DIRECTOR
540
00:40:08,535 --> 00:40:10,913
We began working together
in the autumn of 1929
541
00:40:11,330 --> 00:40:17,294
at the Nikkatsu studios in Kyoto.
542
00:40:17,461 --> 00:40:20,130
Did you work together on
The Water Magician?
543
00:40:20,297 --> 00:40:23,926
Yes, that was the first film
I ever edited.
544
00:40:24,384 --> 00:40:30,682
There were lots of close-ups.
545
00:40:31,683 --> 00:40:34,478
Takes were still
quite short at that time.
546
00:40:36,772 --> 00:40:42,069
Establishing shots
were fairly long, though.
547
00:40:42,235 --> 00:40:47,991
We edited by cutting the negatives,
after inserting the intertitles.
548
00:40:48,158 --> 00:40:51,995
Cutting negatives
sounds outrageous today,
549
00:40:52,120 --> 00:40:55,248
but they were very skilled at it
in the old days.
550
00:40:56,416 --> 00:40:58,543
GION FESTIVAL (1933)
551
00:40:58,669 --> 00:41:01,213
We were filming
The Jimpu Group.
552
00:41:01,380 --> 00:41:03,882
I was getting paid by the film.
553
00:41:04,007 --> 00:41:06,885
Before that,
I'd gotten a monthly salary.
554
00:41:07,010 --> 00:41:09,763
But I was getting
about 1,000 yen per film.
555
00:41:09,888 --> 00:41:12,307
That was in my contract.
556
00:41:12,474 --> 00:41:15,978
He said, "Tell you what.
You do a single scene in my film,
557
00:41:16,144 --> 00:41:18,313
and for that you'll get 1,000 yen.
558
00:41:18,480 --> 00:41:20,148
You'll take half,
559
00:41:20,315 --> 00:41:24,319
and the other 500 yen
I'll take as a 'finder's fee."
560
00:41:24,486 --> 00:41:29,324
I asked, "So I get 500?
I hope it won't take long.'
561
00:41:29,491 --> 00:41:32,202
"I don't want you here long either,'
he replied.
562
00:41:32,369 --> 00:41:38,917
In other words, a part that would take
only a day or two to shoot.
563
00:41:39,167 --> 00:41:44,256
So I basically wrote a scene
for myself to act in,
564
00:41:44,423 --> 00:41:47,968
and we shot it in two days.
565
00:41:49,094 --> 00:41:52,264
After making only one film,
The Mountain Pass of Love and Hate,
566
00:41:52,389 --> 00:41:54,975
at Nikkatsu's Tamagawa studios,
Mizoguchi moved on to Daiichi Films.
567
00:41:55,100 --> 00:41:58,311
He'd fallen into a rut of making
films about the Meiji period
568
00:41:58,437 --> 00:42:00,647
from which he found it hard
to extricate himself
569
00:42:00,772 --> 00:42:03,525
I founded
the Daiichi Film Company.
570
00:42:03,692 --> 00:42:07,070
I told Matsutaro Kawaguchi
and Mizoguchi
571
00:42:07,237 --> 00:42:09,072
about my plans.
572
00:42:09,531 --> 00:42:12,868
They hadn't been able
to make the films they wanted.
573
00:42:13,035 --> 00:42:15,662
I told them
they could only do that
574
00:42:15,829 --> 00:42:18,123
if they worked
with like-minded people.
575
00:42:18,290 --> 00:42:22,669
The three of us were very close.
We understood one another.
576
00:42:23,879 --> 00:42:27,924
At Daiichi, Mizoguchi made
two of his most famous early films,
577
00:42:28,091 --> 00:42:31,720
Sisters of the Gion
and Osaka Elegy.
578
00:42:32,637 --> 00:42:36,725
OSAKA ELEGY (1936)
579
00:42:37,809 --> 00:42:41,730
YOSHIKATA YODA -- SCREENWRITER
580
00:42:41,938 --> 00:42:45,067
We first worked together on
Osaka Elegy,
581
00:42:45,233 --> 00:42:47,736
although I had known him
582
00:42:47,903 --> 00:42:53,075
ever since he was
an assistant director at Nikkatsu.
583
00:42:53,241 --> 00:42:58,914
Once he even asked me to act
in his film Man of the Moment,
584
00:42:59,081 --> 00:43:01,249
though he later changed his mind.
585
00:43:01,416 --> 00:43:04,294
We knew each other quite well
from these experiences.
586
00:43:04,461 --> 00:43:08,840
Later on, I fell ill
and had to quit Nikkatsu.
587
00:43:09,257 --> 00:43:13,345
I was hoping someone
would give me a job,
588
00:43:13,720 --> 00:43:16,640
so I went to see him
after I had recovered.
589
00:43:17,099 --> 00:43:23,438
He immediately asked me
to write a screenplay
590
00:43:23,605 --> 00:43:28,985
based on
Saburo Okada's book Mieko.
591
00:43:29,152 --> 00:43:36,785
It was the story of a cabaret girl.
592
00:43:37,119 --> 00:43:44,000
I later learned that an assistant director
named Terada, among others,
593
00:43:44,167 --> 00:43:48,296
had strongly suggested
that he turn the book into a film.
594
00:43:48,588 --> 00:43:52,634
At the time, Mizoguchi wasn't
in such high spirits.
595
00:43:52,801 --> 00:43:56,847
He'd been in a slump
for quite a while
596
00:43:57,139 --> 00:44:00,225
and was looking for something
to help him break out of it.
597
00:44:00,433 --> 00:44:03,770
He also wanted to give a role
to Isuzu Yamada,
598
00:44:03,937 --> 00:44:05,647
who had just given birth.
599
00:44:05,814 --> 00:44:09,818
Her daughter grew up to be
the actress Michiko Saga, by the way.
600
00:44:09,985 --> 00:44:15,740
Until then Mizoguchi had been doing
a lot of Meiji-period films,
601
00:44:16,116 --> 00:44:20,287
either based on the novels
of Kyoka Izumi or in that vein.
602
00:44:20,453 --> 00:44:23,707
I think he felt that
nostalgia for the past
603
00:44:23,832 --> 00:44:29,337
had cast a kind of spell over him,
604
00:44:29,504 --> 00:44:33,341
and he knew
he had to break away.
605
00:44:33,508 --> 00:44:36,178
He was well aware of this.
606
00:44:36,344 --> 00:44:40,348
He wanted to turn his attention
607
00:44:40,515 --> 00:44:44,477
to a more contemporary story,
608
00:44:44,644 --> 00:44:47,022
one that focused
609
00:44:47,189 --> 00:44:49,274
on some neglected aspect
of modern life.
610
00:44:51,026 --> 00:44:54,279
I had already worked with him,
611
00:44:55,363 --> 00:44:59,242
ISUZU YAMADA -- ACTRESS
612
00:44:59,409 --> 00:45:02,120
but Osaka Elegy
holds a lot of special memories.
613
00:45:02,245 --> 00:45:04,497
I think it's his greatest film.
614
00:45:04,623 --> 00:45:09,586
It's also the film that first
made me decide
615
00:45:09,753 --> 00:45:15,800
to commit myself fully
to a career as an actress.
616
00:45:15,967 --> 00:45:21,181
That's why I feel
this film changed my life.
617
00:45:21,348 --> 00:45:23,725
I have so many memories of it.
618
00:45:23,892 --> 00:45:29,689
As you know,
Mizoguchi was very hard to please.
619
00:45:29,856 --> 00:45:36,655
He never gave us
precise directions.
620
00:45:36,947 --> 00:45:41,201
"Think about it,' he'd say,
and that was all.
621
00:45:41,534 --> 00:45:44,412
I'll never forget a scene in
Osaka Elegy
622
00:45:44,704 --> 00:45:48,333
where I was coming back
from the police station.
623
00:45:48,500 --> 00:45:52,295
My siblings are all eating sukiyaki.
624
00:45:52,462 --> 00:45:56,216
The atmosphere is very tense,
and my line is,
625
00:45:56,591 --> 00:46:00,345
"Oh, sukiyaki.
I'd like some too.'
626
00:46:00,845 --> 00:46:03,473
He wasn't satisfied
with my delivery.
627
00:46:03,932 --> 00:46:07,269
We rehearsed it over and over
for three days.
628
00:46:08,228 --> 00:46:09,980
He had me so frightened
629
00:46:10,105 --> 00:46:13,984
that I was afraid to even
put something on to keep warm.
630
00:46:14,109 --> 00:46:19,406
I was trembling during the bridge scene,
as well as the test shots,
631
00:46:19,572 --> 00:46:25,453
and the breaks, too, during which
I practiced my lines over and over.
632
00:46:25,578 --> 00:46:28,373
At one point he came up
silently behind me
633
00:46:28,498 --> 00:46:31,293
and put his coat
over my shoulders.
634
00:46:31,459 --> 00:46:34,796
Imagine someone so strict
doing that.
635
00:46:34,963 --> 00:46:37,674
I had tears in my eyes.
636
00:46:38,883 --> 00:46:42,721
I made my first talkie with him.
EITARO SHINDO -- ACTOR
637
00:46:42,887 --> 00:46:49,561
His reputation for being difficult was
well known even in the theater world,
638
00:46:49,728 --> 00:46:53,606
which is where I was working then,
so I asked him bluntly,
639
00:46:53,773 --> 00:46:58,153
"The theater director Kitamura
is called 'Roku the Grouch.'
640
00:46:58,320 --> 00:47:02,699
I hear you're known
as 'Kenji the Grouch.'
641
00:47:02,866 --> 00:47:05,035
Are you really that bad?'
642
00:47:05,201 --> 00:47:08,204
I was pretty direct about it.
643
00:47:08,371 --> 00:47:11,958
He often discussed acting style.
644
00:47:12,125 --> 00:47:15,837
Regardless of whether you're playing
645
00:47:16,004 --> 00:47:19,424
a gangster, a lecher, or a drunkard,
646
00:47:19,591 --> 00:47:23,511
skill and technique alone aren't enough.
647
00:47:23,803 --> 00:47:31,186
The style comes from the personality.
648
00:47:32,270 --> 00:47:36,524
SISTERS OF THE GION (1936)
649
00:47:38,777 --> 00:47:43,531
At first it was to be a story
about two brothers in Osaka
650
00:47:43,698 --> 00:47:49,204
working as manzai,
a pair of stand-up comics.
651
00:47:49,371 --> 00:47:52,791
He thought
that would be interesting.
652
00:47:52,957 --> 00:47:55,710
My ideas were based
on that premise.
653
00:47:55,877 --> 00:47:57,712
But he changed his mind.
654
00:47:57,879 --> 00:48:00,715
The new setting was Gion in Kyoto.
655
00:48:00,882 --> 00:48:03,551
The teahouse district
with narrow streets,
656
00:48:03,718 --> 00:48:07,430
where the working classes
used to live.
657
00:48:07,597 --> 00:48:10,308
Gion has two sections.
658
00:48:10,725 --> 00:48:16,022
The lower side is where
the prostitutes and geisha
659
00:48:16,189 --> 00:48:18,817
lived and worked.
660
00:48:19,025 --> 00:48:22,153
That was to be the setting.
661
00:48:22,320 --> 00:48:28,827
We wanted to show that it was a place
of hardship and not just pleasure.
662
00:48:29,119 --> 00:48:33,081
SETTING FOR SISTERS OF THE GION
663
00:48:33,248 --> 00:48:35,333
You yourself lived
in alleyways like those,
664
00:48:35,500 --> 00:48:37,544
so you must know the people well.
665
00:48:37,710 --> 00:48:44,175
Every city has
those alleyways, you know.
666
00:48:45,176 --> 00:48:50,723
But those in Kyoto
are different from those in Tokyo.
667
00:48:52,434 --> 00:48:55,687
FROM THE LAST SCENE OF
SISTERS OF THE GION
668
00:48:55,979 --> 00:49:00,400
If we do our jobs well,
they call us depraved.
669
00:49:00,984 --> 00:49:06,114
So what are we supposed to do?
670
00:49:10,118 --> 00:49:13,037
Why are we tormented like this?
671
00:49:13,288 --> 00:49:19,002
Why do there even have to be
such things as geisha?
672
00:49:19,169 --> 00:49:21,880
Why does the world
need such a profession?
673
00:49:22,839 --> 00:49:27,510
It's so terribly wrong!
674
00:49:27,677 --> 00:49:31,347
It should never have existed!
675
00:49:37,729 --> 00:49:41,316
I was in love
with a geisha named Omocha.
676
00:49:41,483 --> 00:49:44,486
She and I were extremely close.
677
00:49:45,570 --> 00:49:47,989
LSUZU YAMADA AS OMOCHA
678
00:49:48,156 --> 00:49:51,367
So you spoke to Mizoguchi about her?
679
00:49:51,534 --> 00:49:56,581
I said, "Look at the things
going on in the world today!
680
00:49:57,415 --> 00:50:02,754
Why aren't these women's lives
being portrayed?
681
00:50:02,921 --> 00:50:08,301
You don't have to go to Tokyo
to find modern drama.
682
00:50:08,468 --> 00:50:11,346
Where were writers like Monzaemon
Chikamatsu and Saikaku Ihara born?
683
00:50:11,513 --> 00:50:13,139
Right here!'
684
00:50:15,058 --> 00:50:17,852
You went to look at Gion?
685
00:50:18,019 --> 00:50:20,855
Yes, but as you know,
686
00:50:21,022 --> 00:50:26,027
the story takes place
in the lower section of Gion,
687
00:50:26,194 --> 00:50:29,405
not exactly the best part of town,
you know?
688
00:50:29,572 --> 00:50:34,494
After the film came out,
the people of Gion spoke their minds,
689
00:50:34,661 --> 00:50:37,205
saying Gion wasn't really like that.
690
00:50:37,956 --> 00:50:41,543
Every morning a new section
of the script came in like a telegraph.
691
00:50:41,709 --> 00:50:44,587
Mizoguchi didn't have it
finalized ahead of time.
692
00:50:44,754 --> 00:50:46,172
Minor changes?
693
00:50:46,297 --> 00:50:49,425
Heavens, no. Major changes.
694
00:50:49,592 --> 00:50:53,721
We'd arrive in the morning and learn
that our lines for that day
695
00:50:53,888 --> 00:50:56,182
had completely changed.
696
00:50:56,349 --> 00:51:02,438
Mizoguchi and Yoda even made
changes as they were shooting.
697
00:51:02,730 --> 00:51:06,568
Even now I’m not sure
whether the final scene
698
00:51:06,734 --> 00:51:09,445
had been planned from the outset
699
00:51:09,612 --> 00:51:15,243
or just thought up at the last moment.
700
00:51:15,410 --> 00:51:20,206
And since it was a talkie,
the changes meant a lot of work for us.
701
00:51:20,373 --> 00:51:25,545
I'm from the Kansai region,
and the lines were in my native dialect,
702
00:51:25,712 --> 00:51:28,756
so I had no problem learning
dozens of new lines.
703
00:51:28,923 --> 00:51:32,385
Nonetheless, even I had to cheat a little
704
00:51:32,552 --> 00:51:35,680
by reading my lines from blackboards
placed around the set.
705
00:51:35,805 --> 00:51:38,474
Some were even written on a mirror.
706
00:51:38,641 --> 00:51:44,188
My memories of Mizoguchi?
He got rowdy when he was drunk!
707
00:51:44,564 --> 00:51:49,277
I didn't drink very much,
but for some reason
708
00:51:49,402 --> 00:51:51,487
he'd always ask for me,
OWNER -- THE YOSHIDA TEAHOUSE
709
00:51:51,654 --> 00:51:54,949
and he even gave me a part in
Sisters of the Gion.
710
00:51:55,116 --> 00:52:00,288
Well, we're making a film
about Mizoguchi.
711
00:52:00,455 --> 00:52:03,708
We're trying to meet
all the people
712
00:52:03,875 --> 00:52:07,629
who were close to him
before the war.
713
00:52:07,795 --> 00:52:12,592
I see. At that time
he was always with a Mr. --
714
00:52:13,676 --> 00:52:15,720
A screenwriter.
- Mr. Yoda.
715
00:52:15,887 --> 00:52:19,849
That's right.
They were always together.
716
00:52:20,016 --> 00:52:23,019
Mr. Mizoguchi held
his cigarettes like this
717
00:52:23,311 --> 00:52:29,150
and chewed on them.
718
00:52:29,776 --> 00:52:32,028
When he got a little drunk --
719
00:52:32,195 --> 00:52:36,991
Back then we didn't wear wigs
like they do today.
720
00:52:37,158 --> 00:52:40,662
We all wore our own hair
up in a traditional style.
721
00:52:40,828 --> 00:52:44,540
He loved to tease me
when he got drunk,
722
00:52:44,666 --> 00:52:49,045
and he'd mess up my hair,
which he didn't do with the others.
723
00:52:49,170 --> 00:52:54,676
He felt at ease with me,
and we got along well.
724
00:52:54,801 --> 00:53:00,181
Some people got the wrong idea
about our relationship.
725
00:53:01,265 --> 00:53:05,186
THE STRAITS OF LOVE AND HA TE
(1937)
726
00:53:05,561 --> 00:53:09,399
Daiichi went under after only two films,
Osaka Elegy and Sisters of the Gion.
727
00:53:09,524 --> 00:53:13,069
Shinko Cinema then invited
Mizoguchi to make Straits.
728
00:53:14,445 --> 00:53:17,365
As he put it in his inimitable way,
729
00:53:17,532 --> 00:53:23,871
"All melodrama is based
on Tolstoy's Resurrection."
730
00:53:24,247 --> 00:53:28,000
He told me to write
a script like that.
731
00:53:28,167 --> 00:53:34,215
So we created our own
version of Prince Nekhlyudov.
732
00:53:35,299 --> 00:53:39,220
He would give us a script,
FUMIKO YAMAJI -- ACTRESS
733
00:53:39,387 --> 00:53:44,642
and we'd stay up all night
memorizing our lines,
734
00:53:44,809 --> 00:53:48,521
only to learn the next day
they'd been completely changed.
735
00:53:48,688 --> 00:53:53,609
Wed all gather
around a blackboard,
736
00:53:53,776 --> 00:53:56,696
learning new lines
at the last minute,
737
00:53:56,863 --> 00:54:00,366
with the lines from the day before
still stuck in our heads.
738
00:54:00,533 --> 00:54:02,410
That was quite difficult.
739
00:54:03,911 --> 00:54:09,208
There was one scene in a café
in which I had to act drunk.
740
00:54:09,375 --> 00:54:14,088
In the old days there used to be
lots of little cafés
741
00:54:14,255 --> 00:54:17,759
below the overpass
of Shinbashi station in Tokyo.
742
00:54:17,925 --> 00:54:21,053
I went there to study for my role.
743
00:54:21,220 --> 00:54:25,099
I bought drinks for the barmaid
and even offered her cash,
744
00:54:25,266 --> 00:54:29,520
just to see her get drunk.
745
00:54:29,979 --> 00:54:34,275
He devoted his entire life to film,
746
00:54:34,442 --> 00:54:38,488
and he expected nothing less
from the rest of us.
747
00:54:38,780 --> 00:54:44,118
I'd get to the set early in the morning,
thinking I was the first there,
748
00:54:44,285 --> 00:54:46,704
but there he would be,
749
00:54:46,871 --> 00:54:51,709
sitting alone in the dark.
750
00:54:52,835 --> 00:54:56,547
TOSHIMA DISTRICT, TOKYO
751
00:54:56,714 --> 00:55:01,010
He rented this house and immersed
himself in his work for Shinko.
752
00:55:05,515 --> 00:55:08,810
There he made Ah! My Hometown
and The Song of the Camp.
753
00:55:08,935 --> 00:55:11,395
He then joined
Shochiku's studio in Shimokamo.
754
00:55:12,522 --> 00:55:14,690
THE STORY OF THE LAST
CHRYSANTHEMUM (1939)
755
00:55:14,816 --> 00:55:18,986
Shochiku wanted him to use
756
00:55:19,153 --> 00:55:24,575
Shotaro Hanayagi,
a Kabuki actor, in the leading role.
757
00:55:24,742 --> 00:55:29,330
But men no longer played
female roles in films.
758
00:55:29,497 --> 00:55:33,417
So they made Chrysanthemum.
759
00:55:33,876 --> 00:55:38,339
It was set in the world of Kabuki,
760
00:55:38,714 --> 00:55:44,178
a world I knew nothing about,
which made it tough.
761
00:55:45,263 --> 00:55:48,516
They used to call us "prop men."
MIZOGUCHI (RIGHT) AT 41
762
00:55:49,559 --> 00:55:54,188
Wed make bamboo spears
MASARU ARAKAWA -- SET DECORATOR
763
00:55:54,355 --> 00:55:57,024
and shouldering poles and so on.
764
00:55:57,191 --> 00:56:00,194
At Shimokamo I'd worked
765
00:56:00,611 --> 00:56:04,156
with difficult directors
like Kintaro Inoue.
766
00:56:04,282 --> 00:56:08,244
So I knew what to expect from him,
and we were on good terms.
767
00:56:08,411 --> 00:56:10,538
Besides, the film
was based on a play,
768
00:56:10,705 --> 00:56:14,458
and I knew Kabuki well, since
my father had worked in the theater,
769
00:56:14,625 --> 00:56:16,961
so the work went smoothly.
770
00:56:17,128 --> 00:56:19,338
Mizoguchi liked me, I think.
771
00:56:19,505 --> 00:56:23,050
I learned a lot about set design
and props from him.
772
00:56:23,217 --> 00:56:27,138
Today he'd be called
a perfectionist.
773
00:56:27,305 --> 00:56:34,228
But his taste in props
was highly personal.
774
00:56:34,395 --> 00:56:38,816
He had a tremendous memory
for things he'd seen and heard.
775
00:56:38,983 --> 00:56:43,446
He got cheated quite often
when shopping for antiques,
776
00:56:43,613 --> 00:56:46,115
but over time he became
a much better judge.
777
00:56:46,282 --> 00:56:49,076
YOSHIYUKI TAKATSU -- PRESIDENT
OF TAKATSU TRADING COMPANY
778
00:56:49,285 --> 00:56:53,748
He once asked me to get rid
of the junk he'd bought by mistake.
779
00:56:53,873 --> 00:56:58,753
I told him to keep it
as a valuable reminder
780
00:56:58,920 --> 00:57:04,467
never to touch such things again.
781
00:57:04,634 --> 00:57:09,388
- Those days are long gone.
- They sure are.
782
00:57:10,473 --> 00:57:15,061
You had very little equipment back then.
MATSUJI OHNO -- SET BUILDER
783
00:57:15,227 --> 00:57:18,272
In those days,
the idea of production design
784
00:57:18,439 --> 00:57:20,775
hadn't really taken hold
at Shimokamo.
785
00:57:20,942 --> 00:57:23,569
Hiroshi Mizutani
was the first real designer,
786
00:57:23,736 --> 00:57:26,739
so we were nervous
about working with him.
787
00:57:27,657 --> 00:57:31,118
But Kyoto carpenters
are excellent craftsmen.
788
00:57:31,285 --> 00:57:36,248
You're the ones who brought
Mizutani's creations to life.
789
00:57:37,458 --> 00:57:42,171
He treated us as equals.
HIROSHI MIZUTANI --
PRODUCTION DESIGNER
790
00:57:42,338 --> 00:57:47,385
He discussed things with us
before designing them.
791
00:57:47,551 --> 00:57:52,431
There was something about him
that nobody could imitate.
792
00:57:53,975 --> 00:58:00,314
Working with Mizoguchi and Mizutani
allowed me to do the best job possible.
793
00:58:02,900 --> 00:58:06,112
FROM THE STORY OF
THE LAST CHRYSANTHEMUM
794
00:58:11,242 --> 00:58:12,994
Doesn't it look good?
795
00:58:13,160 --> 00:58:14,954
Set this half aside.
796
00:58:18,249 --> 00:58:20,251
Hold it for me.
797
00:58:26,215 --> 00:58:28,426
I can do the rest.
798
00:59:04,295 --> 00:59:06,547
It's a very nice watermelon.
799
00:59:07,715 --> 00:59:10,384
Where are you taking it?
- To the back room.
800
00:59:10,551 --> 00:59:12,595
- Here is fine.
- But this is --
801
00:59:12,762 --> 00:59:16,223
- We'll eat together, right here.
- Really?
802
00:59:22,396 --> 00:59:24,148
I'll add some salt.
803
00:59:26,233 --> 00:59:28,861
Try some. Don't be shy.
804
00:59:29,153 --> 00:59:30,696
Thank you.
805
00:59:32,448 --> 00:59:34,366
Let's eat together.
806
00:59:37,578 --> 00:59:39,413
It's delicious.
807
00:59:39,622 --> 00:59:42,625
What are your memories
of Mizoguchi?
808
00:59:42,792 --> 00:59:46,712
KAKUKO MORI -- ACTRESS
809
00:59:46,879 --> 00:59:49,006
The first day on the set...
810
00:59:49,924 --> 00:59:54,220
I was hopelessly lost.
I didn't know how to move.
811
00:59:55,721 --> 01:00:01,227
I asked Mizoguchi
what I ought to do.
812
01:00:01,393 --> 01:00:03,646
He sort of looked at me
813
01:00:03,813 --> 01:00:07,608
from the kitchen of the house
where we were filming.
814
01:00:07,775 --> 01:00:16,117
"Forget about your movements
and your lines,' he said.
815
01:00:16,283 --> 01:00:19,745
"If you really get
into the heart of the character,
816
01:00:19,912 --> 01:00:24,667
your movements and lines
will come naturally.'
817
01:00:25,584 --> 01:00:29,088
I nodded my head.
818
01:00:29,922 --> 01:00:34,176
I was playing a housekeeper
named Otoku.
819
01:00:34,301 --> 01:00:36,637
I wasn't sure I could do it
820
01:00:36,804 --> 01:00:40,182
because I usually played young girls.
821
01:00:40,516 --> 01:00:45,146
His words encouraged me to follow
my instincts in playing that role.
822
01:00:45,312 --> 01:00:49,608
That was an experience I'll never forget.
823
01:00:51,485 --> 01:00:57,408
Mizoguchi seems
to have put a lot of effort
824
01:00:57,575 --> 01:01:02,830
into getting the casting right
for the role of Otoku.
825
01:01:02,997 --> 01:01:06,542
He first cast somebody else
826
01:01:06,709 --> 01:01:10,754
but then called you
when she didn't work out.
827
01:01:10,921 --> 01:01:13,132
- The other actress was --
- Reiko Kitami?
828
01:01:13,299 --> 01:01:14,341
That's right.
829
01:01:14,508 --> 01:01:18,929
For three days they rehearsed
a scene where she walks along a river
830
01:01:19,054 --> 01:01:21,640
holding a baby in her arms.
831
01:01:21,807 --> 01:01:24,185
"You're not doing it right,'
he'd tell her.
832
01:01:24,351 --> 01:01:26,645
"Probably because
you're not a mother.
833
01:01:26,812 --> 01:01:31,525
You aren't even married.'
834
01:01:31,650 --> 01:01:35,696
He fired her after those three days
835
01:01:35,946 --> 01:01:37,907
and hired Kakuko Mori.
836
01:01:38,073 --> 01:01:41,702
Mori was hired because
Hanayagi was behind her.
837
01:01:41,869 --> 01:01:45,539
He'd done a lot
of historical research for Mizoguchi,
838
01:01:45,706 --> 01:01:49,543
so Mizoguchi felt obliged to at least
listen to his recommendation.
839
01:01:49,710 --> 01:01:54,715
They did a screen test,
and Mizoguchi hired her.
840
01:01:55,799 --> 01:01:57,801
Hanayagi taught me a lot.
SHOTARO HANAYAGI
841
01:01:57,968 --> 01:02:00,846
In the watermelon scene,
for instance,
842
01:02:00,971 --> 01:02:06,477
he showed me how to remove
the seeds with my hairpin,
843
01:02:06,644 --> 01:02:11,315
the way women did in the Meiji period.
Id have never thought of that.
844
01:02:11,690 --> 01:02:14,318
I learned many things from him.
845
01:02:14,485 --> 01:02:19,698
He wasn't trying to glorify women
with that character, was he?
846
01:02:19,865 --> 01:02:24,328
His portrayal was unsparing and exact.
847
01:02:24,495 --> 01:02:29,250
There was a real feeling of truth,
not just a concern with beauty.
848
01:02:29,416 --> 01:02:34,421
In a sense it conveyed the image
of "the eternal feminine.'
849
01:02:34,588 --> 01:02:39,343
Perhaps we could say
850
01:02:39,677 --> 01:02:43,806
she was the personification
of his yearnings.
851
01:02:44,139 --> 01:02:49,353
It's a bit disrespectful
to speculate like this,
852
01:02:49,520 --> 01:02:53,857
but I know his married life
853
01:02:54,108 --> 01:03:00,155
was rather different from the idea
you just mentioned.
854
01:03:00,447 --> 01:03:03,492
It was a pitched battle, actually.
855
01:03:04,201 --> 01:03:06,662
He was very tense.
856
01:03:07,788 --> 01:03:11,709
While shooting Chrysanthemum,
HIDEO TSUMURA -- FILM CRITIC
857
01:03:12,126 --> 01:03:16,046
he and Hanayagi and I
went out to eat.
858
01:03:16,213 --> 01:03:20,843
That was the only time
he invited me to a meal,
859
01:03:21,135 --> 01:03:26,473
and Hanayagi probably
paid for us all.
860
01:03:26,890 --> 01:03:30,144
Your friendship
dates from that time?
861
01:03:30,311 --> 01:03:34,148
We weren't exactly friends yet.
862
01:03:34,315 --> 01:03:37,818
Two years later, in 1941,
863
01:03:37,985 --> 01:03:42,281
Ozu completed The Brothers
and Sisters of the Toda Family.
864
01:03:42,448 --> 01:03:45,743
We had a roundtable discussion
after the screening
865
01:03:46,327 --> 01:03:49,788
for Star magazine...
866
01:03:50,873 --> 01:03:58,505
with Ozu, Mizoguchi,
Hiroshi Shimizu and me.
867
01:03:59,256 --> 01:04:04,053
He and I got to talk a bit then,
868
01:04:04,178 --> 01:04:07,181
but our friendship per se
began after the war.
869
01:04:16,774 --> 01:04:19,526
If you get off at Omuro station
on the Kitano line,
870
01:04:19,693 --> 01:04:22,696
walk a few minutes
toward Ninna Temple and turn left,
871
01:04:22,863 --> 01:04:25,824
you'll find a two-story house
with a cypress hedge.
872
01:04:25,991 --> 01:04:30,537
Mizoguchi rented this house,
his second-to-last,
873
01:04:30,871 --> 01:04:33,832
from the autumn of 1940
874
01:04:33,999 --> 01:04:37,878
until near the end of his life.
875
01:04:43,467 --> 01:04:47,930
26TH CENTENARY OF JAPAN
NOVEMBER 1940
876
01:04:48,347 --> 01:04:50,974
No matter what he may have said,
877
01:04:51,141 --> 01:04:54,395
he was very conscious of status and class.
VOICE OF MATSUTARO KAWAGUCHI
878
01:04:55,229 --> 01:05:01,360
So he was elated when he received
the Minister of Education award.
879
01:05:02,486 --> 01:05:08,867
Being recognized by the government,
praised by people outside his field --
880
01:05:09,576 --> 01:05:12,746
all that made him very happy.
881
01:05:12,955 --> 01:05:18,168
He had the Meiji-era mentality
882
01:05:18,335 --> 01:05:22,005
that considered officials
a cut above ordinary people.
883
01:05:22,172 --> 01:05:25,592
He definitely had
a touch of that in him.
884
01:05:26,718 --> 01:05:29,513
A WOMAN OF OSAKA (1940)
885
01:05:29,680 --> 01:05:33,016
That was my first film with him.
886
01:05:33,183 --> 01:05:36,270
I knew his reputation.
887
01:05:36,437 --> 01:05:38,939
KINUYO TANAKA -- ACTRESS
888
01:05:39,106 --> 01:05:41,775
I'd heard he was very difficult to work for.
889
01:05:41,942 --> 01:05:46,697
According to Yoda,
his screenwriter,
890
01:05:46,864 --> 01:05:53,287
he was in top form for that film.
891
01:05:53,454 --> 01:05:55,622
That may well be.
892
01:05:55,956 --> 01:06:01,336
You played Ochika,
the wife of a Bunraku performer.
893
01:06:01,628 --> 01:06:07,092
She's a strong woman
894
01:06:07,259 --> 01:06:13,307
who quarrels with her husband Danpei
and even leaves him for a time.
895
01:06:13,640 --> 01:06:18,770
Mizoguchi apparently said
you were marvelous in the part.
896
01:06:18,937 --> 01:06:20,564
Is that right?
897
01:06:20,731 --> 01:06:26,069
I really had to study that character
898
01:06:26,236 --> 01:06:31,241
before I felt I fully understood her.
899
01:06:31,408 --> 01:06:33,535
It took me by surprise.
900
01:06:34,286 --> 01:06:37,372
First I went to Kyoto.
901
01:06:37,789 --> 01:06:43,086
Ms. Sakane, the lady director --
- She was a script girl then.
902
01:06:43,253 --> 01:06:47,090
She came to the inn where
I was staying the night I arrived
903
01:06:47,257 --> 01:06:52,012
with a stack of books this high
wrapped in cloth.
904
01:06:52,221 --> 01:06:55,682
She said, "Please read these.
905
01:06:55,974 --> 01:06:58,852
Mr. Mizoguchi asked me
906
01:06:59,019 --> 01:07:01,855
to tell you to study them carefully
907
01:07:02,022 --> 01:07:06,401
and absorb what's inside.'
908
01:07:06,777 --> 01:07:12,699
I'd already studied the script thoroughly.
909
01:07:13,867 --> 01:07:18,372
It was set in the world
of Bunraku puppet theater...
910
01:07:19,039 --> 01:07:21,792
in Ochika's home, her husband's
dressing room, and onstage.
911
01:07:21,917 --> 01:07:24,044
Many of those books on Bunraku
912
01:07:24,253 --> 01:07:26,880
were meant for scholars.
913
01:07:27,047 --> 01:07:30,717
Not books that a person like me
just sits down
914
01:07:30,884 --> 01:07:33,845
and reads from cover to cover.
915
01:07:34,555 --> 01:07:38,976
There were lots
of difficult technical words.
916
01:07:39,184 --> 01:07:43,897
I was astonished to find
that the artistic life
917
01:07:44,064 --> 01:07:48,151
depicted in these books
was close to my own as an actress.
918
01:07:48,277 --> 01:07:52,406
It was an eye-opener.
919
01:07:53,073 --> 01:07:57,536
We arrived in Kyoto in April,
920
01:07:57,744 --> 01:08:03,542
but we didn't start shooting
until the summer, I think.
921
01:08:03,709 --> 01:08:05,711
Were you preparing all that time?
922
01:08:05,877 --> 01:08:08,422
First he had me read those books.
923
01:08:08,755 --> 01:08:14,052
Then he sent me to Osaka
to see Bunraku live.
924
01:08:14,219 --> 01:08:16,763
I was to drink in the atmosphere
925
01:08:16,930 --> 01:08:22,728
and feel the rigor of that world
in a way the script couldn't convey.
926
01:08:23,061 --> 01:08:27,524
Learning everything was an ordeal.
927
01:08:28,275 --> 01:08:34,031
To tell you the truth, I'd had it easy.
I was used to star treatment.
928
01:08:34,197 --> 01:08:37,242
I thought I'd never make it
through the difficulties.
929
01:08:37,826 --> 01:08:40,746
Mizoguchi was even worse
than his reputation.
930
01:08:40,871 --> 01:08:43,415
He would change lines
931
01:08:43,540 --> 01:08:46,251
right on the set
932
01:08:46,418 --> 01:08:48,754
as we were shooting.
933
01:08:49,004 --> 01:08:53,550
Not because Yoda's script was lacking,
934
01:08:53,717 --> 01:08:55,886
but rather because
935
01:08:56,053 --> 01:08:59,556
when it actually came time
936
01:08:59,931 --> 01:09:05,020
for the actors to read out the lines,
937
01:09:05,187 --> 01:09:09,316
they sounded very unnatural.
938
01:09:09,524 --> 01:09:12,069
Mizoguchi just wouldn't accept it.
939
01:09:12,235 --> 01:09:15,697
And for that reason,
940
01:09:15,864 --> 01:09:19,117
Yoda was always on the set,
941
01:09:19,284 --> 01:09:23,830
and over the course of the shoot,
they essentially rewrote everything.
942
01:09:23,997 --> 01:09:27,501
- They rewrote it all?
- Yes.
943
01:09:27,668 --> 01:09:32,047
They'd have the actors read lines aloud,
then discuss what to do.
944
01:09:32,214 --> 01:09:35,634
If they detected a single false note,
it had to be rewritten.
945
01:09:36,677 --> 01:09:38,887
THE LIFE OF AN ACTOR (1941 )
946
01:09:39,012 --> 01:09:41,390
A Woman of Osaka was one film
in a trilogy about artists:
947
01:09:41,515 --> 01:09:43,392
Chrysanthemum,
A Woman of Osaka
948
01:09:43,517 --> 01:09:45,852
and The Life of an Actor.
949
01:09:46,019 --> 01:09:50,190
I was about 30 when he hired me.
950
01:09:50,315 --> 01:09:54,194
GANJIRO NAKAMURA -- ACTOR
951
01:09:54,486 --> 01:09:57,280
That was the first time
I worked for him.
952
01:09:57,447 --> 01:10:03,078
I was a Kabuki actor,
and I wanted to make movies.
953
01:10:03,412 --> 01:10:07,290
He thought I was kidding,
but I was serious.
954
01:10:07,457 --> 01:10:12,045
I wanted him to call me
by my real name, "Hayashi,'
955
01:10:12,212 --> 01:10:15,215
and not by my Kabuki stage name,
"Narikomaya.'
956
01:10:15,465 --> 01:10:21,054
He told me,
"Don't act as you would in Kabuki.
957
01:10:21,888 --> 01:10:24,391
Make the character part of yourself.'
958
01:10:24,558 --> 01:10:28,478
So I began saying my lines, "Hey, you!
Who the hell do you think you are?'
959
01:10:29,062 --> 01:10:30,856
We rehearsed a number of times.
960
01:10:31,565 --> 01:10:33,859
I thought I was doing a good job,
961
01:10:34,234 --> 01:10:36,528
good enough
to finally shoot the scene.
962
01:10:36,820 --> 01:10:38,530
But we didn't.
963
01:10:38,697 --> 01:10:42,826
I asked what was wrong.
How was I overacting?
964
01:10:43,160 --> 01:10:45,287
"You're overdoing it with your eyes.'
965
01:10:45,912 --> 01:10:50,876
In Kabuki there are times when
we look from side to side like this,
966
01:10:51,001 --> 01:10:54,629
but I swear I wasn't doing that.
967
01:10:55,630 --> 01:10:58,925
Yet he seems
to have sensed something.
968
01:10:59,092 --> 01:11:03,805
"You're acting with your pupils,'
he said.
969
01:11:05,474 --> 01:11:10,979
I thought asking me to control
my pupils was going a bit too far.
970
01:11:11,146 --> 01:11:15,525
Mizoguchi made unrealistic demands
on those who were most capable.
971
01:11:15,734 --> 01:11:18,779
He said nothing at all
to those who were incompetent.
972
01:11:18,945 --> 01:11:23,575
I can understand
less movement of the eyes,
973
01:11:23,742 --> 01:11:27,120
but how am I supposed
to control my pupils?
974
01:11:28,330 --> 01:11:32,125
When I see myself acting today,
I realize to my chagrin
975
01:11:32,292 --> 01:11:35,462
that my eyes are moving too much.
976
01:11:35,629 --> 01:11:39,800
It's strange, but my film acting
was better then than now.
977
01:11:40,217 --> 01:11:44,095
My acting is more calibrated
in that film.
978
01:11:45,472 --> 01:11:50,977
Fortunately, he shot only when
my performance was just right.
979
01:11:51,561 --> 01:11:55,816
I felt safe in his hands.
980
01:11:56,107 --> 01:11:58,485
They don't make directors
like that anymore.
981
01:11:59,486 --> 01:12:02,489
THE 47 RONIN (1941 )
982
01:12:03,448 --> 01:12:04,866
HIROSHI MIZUTANI --
PRODUCTION DESIGN
983
01:12:05,033 --> 01:12:06,451
KANETO SHINDO -- SET DESIGN
984
01:12:06,618 --> 01:12:11,957
You did a marvelous job
on The 47 Ronin.
985
01:12:12,165 --> 01:12:15,877
I’m not sure about that,
but I think it would be impossible
986
01:12:16,002 --> 01:12:18,964
to build a set like that today.
987
01:12:19,089 --> 01:12:23,343
I was astonished we were allowed
to do all that just for a film.
988
01:12:23,468 --> 01:12:25,971
What surprised me most
989
01:12:26,137 --> 01:12:29,349
was that we actually used
990
01:12:29,599 --> 01:12:31,685
a blueprint for the first time,
991
01:12:31,810 --> 01:12:35,355
for the sequence
in the corridor of the palace.
992
01:12:35,772 --> 01:12:38,358
I think you and I
were both surprised.
993
01:12:38,525 --> 01:12:40,944
That was really amazing,
994
01:12:41,069 --> 01:12:46,908
having a real blueprint
among the design plans for a movie!
995
01:12:47,075 --> 01:12:52,330
Everything was authentic.
No papier-màché or anything like that.
996
01:12:52,581 --> 01:12:54,833
All the props were real antiques.
997
01:12:54,958 --> 01:12:58,086
That kind of authenticity
came to be taken for granted,
998
01:12:58,253 --> 01:13:01,923
and we have Mizoguchi to thank
for that sea change in sensibility.
999
01:13:02,090 --> 01:13:04,801
Perhaps it makes him sound
too pragmatic,
1000
01:13:04,926 --> 01:13:08,221
but Mizoguchi said that fake props
were sometimes okay,
1001
01:13:08,388 --> 01:13:12,851
and he used a couple of items
he had previously rejected.
1002
01:13:13,018 --> 01:13:16,897
I suppose he'd achieved
such a unity of concept for his films
1003
01:13:17,063 --> 01:13:19,190
that when a real item
was unavailable,
1004
01:13:19,357 --> 01:13:22,569
he was willing to use a substitute,
even one rejected earlier.
1005
01:13:22,694 --> 01:13:27,073
He was confident enough in his vision
to know the film would work
1006
01:13:27,240 --> 01:13:30,410
even without authentic props.
1007
01:13:30,577 --> 01:13:34,080
We began by reading the original.
CHIEF OF PLANNING -- SHOCHIKU
1008
01:13:34,247 --> 01:13:36,124
We gathered all the volumes
1009
01:13:36,499 --> 01:13:39,878
and tried to figure out
how to turn it into a script.
1010
01:13:40,003 --> 01:13:42,756
There were 20 --
1011
01:13:42,923 --> 01:13:47,385
no, more like 10 people
working on this.
1012
01:13:47,552 --> 01:13:54,559
So we were all there,
and I was leading the meeting.
1013
01:13:54,726 --> 01:14:02,692
I passed out blue and red pencils.
1014
01:14:02,859 --> 01:14:08,740
We went through the volumes
looking for parts to cut.
1015
01:14:09,532 --> 01:14:12,494
Mizoguchi was furious.
1016
01:14:12,661 --> 01:14:16,831
He wanted to keep the episode
with Seika Mayama.
1017
01:14:17,332 --> 01:14:23,338
I asked him if he was planning
to make the film three days long.
1018
01:14:24,172 --> 01:14:28,677
I told him, "Each episode
takes two hours on stage.
1019
01:14:28,843 --> 01:14:31,972
What would happen if you shot
seven of those, or even three?
1020
01:14:32,138 --> 01:14:34,140
You couldn't,
even if you cut all the dialogue!'
1021
01:14:34,307 --> 01:14:38,645
The fact is,
he was like a naïve little boy.
1022
01:14:40,480 --> 01:14:45,777
He was incapable of falsehood,
about his work and himself.
1023
01:14:45,986 --> 01:14:50,657
And though he could act like an adult
and put on airs of greatness,
1024
01:14:50,824 --> 01:14:53,702
he was utterly incapable of lying.
1025
01:14:54,119 --> 01:14:59,791
That honesty made him question
the theme of The 47 Ronin.
1026
01:14:59,916 --> 01:15:03,837
He began to think
loyalism was a great misfortune.
1027
01:15:04,004 --> 01:15:06,131
That was the beginning of his anguish.
1028
01:15:06,297 --> 01:15:09,592
- Yet it became a loyalist film.
- It did.
1029
01:15:09,759 --> 01:15:11,970
That's why he didn't want to carry on.
1030
01:15:12,804 --> 01:15:14,305
He was disgusted.
1031
01:15:15,223 --> 01:15:16,891
There was no script.
1032
01:15:17,058 --> 01:15:21,146
I knew that because
production ground to a halt.
1033
01:15:27,360 --> 01:15:29,446
His wife succumbed...
1034
01:15:31,448 --> 01:15:35,618
to mental illness.
1035
01:15:35,994 --> 01:15:41,207
He felt responsible.
1036
01:15:43,418 --> 01:15:46,212
In spite of everything, though,
1037
01:15:46,963 --> 01:15:51,509
he managed to finish
The 47 Ronin.
1038
01:15:51,760 --> 01:15:57,891
The morning his wife was stricken,
1039
01:15:58,058 --> 01:16:01,061
we were waiting for him on the set.
1040
01:16:01,227 --> 01:16:05,690
We thought he would cancel shooting.
1041
01:16:05,857 --> 01:16:11,863
But he arrived in the afternoon
and casually said, "Let's begin.'
1042
01:16:12,030 --> 01:16:14,699
I think it took all his strength
1043
01:16:14,866 --> 01:16:17,994
just to go on.
1044
01:16:18,161 --> 01:16:21,581
When his assistant
had gone to get him that day,
1045
01:16:21,748 --> 01:16:25,335
he'd found Mizoguchi in the middle
of his living room, weeping.
1046
01:16:25,585 --> 01:16:31,758
His wife became mentally ill.
1047
01:16:32,342 --> 01:16:36,596
Sakai came and asked me
to halt the days shooting.
1048
01:16:37,138 --> 01:16:39,766
I went to Mizoguchi's house
and found him weeping.
1049
01:16:42,352 --> 01:16:44,979
I knew shooting was out of the question.
1050
01:16:45,146 --> 01:16:48,399
He was extremely agitated.
So I called off the shoot.
1051
01:16:49,526 --> 01:16:53,613
We'd begun shooting the second half.
TATSUO SAKAI -- ASST. DIRECTOR
1052
01:16:53,780 --> 01:16:55,615
That was to be the palace scene.
1053
01:16:55,824 --> 01:17:00,620
It was December 20,194 I.
She'd just returned to Kyoto.
1054
01:17:00,745 --> 01:17:03,123
She was still all right
at that time, right?
1055
01:17:03,289 --> 01:17:05,041
Yes.
1056
01:17:05,166 --> 01:17:09,129
They'd been apart for some time.
1057
01:17:09,295 --> 01:17:14,300
That evening, while she was awake,
1058
01:17:14,467 --> 01:17:18,555
he didn't notice much out of the ordinary.
1059
01:17:18,721 --> 01:17:21,391
And then she went to sleep.
1060
01:17:22,183 --> 01:17:27,313
I was staying with them at the time,
1061
01:17:27,480 --> 01:17:30,441
and I remember thinking
she'd been acting a bit strange.
1062
01:17:30,567 --> 01:17:33,820
I worried she might
be worse the next day.
1063
01:17:33,987 --> 01:17:37,740
Mizoguchi came downstairs
in the middle of the night
1064
01:17:37,907 --> 01:17:40,451
and woke me up.
1065
01:17:40,910 --> 01:17:44,747
He asked me what I'd thought
about her behavior.
1066
01:17:45,498 --> 01:17:49,669
I told him it struck me as somewhat odd.
1067
01:17:49,836 --> 01:17:52,505
"It's worse than that,' he said.
1068
01:17:52,672 --> 01:17:54,966
Then I understood.
1069
01:17:55,133 --> 01:17:59,512
Sakai and I went to the hospital
to bring her some things.
1070
01:17:59,679 --> 01:18:03,183
She recognized us, but just barely.
1071
01:18:03,349 --> 01:18:05,435
- Mrs. Mizoguchi?
- Yes.
1072
01:18:05,602 --> 01:18:08,438
That's really all I know.
1073
01:18:08,688 --> 01:18:14,027
There was a lot of talk,
but who really knows?
1074
01:18:18,364 --> 01:18:23,494
Did Mizoguchi suspect
he'd given her the disease?
1075
01:18:23,703 --> 01:18:27,624
There's proof that wasn't the case.
1076
01:18:27,790 --> 01:18:31,753
Absolute proof.
1077
01:18:32,212 --> 01:18:34,339
- We know that for sure?
- Yes.
1078
01:18:34,505 --> 01:18:39,677
Yet he insisted on believing
he'd infected her.
1079
01:18:39,844 --> 01:18:43,598
Were blood tests done?
1080
01:18:43,765 --> 01:18:46,726
Yes, of course.
1081
01:18:47,227 --> 01:18:51,064
Put simply, the blood test
proved it wasn't him.
1082
01:18:51,231 --> 01:18:54,734
Nevertheless,
he felt responsible for his wife.
1083
01:18:54,901 --> 01:18:59,948
After The 47 Ronin,
he wasn't the same man.
1084
01:19:00,114 --> 01:19:04,994
It was the turning point
in his tragic life.
1085
01:19:07,997 --> 01:19:15,129
I don't know the facts
in terms of her medical condition,
1086
01:19:15,296 --> 01:19:19,968
but he thought it was his fault.
1087
01:19:20,426 --> 01:19:23,429
He felt responsible.
1088
01:19:24,514 --> 01:19:30,853
His sense of self-reproach
was really overwhelming,
1089
01:19:31,020 --> 01:19:37,860
and he threw himself headlong
into his work to forget.
1090
01:19:38,027 --> 01:19:43,032
I visited her with Tazuko Sakane.
1091
01:19:43,658 --> 01:19:45,368
- At the hospital?
- Yes.
1092
01:19:45,535 --> 01:19:48,329
We went there
against Mizoguchi's wishes.
1093
01:19:48,496 --> 01:19:51,916
I came back in tears.
1094
01:19:52,625 --> 01:19:55,545
- Was she all right?
- Physically, yes.
1095
01:19:56,462 --> 01:19:58,965
She was living in the past.
1096
01:19:59,132 --> 01:20:02,385
She asked if wed come
to act in Mizoguchi's film.
1097
01:20:03,386 --> 01:20:05,138
She couldn't tell --
1098
01:20:05,471 --> 01:20:09,058
- Who you were?
- No, she knew that.
1099
01:20:09,225 --> 01:20:13,313
But she thought we were there
to work for her husband.
1100
01:20:13,479 --> 01:20:15,565
So I said yes, we were.
1101
01:20:15,732 --> 01:20:20,945
I wish I'd known you were coming,
since you've come all this way.
1102
01:20:21,112 --> 01:20:27,702
The wife of Mizoguchi the director
was hospitalized here.
1103
01:20:28,745 --> 01:20:30,663
Isn't Mizoguchi dead?
1104
01:20:30,830 --> 01:20:35,335
Mizoguchi is still alive?
1105
01:20:35,793 --> 01:20:38,212
He's dead, but his wife isn't.
1106
01:20:38,379 --> 01:20:39,964
I don't believe it.
1107
01:20:40,131 --> 01:20:43,676
I'd heard he remarried.
1108
01:20:44,510 --> 01:20:48,222
What do you want
to know about her?
1109
01:20:49,390 --> 01:20:53,895
Her hospital room was on this corner.
FORMER LOCATION OF BRANCH
OF KYOTO MUNICIPAL HOSPITAL
1110
01:20:54,103 --> 01:20:57,315
Mizoguchi and I
often took walks together.
1111
01:20:57,648 --> 01:20:59,734
As we'd walk past,
1112
01:20:59,942 --> 01:21:02,528
he'd keep saying,
"I wonder how she's doing,'
1113
01:21:02,695 --> 01:21:05,656
and sort of linger in the area.
1114
01:21:06,783 --> 01:21:10,703
She was in good health.
MRS. MIZOGUCHI'S NURSE
1115
01:21:10,912 --> 01:21:16,918
She was quite responsive
when I spoke to her.
1116
01:21:17,085 --> 01:21:19,629
She went to the baths.
1117
01:21:21,089 --> 01:21:24,217
- She was accompanied?
- Yes, by an attendant.
1118
01:21:24,384 --> 01:21:26,594
She seems to have been
quite spry.
1119
01:21:26,719 --> 01:21:30,223
Yes, she was.
1120
01:21:30,390 --> 01:21:34,143
At the baths
she even washed herself.
1121
01:21:36,646 --> 01:21:39,941
We heard you were
the head nurse
1122
01:21:40,108 --> 01:21:43,361
for Mrs. Mizoguchi back then.
HEAD NURSE NAGAI
1123
01:21:46,280 --> 01:21:48,950
Yes, she was at my hospital.
1124
01:21:49,117 --> 01:21:51,411
I worked there for a long time,
1125
01:21:51,577 --> 01:21:58,751
but I hardly ever tended to her.
1126
01:21:59,168 --> 01:22:04,465
I worked mostly
in the outpatient department.
1127
01:22:04,632 --> 01:22:08,845
But I remember her face well.
1128
01:22:12,098 --> 01:22:16,602
She wasn't a talkative person.
FORMER HOSPITAL CLERK
1129
01:22:17,437 --> 01:22:19,439
She was quiet.
1130
01:22:19,605 --> 01:22:25,903
I heard she used to speak
about the film studios a bit.
1131
01:22:26,070 --> 01:22:28,156
She had many memories of Tokyo.
She'd say,
1132
01:22:28,322 --> 01:22:32,618
"I had someone come
from Tokyo to clean the house,'
1133
01:22:32,785 --> 01:22:35,872
things that didn't make much sense.
1134
01:22:36,956 --> 01:22:40,209
ON THE YANGTZE RIVER AT 45
1135
01:22:40,626 --> 01:22:42,545
He followed the army
to the Chinese front
1136
01:22:42,712 --> 01:22:44,964
to make a Shochiku-China
Film Company co-production.
1137
01:22:45,173 --> 01:22:47,717
It was to be on
"Sino-Japanese peace and friendship."
1138
01:22:47,884 --> 01:22:51,095
MIZOGUCHI DEMANDED
FOUR-STAR-GENERAL TREATMENT
1139
01:22:52,138 --> 01:22:57,018
Militaristic films from that period
were inevitably mediocre.
THREE DANJUROS (1944)
1140
01:22:57,143 --> 01:23:02,899
He spent his days traveling by train
to Kyoto and buying rationed sake.
MUSASHI MIYAMOTO (1944)
1141
01:23:03,065 --> 01:23:05,985
It was a crude way of life
for a true sake connoisseur.
1142
01:23:06,152 --> 01:23:08,154
THE FAMOUS SWORD BIJOMARU
(1945)
1143
01:23:08,321 --> 01:23:12,366
I don't even drink,
so it made me queasy.
1144
01:23:12,533 --> 01:23:17,038
Imagine stirring
salted fish guts into hot sake.
1145
01:23:17,163 --> 01:23:19,499
It looked like phlegm!
1146
01:23:19,665 --> 01:23:24,253
He drank that disgusting liquid,
then told me to eat a soft-shelled turtle.
1147
01:23:24,378 --> 01:23:29,050
But it wasn't real turtle.
It was turtle extract.
1148
01:23:29,217 --> 01:23:34,430
It was like mixing medicine with rice.
Not exactly tasty.
1149
01:23:34,680 --> 01:23:36,974
Didn't he buy turtle soup?
1150
01:23:37,141 --> 01:23:39,936
When it was available, yes.
1151
01:23:40,102 --> 01:23:44,023
When it wasn't, he'd get
the extract from the pharmacy.
1152
01:23:44,190 --> 01:23:47,443
It was used in Chinese medicine
for tuberculosis.
1153
01:23:47,610 --> 01:23:51,364
He'd put it in rice,
add soy sauce, and cook it.
1154
01:23:51,531 --> 01:23:56,327
He'd give that rice gruel
to me and Sakai.
1155
01:23:58,496 --> 01:24:02,708
HIS HOME IN OMURO, KYOTO,
AT THE END OF THE WAR
1156
01:24:02,875 --> 01:24:08,589
He couldn't quite grasp
the new democracy
1157
01:24:09,423 --> 01:24:14,095
of the postwar era.
1158
01:24:15,221 --> 01:24:19,267
I think he got carried away
with the belief
1159
01:24:19,433 --> 01:24:24,605
that he had to change
as radically as the times.
1160
01:24:25,064 --> 01:24:32,113
It was a time of turmoil
when he became a union leader.
1161
01:24:32,530 --> 01:24:38,578
Unions immediately after the war
were rather odd.
1162
01:24:38,953 --> 01:24:43,916
Up until the Toho strike,
strikes were carried out
1163
01:24:45,084 --> 01:24:47,920
per a prearranged plan
between union and company.
THE VICTORY OF WOMEN (1946)
1164
01:24:48,087 --> 01:24:49,922
It was a bizarre situation...
1165
01:24:50,756 --> 01:24:52,592
with unions cropping up everywhere.
1166
01:24:52,717 --> 01:24:55,928
He didn't know where society should go,
UTAMARO AND HIS FIVE WOMEN
1167
01:24:56,053 --> 01:24:59,599
but he also didn't think
humanism was the solution.
1168
01:24:59,724 --> 01:25:01,267
MIZOGUCHI AT 48
1169
01:25:02,393 --> 01:25:05,313
THE LOVE OF SUMAKO THE ACTRESS
(1947)
1170
01:25:05,438 --> 01:25:08,649
He felt that everything
old and established
1171
01:25:08,774 --> 01:25:11,360
somehow had to be changed.
WOMEN OF THE NIGHT (1948)
1172
01:25:11,986 --> 01:25:14,780
He was quite anxious about that.
1173
01:25:15,156 --> 01:25:19,702
You can see a definite break
with the past in Women of the Night.
1174
01:25:19,827 --> 01:25:23,789
Would you say that with that film
1175
01:25:23,914 --> 01:25:27,126
you two made a fresh start
after the war?
1176
01:25:27,293 --> 01:25:31,631
Not exactly.
1177
01:25:33,132 --> 01:25:38,095
But thanks to that film,
we were, as they say,
1178
01:25:38,262 --> 01:25:40,973
back in the saddle.
1179
01:25:41,182 --> 01:25:44,644
The film was a story
about prostitutes.
1180
01:25:44,769 --> 01:25:48,648
HISAO ITOYA -- PRODUCER
1181
01:25:48,814 --> 01:25:52,610
He said he and Yoda
had to do legwork for research.
1182
01:25:52,735 --> 01:25:57,156
He bought an aluminum lunch box
1183
01:25:57,490 --> 01:26:02,203
and asked the ladies at the hotel
to prepare his lunch.
1184
01:26:02,495 --> 01:26:07,166
He put on some army leggings
and an army cap,
1185
01:26:07,333 --> 01:26:12,797
took his lunch box,
and set out looking for material.
1186
01:26:12,963 --> 01:26:16,467
As he said,
he wanted to do "legwork.'
1187
01:26:16,634 --> 01:26:19,553
I think the leggings and lunch box
1188
01:26:19,720 --> 01:26:24,684
put him in a certain mindset.
1189
01:26:24,934 --> 01:26:28,854
Yoda went too,
dressed the same way.
1190
01:26:29,105 --> 01:26:33,943
They visited a hospital
in the Yoshiwara red-light district,
1191
01:26:34,151 --> 01:26:37,321
full of prostitutes
who catered to American soldiers.
1192
01:26:37,446 --> 01:26:41,033
The prostitutes were very excited.
It was quite a scene.
1193
01:26:41,659 --> 01:26:44,578
"There's a film director here!'
1194
01:26:44,829 --> 01:26:48,290
"Liar! Why would a film director
come here?'
1195
01:26:48,457 --> 01:26:51,085
But then somebody said...
1196
01:26:51,252 --> 01:26:55,047
"I saw his picture in Sunday Mainichi.
It must be true!'
1197
01:26:55,214 --> 01:26:58,926
They swarmed around him.
1198
01:26:59,135 --> 01:27:02,805
The hospital director called for silence,
1199
01:27:02,972 --> 01:27:05,099
and Mizoguchi began to speak.
1200
01:27:05,266 --> 01:27:09,645
"The men of the world
are the reason you're here.
1201
01:27:09,812 --> 01:27:13,607
They're responsible.'
1202
01:27:13,733 --> 01:27:17,486
Then he suddenly added,
"And I'm responsible too.'
1203
01:27:19,447 --> 01:27:23,701
I looked over at him
when he said that.
1204
01:27:23,868 --> 01:27:27,329
His head was down,
his eyes welling with tears.
1205
01:27:27,496 --> 01:27:30,583
His own personal circumstances
were weighing on him.
1206
01:27:31,751 --> 01:27:34,879
MY LOVE BURNS (1949)
1207
01:27:35,045 --> 01:27:39,008
It was Mizutani's idea
to have Ichiro Sugai play
1208
01:27:39,133 --> 01:27:44,597
left-wing politician Kentaro Omoi
in My Love Burns.
1209
01:27:45,264 --> 01:27:48,768
Mizoguchi liked the idea.
1210
01:27:48,934 --> 01:27:55,024
But the role was rather difficult,
1211
01:27:55,191 --> 01:27:57,693
and Sugai couldn't quite grasp it.
1212
01:27:57,860 --> 01:28:00,362
Mizoguchi wasn't happy
with Sugais acting
1213
01:28:00,488 --> 01:28:03,282
and out of frustration told him...
1214
01:28:03,407 --> 01:28:06,035
"Something's wrong with your head.
1215
01:28:06,285 --> 01:28:11,123
Do you think you might have
cerebral syphilis?'
1216
01:28:11,290 --> 01:28:12,833
ICHIRO SUGAI (DECEASED)
1217
01:28:12,958 --> 01:28:15,586
Sugai was so in awe of Mizoguchi
1218
01:28:15,753 --> 01:28:21,008
that he was practically
mesmerized by this suggestion
1219
01:28:21,300 --> 01:28:25,638
and went to the hospital
for an examination.
1220
01:28:26,138 --> 01:28:28,766
He was quite all right.
1221
01:28:29,934 --> 01:28:32,812
A PICTURE OF MADAME YUKI (1950)
1222
01:28:32,978 --> 01:28:38,150
Back then, movie actresses were
practically lionized, unlike today.
1223
01:28:38,317 --> 01:28:41,487
So I was expecting
to be indulged like a star.
1224
01:28:41,654 --> 01:28:45,533
MICHIYO KOGURE -- ACTRESS
1225
01:28:45,658 --> 01:28:49,161
But for the first three days,
I was at a loss.
1226
01:28:49,328 --> 01:28:52,581
On the third day,
Mizoguchi said to me,
1227
01:28:52,748 --> 01:28:57,336
"You can relax now.
I understand your character.'
1228
01:28:57,503 --> 01:29:04,301
I was playing the daughter
of an aristocratic family in decline.
1229
01:29:04,426 --> 01:29:08,430
He said, "You must act
like Madame Yuki offstage as well.
1230
01:29:08,597 --> 01:29:11,642
Treat everyone in the studio,
from the president down,
1231
01:29:11,809 --> 01:29:13,727
like subjects."
1232
01:29:13,894 --> 01:29:16,647
Each take
was five or six minutes long.
1233
01:29:16,814 --> 01:29:19,608
Yet whenever
I made the slightest mistake,
1234
01:29:19,775 --> 01:29:22,486
he'd immediately notice
and redo the take.
1235
01:29:22,611 --> 01:29:24,738
I was on pins and needles.
1236
01:29:25,865 --> 01:29:28,367
These days I have
a nice thin figure, don't I?
1237
01:29:28,576 --> 01:29:31,704
Even though I was larger then,
1238
01:29:31,871 --> 01:29:35,332
he was obsessed
with dressing me nicely.
1239
01:29:36,000 --> 01:29:39,044
You know how in Noh theater
they have katsugi veils?
1240
01:29:39,211 --> 01:29:42,131
This was a gift from him,
by the way.
1241
01:29:42,256 --> 01:29:47,553
Anyway, it was a veil
you put on your head like this.
1242
01:29:47,720 --> 01:29:51,974
It was woven
1243
01:29:52,141 --> 01:29:55,227
on a pine needle loom.
1244
01:29:55,394 --> 01:29:59,023
You couldn't tie it with an obi ribbon,
1245
01:29:59,189 --> 01:30:02,818
because the cloth was
too delicate and would rip.
1246
01:30:02,943 --> 01:30:06,906
It was worth a fortune back then.
1247
01:30:07,990 --> 01:30:10,492
He left a lot of things up to me.
EIJIRO YANAGI -- ACTOR
1248
01:30:10,618 --> 01:30:14,622
He didn't give much direction
for love scenes, did he?
1249
01:30:14,788 --> 01:30:16,749
You're right.
1250
01:30:17,249 --> 01:30:20,336
Yet there were a lot in
A Picture of Madame Yuki.
1251
01:30:20,461 --> 01:30:22,963
Did he let you do those
as you pleased?
1252
01:30:23,130 --> 01:30:25,090
Yes, that's right.
1253
01:30:25,215 --> 01:30:29,929
There was a bedroom scene
when we're about to go to sleep.
1254
01:30:30,220 --> 01:30:32,348
So he says to me...
1255
01:30:34,308 --> 01:30:37,978
"There's a gap between you two.'
1256
01:30:38,228 --> 01:30:41,523
Of course I knew there was a gap,
1257
01:30:41,690 --> 01:30:43,943
but my costar was Michiyo Kogure!
1258
01:30:44,109 --> 01:30:47,071
I wasn't afraid of her,
1259
01:30:47,613 --> 01:30:50,199
but I couldn't snuggle up to her either.
1260
01:30:50,366 --> 01:30:53,911
I told him Id get closer
when we shot the take.
1261
01:30:54,036 --> 01:30:58,207
"Are you sure?' he said.
"The futons aren't together.
1262
01:30:58,457 --> 01:31:00,793
They'd better be next to each other!'
1263
01:31:00,960 --> 01:31:04,046
"Don't worry.
I'll take care of it,' I said.
1264
01:31:04,421 --> 01:31:08,008
Before we shot the take,
I told her, "Pardon me...'
1265
01:31:08,175 --> 01:31:12,805
and held her very close,
even draping my leg over her.
1266
01:31:12,972 --> 01:31:16,809
When the shot was over,
I asked if it was all right.
1267
01:31:16,976 --> 01:31:19,269
He laughed and said, "Yes.'
1268
01:31:20,354 --> 01:31:23,315
MISS OYU (1951 )
1269
01:31:25,150 --> 01:31:29,321
I first worked
with Mizoguchi on Miss Oyu.
1270
01:31:29,446 --> 01:31:34,326
He rather frightened me.
NOBUKO OTOWA -- ACTRESS
1271
01:31:34,493 --> 01:31:38,080
He always stayed on the set,
even for lunch.
1272
01:31:38,205 --> 01:31:41,959
He never even seemed
to use the bathroom.
1273
01:31:42,126 --> 01:31:46,255
I asked the crew
how he managed.
1274
01:31:46,505 --> 01:31:50,718
It seems he kept
a urine bottle on the set.
1275
01:31:50,884 --> 01:31:53,512
That's how he relieved himself.
1276
01:31:54,346 --> 01:31:59,810
I was surprised.
I couldn't see why he'd go that far.
1277
01:32:00,102 --> 01:32:06,984
In time I came to understand
that was just how he was.
1278
01:32:07,151 --> 01:32:12,281
I think he wanted to maintain
a certain mood on the set
1279
01:32:12,865 --> 01:32:15,534
and therefore never left.
1280
01:32:15,701 --> 01:32:21,832
It was after watching him work
that I understood
1281
01:32:22,833 --> 01:32:26,754
his method, his demanding personality.
HIS FAVORED URINE BOTTLE
1282
01:32:26,879 --> 01:32:33,385
We'd all eat lunch together
when shooting on location.
1283
01:32:33,552 --> 01:32:37,473
He was completely different
from on the set!
1284
01:32:37,639 --> 01:32:40,225
It was like
Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde.
1285
01:32:40,392 --> 01:32:44,772
He'd listen to Kinuyo Tanaka,
grinning happily.
1286
01:32:44,897 --> 01:32:47,691
The difference was so great
I had to remark,
1287
01:32:47,816 --> 01:32:51,945
"Sensei, you're a demon on the set
but an angel on location.'
1288
01:32:52,112 --> 01:32:54,907
Everybody roared.
1289
01:32:55,115 --> 01:33:00,996
The disparity was so great,
it put you off balance.
1290
01:33:01,371 --> 01:33:03,582
I later learned
1291
01:33:03,749 --> 01:33:06,919
it was because he was in love
with Kinuyo Tanaka.
1292
01:33:07,086 --> 01:33:10,672
Many of the scenes were shot
in one long take.
1293
01:33:10,798 --> 01:33:14,384
One especially long scene
called for a lot of acting.
1294
01:33:14,551 --> 01:33:17,304
We rehearsed all morning.
1295
01:33:17,471 --> 01:33:22,434
There were mikes everywhere,
dollies for tracking shots, and so on.
1296
01:33:22,601 --> 01:33:26,271
We were finally ready to start shooting,
1297
01:33:26,438 --> 01:33:29,108
when he suddenly said,
"No! Back to square one!'
1298
01:33:29,274 --> 01:33:32,528
"What's going on?' I thought.
We'd worked so terribly hard.
1299
01:33:32,694 --> 01:33:35,948
He said, "You've gone over it too much.
1300
01:33:36,115 --> 01:33:38,325
It's become lifeless and automatic.
1301
01:33:38,492 --> 01:33:40,119
Start all over...
1302
01:33:40,285 --> 01:33:43,872
and do everything differently."
1303
01:33:44,039 --> 01:33:47,918
LADY MUSASHINO (1951 )
1304
01:33:48,085 --> 01:33:51,797
"She's not a normal beggar," he said.
THE LIFE OF OHARU (1952)
1305
01:33:51,964 --> 01:33:54,925
"Even as a beggar,
she must be feminine.
1306
01:33:55,050 --> 01:33:57,761
Femininity is what reduced her to this.
1307
01:33:57,928 --> 01:34:01,056
She's not like any normal beggar.
1308
01:34:01,223 --> 01:34:04,601
You must somehow express that
1309
01:34:04,726 --> 01:34:06,979
with your body.
1310
01:34:07,604 --> 01:34:13,193
You must express something
out of the ordinary...
1311
01:34:14,027 --> 01:34:20,117
vent your unspeakable hatred
toward those around you."
1312
01:34:20,325 --> 01:34:22,244
AT THE GRAVE OF SAIKAKU IHARA...
1313
01:34:22,369 --> 01:34:24,288
AUTHOR OF SOURCE NOVEL
FOR OHARU
1314
01:34:24,413 --> 01:34:27,541
When I mentioned the wound
on his back, he said,
1315
01:34:27,666 --> 01:34:30,961
"You can't understand women
until you've been stabbed by one.'
1316
01:34:31,086 --> 01:34:34,673
His words sounded pretentious,
but they took my breath away.
1317
01:34:34,840 --> 01:34:37,134
Without having had
that experience,
1318
01:34:37,301 --> 01:34:40,470
he could never have expressed,
through Oharu's life,
1319
01:34:40,637 --> 01:34:45,350
the struggle
between men and women.
1320
01:34:45,517 --> 01:34:47,853
It came from that experience.
1321
01:34:48,020 --> 01:34:51,899
He'd eat or drink anything
if someone said it was good,
1322
01:34:52,024 --> 01:34:54,276
so he often got diarrhea.
1323
01:34:54,401 --> 01:35:00,324
On location you could see
by his walk that he needed to go.
1324
01:35:00,490 --> 01:35:03,160
"Sensei, do you need to...?'
I asked one day.
1325
01:35:03,285 --> 01:35:05,162
"Yes, come here,' he replied.
1326
01:35:05,287 --> 01:35:07,664
"See that house?
It's the Okuda residence.
1327
01:35:07,789 --> 01:35:11,293
Go and ask
if I may use their bathroom.'
1328
01:35:11,460 --> 01:35:15,047
So I went and told them
I was Mizoguchi's assistant.
1329
01:35:15,422 --> 01:35:19,426
"Mizoguchi who?' they said.
But they let him use it anyway.
1330
01:35:19,593 --> 01:35:24,848
He sheepishly entered the house.
Later he asked me to thank them.
1331
01:35:25,015 --> 01:35:29,061
He was very shy and timid
in private life,
1332
01:35:29,228 --> 01:35:31,730
but once he was on the set,
1333
01:35:31,855 --> 01:35:35,651
he insisted on having his own way,
despite all opposition.
1334
01:35:35,776 --> 01:35:39,238
He could be merciless that way.
1335
01:35:39,404 --> 01:35:45,744
There's a scene where Oharu runs off
with a clerk, played by Ko Oizumi.
1336
01:35:45,911 --> 01:35:50,165
It takes place in Kuwana,
but we couldn't get the right seaside feel
1337
01:35:50,332 --> 01:35:52,334
in the location
where we were shooting,
1338
01:35:52,501 --> 01:35:55,254
so we decided to build a set.
1339
01:35:55,379 --> 01:35:59,758
There's a rice-cake dealer on the road
between Osaka and Kyoto.
1340
01:35:59,925 --> 01:36:04,096
Next to that is
a road 40 feet wide...
1341
01:36:04,596 --> 01:36:06,765
and beyond that
a long embankment,
1342
01:36:06,932 --> 01:36:11,270
and beyond that a tributary
of the Yodo River, although it was dry.
1343
01:36:11,436 --> 01:36:13,897
The sail of a ship
is supposed to appear
1344
01:36:14,064 --> 01:36:17,609
in that scene
to add to the atmosphere.
1345
01:36:17,776 --> 01:36:23,657
In the foreground we built a set.
1346
01:36:23,824 --> 01:36:27,160
The problem was
the area had a lot of traffic.
1347
01:36:27,327 --> 01:36:31,790
Yet Mizoguchi still insisted
on shooting there.
1348
01:36:31,957 --> 01:36:34,418
So now there were
two location sets.
1349
01:36:34,543 --> 01:36:37,796
The Osaka police
only consented on the condition
1350
01:36:37,963 --> 01:36:43,218
that it be built at night
1351
01:36:43,552 --> 01:36:46,430
and taken down the next morning,
1352
01:36:46,596 --> 01:36:50,600
by 9:00 or 10:00 at the latest.
1353
01:36:50,767 --> 01:36:54,813
It was February.
Imagine working all night in that cold!
1354
01:36:54,938 --> 01:36:58,984
Sixty or 70 carpenters
built the set that night.
1355
01:36:59,151 --> 01:37:03,322
We were shooting the scene
in which Oharu and the clerk
1356
01:37:03,488 --> 01:37:06,867
are captured as they're eating
in a teahouse.
1357
01:37:07,034 --> 01:37:09,328
It should have been very simple.
1358
01:37:09,494 --> 01:37:13,290
After rehearsing it several times,
Mizoguchi called me over.
1359
01:37:13,457 --> 01:37:19,963
"This won't do.
The set's not properly aligned.
1360
01:37:20,130 --> 01:37:22,174
Move the left side
six feet forward."
1361
01:37:22,341 --> 01:37:25,177
I said, "Sensei,
that's impossible at this point.
1362
01:37:25,844 --> 01:37:29,473
But Mizutani agreed with him.
1363
01:37:29,639 --> 01:37:33,143
We went back to the police
for permission for a second day.
1364
01:37:33,310 --> 01:37:38,815
Once we calmed the carpenters down,
they rebuilt the set as requested.
1365
01:37:38,982 --> 01:37:42,652
We got up at 5:00,
thinking we'd begin at 7:00.
1366
01:37:42,819 --> 01:37:45,530
We started setting up lighting.
1367
01:37:45,697 --> 01:37:50,452
As we were about to start shooting,
he called me over.
1368
01:37:50,619 --> 01:37:54,623
"You know what?
It doesn't look right.'
1369
01:37:54,790 --> 01:37:57,876
He said to move
the right side back six feet,
1370
01:37:58,043 --> 01:38:01,630
because it didn't have
the right dramatic atmosphere.
1371
01:38:01,797 --> 01:38:05,467
In those cases, he'd call over
his closest collaborators --
1372
01:38:05,634 --> 01:38:11,181
Mizutani, Arai and me --
and the discussion would begin,
1373
01:38:11,348 --> 01:38:14,393
right in front of the actors.
1374
01:38:15,018 --> 01:38:18,271
We didn't have
these arguments in private.
1375
01:38:18,438 --> 01:38:21,942
It was like a performance,
right in front of everybody.
1376
01:38:22,109 --> 01:38:24,403
But now I understand:
1377
01:38:24,569 --> 01:38:27,739
He was being like the manager
of a baseball team.
1378
01:38:27,906 --> 01:38:29,950
The quarrels created
a creative tension.
1379
01:38:37,499 --> 01:38:40,877
He never left us alone.
TADAOTO KAINOSHO -- PAINTER
1380
01:38:41,044 --> 01:38:42,921
I'd go home for the day,
1381
01:38:43,588 --> 01:38:46,383
and then Id get
a call from him saying...
1382
01:38:46,550 --> 01:38:49,761
"Please come right away.
III send a car.'
1383
01:38:49,928 --> 01:38:54,391
"No need. I'm on my way," I'd say.
This happened all the time.
1384
01:38:54,516 --> 01:38:57,227
You were a dresser
for the actresses, right?
1385
01:38:57,394 --> 01:39:03,275
Yes, I dressed most
of the actresses in his films.
1386
01:39:03,442 --> 01:39:07,112
The costumes were made
according to my designs.
1387
01:39:07,279 --> 01:39:12,576
I think it changed the way
women wore kimonos in films.
1388
01:39:13,702 --> 01:39:17,956
UGETSU (1953)
1389
01:39:19,040 --> 01:39:21,543
Mizoguchi had absolutely no intention
1390
01:39:21,710 --> 01:39:25,297
of making an antiwar film.
1391
01:39:25,755 --> 01:39:28,258
But somehow that theme
1392
01:39:28,425 --> 01:39:33,221
became the dominant one.
1393
01:39:35,140 --> 01:39:37,267
- How war victimizes women.
- Right.
1394
01:39:37,434 --> 01:39:45,066
He originally wanted
to depict the peculiar flavor...
1395
01:39:46,401 --> 01:39:50,947
of Akinari Uedas
Tales of Moonlight and Rain,
1396
01:39:51,114 --> 01:39:53,325
that purity and translucence.
1397
01:39:55,327 --> 01:40:01,583
The finest silk of choicest hue
1398
01:40:02,459 --> 01:40:13,845
May change and fade away
1399
01:40:17,307 --> 01:40:19,017
No!
1400
01:40:19,309 --> 01:40:21,102
You may not return.
1401
01:40:31,446 --> 01:40:34,533
Come with me
to my native land.
1402
01:40:38,453 --> 01:40:39,538
Quickly.
1403
01:40:45,877 --> 01:40:51,883
You played
the enchantress in Ugetsu.
1404
01:40:53,009 --> 01:40:56,221
He gave me a small part in 1944
MACHIKO KYO -- ACTRESS
1405
01:40:56,388 --> 01:40:58,598
in The Three Danjuros.
1406
01:40:58,765 --> 01:41:01,226
I was still part
of an operetta troupe then.
1407
01:41:01,393 --> 01:41:04,980
When I worked on Ugetsu
much later,
1408
01:41:05,105 --> 01:41:09,693
it was only
our second collaboration.
1409
01:41:11,361 --> 01:41:17,784
I didn't consider it such a strain.
1410
01:41:17,951 --> 01:41:23,498
He wasn't intimidating.
He just expected your very best.
1411
01:41:24,541 --> 01:41:27,043
You often worked with Masayuki Mori?
1412
01:41:27,168 --> 01:41:31,381
- Quite often, yes.
- You made a good pair?
1413
01:41:31,548 --> 01:41:35,927
I can't really say,
but when I saw the rushes,
1414
01:41:36,094 --> 01:41:40,432
I thought he was fantastic,
just as Tanaka and Mitsuko Mito were.
1415
01:41:40,599 --> 01:41:43,852
I found my own performance
childish in comparison.
1416
01:41:44,019 --> 01:41:46,646
There's a scene
where Mori returns home
1417
01:41:46,771 --> 01:41:49,441
after my character has died.
1418
01:41:50,108 --> 01:41:52,861
I'm a ghost in that scene,
1419
01:41:53,028 --> 01:41:56,865
yet the meeting with my husband
had to seem real.
1420
01:41:57,490 --> 01:42:00,201
Goodness, was that difficult!
1421
01:42:00,368 --> 01:42:03,747
Mori was a great actor.
1422
01:42:04,497 --> 01:42:09,836
I was filled
with both fear and anticipation
1423
01:42:10,003 --> 01:42:15,300
for many days leading up
to shooting that scene.
1424
01:42:15,634 --> 01:42:19,804
That day we rehearsed
a number of times
1425
01:42:19,971 --> 01:42:22,265
and then finally began shooting.
1426
01:42:22,599 --> 01:42:24,559
The second we finished --
1427
01:42:24,726 --> 01:42:28,605
I should point out first
that Mori seldom smoked.
1428
01:42:28,772 --> 01:42:33,818
When you worked with Mizoguchi,
1429
01:42:34,069 --> 01:42:36,988
you had to keep up
a certain tension
1430
01:42:37,364 --> 01:42:41,743
and maintain
the continuity of your character,
1431
01:42:41,910 --> 01:42:47,666
so nobody really had time to smoke.
1432
01:42:47,874 --> 01:42:51,169
But the second
we finished shooting that scene,
1433
01:42:51,336 --> 01:42:54,839
Mori started asking around
for a cigarette.
1434
01:42:55,006 --> 01:42:57,467
Somebody gave him one.
1435
01:42:57,967 --> 01:43:04,015
Realizing it was over,
I felt faint with exhaustion.
1436
01:43:05,058 --> 01:43:11,064
I stood in a daze for a while and then
realized Mori didn't have a match.
1437
01:43:11,189 --> 01:43:16,528
He seemed to be searching for one.
1438
01:43:17,028 --> 01:43:20,323
Mizoguchi suddenly appeared,
1439
01:43:20,490 --> 01:43:25,036
holding out his lighter, already lit.
1440
01:43:26,079 --> 01:43:29,374
In over 10 years of working together,
1441
01:43:29,541 --> 01:43:33,086
I'd never seen him light
an actors cigarette,
1442
01:43:33,253 --> 01:43:36,923
especially if filming for the scene
might not yet be over.
1443
01:43:37,048 --> 01:43:39,884
It simply never happened.
1444
01:43:40,051 --> 01:43:42,220
And he hated smoking on the set.
1445
01:43:42,387 --> 01:43:46,891
The look on Mizoguchi's face
as he lit Mori's cigarette
1446
01:43:47,058 --> 01:43:50,562
was one of supreme contentment.
1447
01:43:50,729 --> 01:43:53,732
I'd never seen him look that way before.
1448
01:43:53,898 --> 01:43:55,692
Perhaps I exaggerate,
1449
01:43:55,859 --> 01:43:59,863
but it was the first time I saw him
practically bow down before an actor.
1450
01:44:01,072 --> 01:44:04,909
I’m not sure how to put it.
KAZUO MIYAGAWA -- CAMERAMAN
1451
01:44:06,911 --> 01:44:09,372
It seemed as if his edginess
1452
01:44:09,581 --> 01:44:12,542
and intractability
1453
01:44:12,709 --> 01:44:15,962
had somehow been
softened by age.
1454
01:44:16,129 --> 01:44:19,883
I feel I met him at a time
when he was profoundly gentle.
1455
01:44:20,175 --> 01:44:26,014
For him a film was like
a picture scroll,
1456
01:44:26,473 --> 01:44:29,976
with successive images
1457
01:44:30,143 --> 01:44:35,607
moving steadily forward,
never turning back.
1458
01:44:35,774 --> 01:44:38,860
You follow the story
all the way to end.
1459
01:44:39,027 --> 01:44:41,946
Some parts are intense and exciting,
some are touching,
1460
01:44:42,113 --> 01:44:46,743
and there are parts
you should just skim through.
1461
01:44:46,868 --> 01:44:50,163
He said, "I want my films
to be like picture scrolls.'
1462
01:44:53,917 --> 01:45:00,131
All are asleep
1463
01:45:00,632 --> 01:45:03,760
Slumped over the rudder
1464
01:45:03,885 --> 01:45:05,970
EITARO OZAWA -- MASAYUKI MORI
1465
01:45:06,137 --> 01:45:09,140
The fog is thick. Be careful.
1466
01:45:11,476 --> 01:45:15,605
Genichi, this is the lake.
Isn't it pretty?
1467
01:45:17,106 --> 01:45:19,442
We're finally out of danger.
1468
01:45:20,568 --> 01:45:22,278
It's good we went by boat.
1469
01:45:22,445 --> 01:45:26,950
The assistant directors,
including Tokuzo Tanaka,
1470
01:45:27,075 --> 01:45:30,995
were stripped down, hiding behind
the boat in the chilly water,
1471
01:45:31,162 --> 01:45:34,040
pushing it along.
1472
01:45:34,207 --> 01:45:36,334
Boy, did they work hard.
1473
01:45:36,501 --> 01:45:39,546
- The camera was on a crane?
- Yes, for the whole scene.
1474
01:45:39,671 --> 01:45:45,677
He wanted a subdued effect
with very little contrast,
1475
01:45:45,844 --> 01:45:50,014
like in the southern school
of Chinese painting,
1476
01:45:50,181 --> 01:45:53,142
with the delicate grays
of diluted ink.
1477
01:45:53,309 --> 01:45:56,187
It was difficult,
and we didn't entirely achieve it.
1478
01:45:56,312 --> 01:46:00,650
When we printed the negative,
1479
01:46:00,817 --> 01:46:04,195
it came out flat.
1480
01:46:04,529 --> 01:46:07,740
We couldn't get a deep, warm gray.
1481
01:46:07,907 --> 01:46:13,329
The negative had to be overdeveloped
by one or two points.
1482
01:46:13,496 --> 01:46:16,624
I'm talking about monochrome film,
of course.
1483
01:46:16,791 --> 01:46:20,879
I knew this from experience.
1484
01:46:21,045 --> 01:46:24,924
The shooting had to be in low light
1485
01:46:25,091 --> 01:46:29,554
and as close as possible to sunset.
1486
01:46:29,721 --> 01:46:35,059
His system was to let us
rehearse by ourselves.
1487
01:46:35,226 --> 01:46:38,187
"Study your roles!" he'd say,
1488
01:46:38,354 --> 01:46:41,858
and then he'd run off somewhere.
1489
01:46:41,983 --> 01:46:45,194
So Mori, Tanaka, and I rehearsed.
EITARO OZAWA -- ACTOR
1490
01:46:45,570 --> 01:46:50,241
Miyagawa, the cameraman,
also rehearsed with us.
1491
01:46:50,408 --> 01:46:54,245
But camera angles weren't set
before the shoot,
1492
01:46:54,412 --> 01:46:59,709
so we had to be ready
for anything during shooting.
1493
01:46:59,876 --> 01:47:02,629
Some actors can't achieve
1494
01:47:02,795 --> 01:47:07,091
the required rhythm
for that kind of filmmaking,
1495
01:47:07,258 --> 01:47:10,595
no matter how talented
they may otherwise be.
1496
01:47:10,762 --> 01:47:15,808
Either they have it or they don't.
If they do, they can do it right away.
1497
01:47:15,975 --> 01:47:19,228
It isn't a question of talent,
1498
01:47:19,395 --> 01:47:22,273
but rather of different actors'
peculiarities.
1499
01:47:22,440 --> 01:47:27,946
Harmonizing the actors
various rhythms is the director's task.
1500
01:47:28,112 --> 01:47:30,949
I would say
Mizoguchi's signature films are
1501
01:47:31,115 --> 01:47:33,284
The Life of Oharu,
1502
01:47:33,451 --> 01:47:36,079
A Woman of Osaka,
1503
01:47:36,245 --> 01:47:39,666
and Osaka Elegy.
1504
01:47:39,832 --> 01:47:43,002
Those are the three I would cite.
1505
01:47:43,169 --> 01:47:48,132
Films such as
A Story from Chikamatsu and Ugetsu
1506
01:47:48,299 --> 01:47:53,137
are just somehow too refined,
1507
01:47:53,388 --> 01:47:56,265
it seems to me.
1508
01:47:57,433 --> 01:48:01,270
A GEISHA (1953)
1509
01:48:01,562 --> 01:48:05,358
I'd only been an actress
for two or three months.
1510
01:48:05,483 --> 01:48:08,736
AYAKO WAKAO -- ACTRESS
1511
01:48:09,112 --> 01:48:13,658
People told me I was lucky to play
a lead in a Mizoguchi film.
1512
01:48:13,783 --> 01:48:15,952
Fortunately, I knew so little then
1513
01:48:16,077 --> 01:48:19,038
that the immensity of that fact
didn't scare me.
1514
01:48:19,497 --> 01:48:21,207
I guess he wasn't
too demanding with me
1515
01:48:21,332 --> 01:48:24,168
CHIEKO NANIWA
because he knew
I was so inexperienced.
1516
01:48:24,335 --> 01:48:26,546
Wakao's performance was great.
1517
01:48:26,713 --> 01:48:31,175
Chieko Naniwa was also in the cast.
They were always together.
1518
01:48:31,342 --> 01:48:35,805
It seems Mizoguchi worked best
when exerting himself
1519
01:48:35,972 --> 01:48:39,767
at 70-80% of his capacity,
1520
01:48:40,018 --> 01:48:43,688
the way a pitcher throws best
when he's not tense.
1521
01:48:43,855 --> 01:48:47,233
I think that's the case here.
It's a wonderful film.
1522
01:48:47,400 --> 01:48:50,278
I still remember every take.
1523
01:48:51,320 --> 01:48:54,282
SANSHO THE BAILIFF (1954)
1524
01:48:54,449 --> 01:48:57,368
I was his drinking buddy.
1525
01:48:57,535 --> 01:49:00,538
Well, there was more
to it than that.
1526
01:49:02,290 --> 01:49:06,127
We liked to talk about writers
like Akinari Ueda
1527
01:49:06,294 --> 01:49:08,713
and Ogai Mori.
1528
01:49:09,005 --> 01:49:11,632
I'd invite my friend
and mentor Yoshii,
1529
01:49:11,799 --> 01:49:17,847
and the three of us would have lively
conversations over food and drink.
1530
01:49:21,684 --> 01:49:26,355
Mizoguchi seemed
to think highly of you,
1531
01:49:26,522 --> 01:49:30,401
depending on you
for a lot of things.
1532
01:49:31,069 --> 01:49:35,865
Actually, I think
he felt ill at ease around me.
1533
01:49:39,285 --> 01:49:43,706
My interest was period dramas while
his was more contemporary stories,
1534
01:49:43,873 --> 01:49:46,292
so there was a mismatch.
1535
01:49:46,959 --> 01:49:51,506
Was the idea for
Sansho the Bailiff yours?
1536
01:49:51,672 --> 01:49:57,929
Yes, in truth. He didn't know
much about Ogai Mori.
1537
01:49:58,096 --> 01:50:01,933
THE CRUCIFIED WOMAN (1954)
1538
01:50:03,059 --> 01:50:06,938
A STORY FROM CHIKAMA TSU (1954)
1539
01:50:08,940 --> 01:50:10,483
Please!
1540
01:50:10,775 --> 01:50:12,777
Please return home!
1541
01:50:13,486 --> 01:50:18,324
Do you think
I could live without you?
1542
01:50:20,284 --> 01:50:23,037
You're no longer a servant.
1543
01:50:24,163 --> 01:50:27,458
You're my husband!
1544
01:50:31,754 --> 01:50:35,383
Forgive me!
1545
01:50:36,634 --> 01:50:40,471
I'll never leave you!
1546
01:50:44,809 --> 01:50:48,104
You come across
KYOKO KAGAWA -- ACTRESS
1547
01:50:48,229 --> 01:50:50,982
as very innocent and pure
in that role.
1548
01:50:51,149 --> 01:50:56,904
It was the first time in my life --
in my career, that is --
1549
01:50:57,071 --> 01:50:59,740
that I played a married woman,
1550
01:51:00,408 --> 01:51:03,828
and the first time I had to perform
1551
01:51:04,162 --> 01:51:07,665
in Kyoto dialect.
1552
01:51:08,124 --> 01:51:12,753
I'd also never walked
in a kimono with a train.
1553
01:51:13,171 --> 01:51:16,507
It was all new to me.
1554
01:51:16,674 --> 01:51:20,511
He put me in the care
of the actress Chieko Naniwa,
1555
01:51:20,678 --> 01:51:23,764
who sadly is no longer with us.
1556
01:51:23,931 --> 01:51:28,060
She'd just finished building her new inn,
1557
01:51:28,227 --> 01:51:30,396
but it hadn't opened yet.
1558
01:51:30,646 --> 01:51:33,524
I begged her to teach me everything.
1559
01:51:33,691 --> 01:51:38,196
I moved into her inn and taped her
reading my lines in Kyoto dialect.
1560
01:51:38,362 --> 01:51:43,492
I borrowed the costume
and learned how to carry the train.
1561
01:51:43,659 --> 01:51:47,121
Naniwa taught me everything tirelessly.
1562
01:51:47,288 --> 01:51:52,043
As you know,
Mizoguchi didn't give any advice.
1563
01:51:52,210 --> 01:51:56,297
He'd just say, "Okay, start moving.'
1564
01:51:56,631 --> 01:51:59,091
I had no idea what to do.
1565
01:51:59,258 --> 01:52:01,969
I felt quite helpless.
1566
01:52:02,386 --> 01:52:06,015
I just did as he told me,
1567
01:52:06,140 --> 01:52:08,226
like a puppet.
1568
01:52:08,351 --> 01:52:12,563
Never in my life have I worked so hard
1569
01:52:12,730 --> 01:52:18,402
or with such complete
absorption in my work.
1570
01:52:27,536 --> 01:52:30,748
KAZUO HASEGAWA
1571
01:52:31,457 --> 01:52:34,043
Osan, are you ready?
1572
01:52:54,397 --> 01:52:56,357
It's because of me...
1573
01:52:57,942 --> 01:53:01,404
that you must now take your life.
1574
01:53:02,280 --> 01:53:03,906
Please forgive me.
1575
01:53:04,073 --> 01:53:06,117
What are you saying?
1576
01:53:07,368 --> 01:53:12,039
I'm happy to die with you.
1577
01:53:17,211 --> 01:53:19,171
Death is near...
1578
01:53:20,172 --> 01:53:23,134
so the gods will forgive
what I have to say.
1579
01:53:24,593 --> 01:53:29,557
I must confess this
lest my spirit cling to this world.
1580
01:53:32,310 --> 01:53:34,145
I have --
1581
01:53:35,521 --> 01:53:37,398
I have always...
1582
01:53:39,150 --> 01:53:42,320
loved you!
1583
01:53:43,404 --> 01:53:45,031
Loved me?
1584
01:53:52,330 --> 01:53:56,125
Hold me tight.
1585
01:54:01,422 --> 01:54:05,968
KATATA ON LAKE BIWA
KENICHI OKAMOTO
1586
01:54:07,011 --> 01:54:10,222
That scene in which they drown
was extremely difficult.
1587
01:54:10,348 --> 01:54:14,185
We had to set up scaffolding
for the camera in the water
1588
01:54:14,310 --> 01:54:16,854
and shoot it in one take.
1589
01:54:17,480 --> 01:54:20,316
One long take.
1590
01:54:20,441 --> 01:54:23,569
Around sunset, right?
How much lighting did you use?
1591
01:54:23,694 --> 01:54:27,365
I think about
50 kilowatts altogether.
1592
01:54:27,531 --> 01:54:30,868
Mizoguchi entrusted the images
to the cameramen and lighting crew.
1593
01:54:31,035 --> 01:54:32,953
That's right.
1594
01:54:33,079 --> 01:54:37,041
He never said
anything about lighting.
1595
01:54:37,208 --> 01:54:38,667
He didn't?
1596
01:54:38,876 --> 01:54:45,216
So the cameraman, Miyagawa, and I
thought it through ourselves.
1597
01:54:46,342 --> 01:54:50,930
In A Story from Chikamatsu
YOSHIKAZU HAYASHI --
UKIYO-E SPECIALIST
1598
01:54:51,097 --> 01:54:54,475
he based the love scenes
on shunga erotic prints, right?
1599
01:54:54,600 --> 01:54:57,019
Did he borrow the prints from you?
1600
01:54:57,144 --> 01:55:02,483
No, it wasn't a matter
of borrowing or lending.
1601
01:55:02,650 --> 01:55:08,280
I don't recall when we started
discussing such matters...
1602
01:55:09,949 --> 01:55:15,955
but he didn't have research material
on the erotic life of that period.
1603
01:55:17,456 --> 01:55:19,875
He wanted historical authenticity,
1604
01:55:20,042 --> 01:55:24,755
so he asked me to gather
prints for him to study.
1605
01:55:24,922 --> 01:55:29,260
This was mainly for
Legend of the Taira Clan
1606
01:55:29,427 --> 01:55:31,595
and A Story from Chikamatsu.
1607
01:55:31,971 --> 01:55:34,932
Mainly for those two films.
1608
01:55:36,434 --> 01:55:39,645
When I came across the 15th century
Brushwood Fence erotic scroll,
1609
01:55:39,770 --> 01:55:44,316
as well as erotic picture books
from the late I 7th century,
1610
01:55:44,442 --> 01:55:49,947
I took them all to him.
1611
01:55:50,990 --> 01:55:54,785
It seems he took inspiration
from that material
1612
01:55:54,952 --> 01:55:57,121
for the boat scene in Chikamatsu.
1613
01:55:57,288 --> 01:55:59,832
Yes, and also --
1614
01:56:00,249 --> 01:56:02,668
The scene in the mountains?
1615
01:56:06,464 --> 01:56:11,469
The scene where she enters
his bedroom by mistake.
1616
01:56:12,553 --> 01:56:15,473
THE PRINCESS YANG KWEI-FEI
(1955)
1617
01:56:15,639 --> 01:56:18,434
When we arrived on the set,
1618
01:56:18,559 --> 01:56:22,104
he'd have our lines
all written out on a blackboard.
1619
01:56:22,229 --> 01:56:25,483
He'd stand there
studying the lines he'd written,
1620
01:56:25,608 --> 01:56:28,569
saying, "This line is no good,'
1621
01:56:28,736 --> 01:56:33,073
or "The feeling isn't right here.'
Then he'd revise them.
1622
01:56:33,240 --> 01:56:39,121
"Miss Kyo, you'll ruin the scene
reading your line like that!"
1623
01:56:39,246 --> 01:56:42,833
He said things like that to me,
his face turning beet-red.
1624
01:56:43,000 --> 01:56:47,880
I was paralyzed.
1625
01:56:48,047 --> 01:56:53,677
I couldn't make the slightest gesture
without thinking about it.
1626
01:56:54,011 --> 01:56:56,847
He was like that every day,
1627
01:56:57,014 --> 01:56:59,934
take after take.
1628
01:57:00,559 --> 01:57:03,229
I was a nervous wreck.
1629
01:57:03,521 --> 01:57:07,775
I swore I'd never work with him again!
1630
01:57:07,983 --> 01:57:11,111
Shooting the last scene of
The Woman in the Rumor,
1631
01:57:11,237 --> 01:57:13,989
he saw a water barrel
out of position.
1632
01:57:14,114 --> 01:57:17,743
He climbed off the camera crane
to push it out of the way
1633
01:57:17,868 --> 01:57:19,912
and threw out his back.
1634
01:57:20,037 --> 01:57:23,040
- He strained it?
- That's right.
1635
01:57:23,207 --> 01:57:26,794
It may have been a slipped disk.
1636
01:57:27,086 --> 01:57:30,714
He had to wear a body cast
for quite some time.
1637
01:57:30,839 --> 01:57:32,967
After shooting Yang Kwei-Fei,
1638
01:57:33,133 --> 01:57:37,555
he went to the U.S.,
and he was wearing a cast then too.
1639
01:57:37,680 --> 01:57:41,600
When the cast came off,
he felt better.
1640
01:57:41,892 --> 01:57:44,270
Did he have a nurse?
1641
01:57:44,436 --> 01:57:48,774
Well, she was more
of a housekeeper
1642
01:57:48,941 --> 01:57:51,151
than a nurse,
1643
01:57:51,318 --> 01:57:53,529
since he lived alone.
1644
01:57:53,696 --> 01:57:58,325
He rented the guest house
of an eel restaurant
1645
01:57:58,492 --> 01:58:02,329
near Daiei's Tokyo studios
in Tamagawa.
1646
01:58:02,580 --> 01:58:06,834
The restaurant made all his meals.
1647
01:58:07,001 --> 01:58:10,462
He'd just had his cast removed
1648
01:58:10,588 --> 01:58:13,632
and was still quite weak,
1649
01:58:13,882 --> 01:58:17,886
so the owner of the restaurant
1650
01:58:18,012 --> 01:58:20,931
found the housekeeper for him.
1651
01:58:21,890 --> 01:58:27,396
She was a plump woman of around 30.
1652
01:58:28,814 --> 01:58:31,525
Was he intimate with her?
1653
01:58:31,692 --> 01:58:34,278
I believe so.
1654
01:58:34,403 --> 01:58:37,573
So many rehearsals must
have made your life difficult.
1655
01:58:37,740 --> 01:58:43,120
Yes. I once stumbled
during an actual take...
1656
01:58:43,871 --> 01:58:49,209
yet he kept the camera rolling
and said it was okay.
1657
01:58:52,796 --> 01:58:57,968
During the take I realized
Id stumbled a bit
1658
01:58:58,135 --> 01:59:00,971
while climbing the stairs.
1659
01:59:01,138 --> 01:59:07,478
But he said the take was fine,
which I thought was very strange.
1660
01:59:08,937 --> 01:59:15,027
It later came to light that he
no longer wanted me in the role.
1661
01:59:15,194 --> 01:59:18,238
I didn't want to be a burden,
1662
01:59:18,405 --> 01:59:22,284
so I took the initiative
and asked to be dismissed.
1663
01:59:22,409 --> 01:59:25,829
I was working
on another film at the time,
1664
01:59:25,996 --> 01:59:29,875
but I went to Mizoguchi to protest.
1665
01:59:30,334 --> 01:59:36,090
Sacking an actress is
a death blow to her career.
1666
01:59:36,256 --> 01:59:41,428
"How can you be so heartless?'
I asked him. I was so angry.
1667
01:59:41,595 --> 01:59:45,349
He didn't mean any harm, I'm sure.
1668
01:59:45,516 --> 01:59:47,184
Perhaps not.
1669
01:59:47,351 --> 01:59:49,228
You two were close, so perhaps --
1670
01:59:49,395 --> 01:59:51,689
I suppose so.
1671
01:59:51,814 --> 01:59:55,776
There may have been
mitigating circumstances.
1672
01:59:55,901 --> 02:00:01,865
I'd never heard of such a thing.
1673
02:00:02,032 --> 02:00:06,245
I told him,
"An actress's life is at stake.
1674
02:00:06,537 --> 02:00:09,498
What will happen to her?'
1675
02:00:09,665 --> 02:00:11,875
He replied...
1676
02:00:12,084 --> 02:00:15,754
"I have another part for her:
the empress's sister.
1677
02:00:15,921 --> 02:00:19,049
The problem is that Nagata --'
the studio head --
1678
02:00:19,216 --> 02:00:22,553
"before leaving
on a business trip to America,
1679
02:00:22,720 --> 02:00:26,724
said that shooting
had to start by the 28th.
1680
02:00:27,558 --> 02:00:30,227
We have to start by the 28th.'
1681
02:00:32,479 --> 02:00:37,276
I thought things
would go more smoothly
1682
02:00:37,443 --> 02:00:41,572
if I just asked to be let go myself.
1683
02:00:41,739 --> 02:00:45,200
She was the second actress
he replaced on Yang Kwei-Fei.
1684
02:00:45,367 --> 02:00:50,164
She was crying
in the middle of an enormous set.
1685
02:00:50,330 --> 02:00:54,418
His sets were always huge,
and she sat there all alone.
1686
02:00:54,585 --> 02:00:56,712
I went to her and said...
1687
02:00:56,879 --> 02:00:59,923
"Looking at it objectively, Miss Irie,
you used to be his boss,
1688
02:01:00,090 --> 02:01:02,676
back when he worked
at Irie Productions.
1689
02:01:02,843 --> 02:01:05,179
You hired him as a director.
1690
02:01:05,345 --> 02:01:09,850
He was essentially your employee.
1691
02:01:10,017 --> 02:01:13,645
Why don't you go
have a word with him?
1692
02:01:13,812 --> 02:01:17,149
By crying like this,
you've already given up.
1693
02:01:17,316 --> 02:01:20,527
Buck up your spirit
1694
02:01:20,694 --> 02:01:23,280
and go talk to him."
1695
02:01:23,447 --> 02:01:28,786
Mizoguchi had told her,
right in front of all of us...
1696
02:01:28,952 --> 02:01:33,499
"Miss Irie, you're acting like a cat.
That's not what I call acting.'
1697
02:01:33,665 --> 02:01:38,045
You see, she'd been in Kyoto
1698
02:01:38,212 --> 02:01:40,422
playing a ghost cat
1699
02:01:40,547 --> 02:01:42,883
in a series of horror films for Daiei.
1700
02:01:43,050 --> 02:01:45,969
Yang Kwei-Fei came after that.
1701
02:01:46,136 --> 02:01:48,680
He worked very much
in the realist mold.
1702
02:01:49,848 --> 02:01:55,062
He could only depict the world
YASUZO MASUMURA -- DIRECTOR
1703
02:01:56,063 --> 02:01:58,732
and people and society he knew.
1704
02:01:58,899 --> 02:02:01,151
Anything else left him baffled.
1705
02:02:01,318 --> 02:02:05,322
He was especially at sea
with Yang Kwei-Fei...
1706
02:02:08,283 --> 02:02:11,036
and The 47 Ronin.
1707
02:02:11,203 --> 02:02:15,666
Of the two, he understood the Edo-period
samurai of Ronin a bit better.
1708
02:02:15,833 --> 02:02:19,878
Yang Kwei-Fei is about upper-class
society in Tang-dynasty China.
1709
02:02:20,045 --> 02:02:25,008
He knew nothing of that time or milieu,
so that gave him the most trouble.
1710
02:02:25,634 --> 02:02:28,053
He didn't even know
where to begin.
1711
02:02:30,722 --> 02:02:34,810
But as a "great master,' he couldn't
make his bewilderment visible,
1712
02:02:34,977 --> 02:02:40,065
so he hid it by rebuilding the set
and firing the lead actress.
1713
02:02:40,440 --> 02:02:43,944
Meanwhile, he searched frantically
for some point of entry
1714
02:02:44,111 --> 02:02:47,239
through which he could
connect with the story.
1715
02:02:47,781 --> 02:02:50,075
As his assistant,
1716
02:02:50,242 --> 02:02:54,496
I can state that he did no work
for the first two weeks.
1717
02:02:55,080 --> 02:03:00,335
Faced with a story that didn't suit him,
he was candid about being at a loss
1718
02:03:00,502 --> 02:03:04,423
and made no bones
about acting out his frustration.
1719
02:03:05,007 --> 02:03:07,634
That was very much like him.
1720
02:03:07,801 --> 02:03:11,847
Originally it was
the story of a noblewoman
1721
02:03:12,014 --> 02:03:14,057
who becomes empress.
1722
02:03:14,224 --> 02:03:17,936
Mizoguchi turned her
into a very lowly commoner
1723
02:03:18,103 --> 02:03:21,607
who encounters Emperor Xuan Zong
in the middle of the town.
1724
02:03:21,773 --> 02:03:25,986
This change allowed him
to refashion the story
1725
02:03:26,153 --> 02:03:29,781
to reflect the lives of
the Edo- and Meiji-period commoners
1726
02:03:29,907 --> 02:03:32,451
with whom he felt
such a deep connection.
1727
02:03:32,618 --> 02:03:36,997
But this felt forced,
like something tacked on.
1728
02:03:37,164 --> 02:03:39,791
Unrelated to the real heart
of the story.
1729
02:03:39,917 --> 02:03:41,960
The screenplay just didn't work.
1730
02:03:42,127 --> 02:03:45,547
The way he floundered
was truly monumental.
1731
02:03:45,714 --> 02:03:50,677
I think Irie was a minor victim
1732
02:03:51,511 --> 02:03:56,433
compared with the designers
and so on who had to deal with him.
1733
02:03:56,600 --> 02:03:58,977
Her suffering was relatively mild.
1734
02:03:59,144 --> 02:04:03,565
Did his violent nature
somehow help him?
1735
02:04:03,774 --> 02:04:08,570
His violence was that of a child.
1736
02:04:08,695 --> 02:04:12,324
He wasn't embarrassed throwing
these tantrums in front of people.
1737
02:04:12,491 --> 02:04:15,619
He pushed for what he wanted
without hesitation.
1738
02:04:15,786 --> 02:04:19,957
But that honesty and directness
is the mark of an artist.
1739
02:04:20,082 --> 02:04:22,125
He was incapable of lying.
1740
02:04:23,293 --> 02:04:26,588
Which is probably why people put up
1741
02:04:26,755 --> 02:04:29,883
with his petty grumbling.
1742
02:04:30,550 --> 02:04:33,845
People quickly understood how he was.
1743
02:04:34,513 --> 02:04:37,516
Everyone loved him...
1744
02:04:38,475 --> 02:04:42,020
which I suppose is one of the perks
of being a great director.
1745
02:04:42,187 --> 02:04:45,857
- Was he an artist?
- Yes, I think so.
1746
02:04:46,024 --> 02:04:49,569
When he was sure
about what he was doing,
1747
02:04:49,861 --> 02:04:53,532
he never complained,
not even about props and things.
1748
02:04:53,699 --> 02:04:56,493
Shooting went very smoothly.
1749
02:04:56,994 --> 02:05:00,497
But if he didn't have
a sure grip on the material,
1750
02:05:00,664 --> 02:05:04,876
he'd throw fits and cause pandemonium.
1751
02:05:05,043 --> 02:05:07,713
On location for
Legend of the Taira Clan,
1752
02:05:07,879 --> 02:05:11,842
he was completely distracted.
1753
02:05:12,009 --> 02:05:14,761
Rather than directing the actors,
1754
02:05:14,928 --> 02:05:18,015
he obsessed over onlookers
far in the distance.
1755
02:05:18,181 --> 02:05:23,353
"Somebody's peeking through that wall!'
he shouted, then ran over 200 yards
1756
02:05:23,478 --> 02:05:27,941
to give the onlooker a good scolding.
And he was in his 50s then!
1757
02:05:28,108 --> 02:05:32,029
That shows to what extent
his heart was elsewhere.
1758
02:05:32,195 --> 02:05:34,364
LEGEND OF THE TAIRA CLAN (1955)
1759
02:05:35,407 --> 02:05:38,201
STREET OF SHAME (1956)
1760
02:05:38,410 --> 02:05:42,956
I had just started out as an actress.
1761
02:05:44,207 --> 02:05:47,961
I knew nothing about acting, really,
1762
02:05:48,378 --> 02:05:52,549
and those characters' lives
were a complete mystery to me.
1763
02:05:56,053 --> 02:06:00,515
Mizoguchi kept grinding me down
1764
02:06:00,766 --> 02:06:05,687
until I almost
couldn't see the point of living.
1765
02:06:05,854 --> 02:06:08,774
He really pushed me to the edge.
1766
02:06:09,858 --> 02:06:13,820
Any performance
I managed to muster
1767
02:06:13,987 --> 02:06:16,281
was purely the result of chance.
1768
02:06:16,656 --> 02:06:19,701
They had to stop shooting
because of me.
1769
02:06:19,868 --> 02:06:23,955
The worst part
was keeping these actors,
1770
02:06:24,122 --> 02:06:28,085
all of them older and more experienced,
from doing their jobs.
1771
02:06:28,293 --> 02:06:31,004
He said my acting was so poor
1772
02:06:31,129 --> 02:06:34,341
that I couldn't even get
my face to look right.
1773
02:06:34,508 --> 02:06:36,760
Even my face was wrong!
1774
02:06:36,968 --> 02:06:41,723
He liked to have
a few cups of sake after work.
1775
02:06:41,890 --> 02:06:45,060
One day as we were eating,
he said...
1776
02:06:45,227 --> 02:06:48,271
"I don't like the taste
of sake anymore.'
1777
02:06:48,438 --> 02:06:52,234
I think he was already ill
by that point.
1778
02:06:54,236 --> 02:06:59,116
Too much drink
would send him into a frenzy.
1779
02:06:59,491 --> 02:07:03,537
When he drank,
1780
02:07:03,703 --> 02:07:07,332
he lost all sense of discrimination.
1781
02:07:07,541 --> 02:07:11,336
I think that's why it happened.
1782
02:07:11,920 --> 02:07:15,382
When it came to his love life...
1783
02:07:16,716 --> 02:07:19,052
he was most interested in women
1784
02:07:19,219 --> 02:07:24,766
who'd lived very hard lives,
at the bottom of society.
1785
02:07:24,933 --> 02:07:27,435
Those were the women
he was involved with,
1786
02:07:27,602 --> 02:07:30,355
the kind that appealed to him most.
1787
02:07:30,522 --> 02:07:31,857
I think so.
1788
02:07:32,440 --> 02:07:35,986
He invited me to dinner.
1789
02:07:36,194 --> 02:07:38,280
The four of us
had dinner together.
1790
02:07:38,446 --> 02:07:42,784
His mistress said
a lot of things
1791
02:07:42,951 --> 02:07:46,204
that offended Mizoguchi's wife.
1792
02:07:46,538 --> 02:07:48,748
Little remarks
dropped here and there.
1793
02:07:49,833 --> 02:07:53,503
Mrs. Mizoguchis behavior
made her feelings obvious.
1794
02:07:53,670 --> 02:07:59,092
It was clear she was upset,
1795
02:07:59,467 --> 02:08:01,928
and the atmosphere
became very tense.
1796
02:08:02,095 --> 02:08:03,889
That's understandable.
1797
02:08:04,055 --> 02:08:09,728
But he just kept quiet
and drank his sake.
1798
02:08:09,936 --> 02:08:12,063
- Mizoguchi?
- Yes.
1799
02:08:12,689 --> 02:08:16,026
He wasn't obtuse.
1800
02:08:16,193 --> 02:08:19,404
- Of course not.
- He felt what was happening.
1801
02:08:19,571 --> 02:08:23,575
Do you think
he created these situations
1802
02:08:23,742 --> 02:08:27,579
to spur himself on creatively?
1803
02:08:29,331 --> 02:08:32,417
On an unconscious level, yes.
1804
02:08:32,584 --> 02:08:34,920
He was remarkable in that way.
1805
02:08:35,086 --> 02:08:38,673
- Everything he did --
- Contributed to his work.
1806
02:08:38,798 --> 02:08:42,093
Whether painful or pleasant,
1807
02:08:42,260 --> 02:08:46,223
every experience
enriched his filmmaking.
1808
02:08:47,432 --> 02:08:49,059
VENICE FILM FESTIVAL 1953
1809
02:08:49,226 --> 02:08:52,520
I traveled to France
for the first time with him
1810
02:08:52,687 --> 02:08:54,022
for about a month.
1811
02:08:54,189 --> 02:08:56,608
We went to the Louvre.
1812
02:08:56,775 --> 02:09:01,446
He stopped before the Mona Lisa
1813
02:09:01,655 --> 02:09:06,201
and began to cry in front of me,
Yoda, and the rest of the group.
1814
02:09:07,619 --> 02:09:11,039
They were tears of joy.
1815
02:09:11,206 --> 02:09:15,043
He was deeply moved
to see it with his own eyes.
1816
02:09:15,210 --> 02:09:17,796
Then there was also --
1817
02:09:17,963 --> 02:09:21,466
oh, I'm such a scatterbrain --
1818
02:09:22,425 --> 02:09:23,885
van Gogh!
1819
02:09:24,052 --> 02:09:26,972
"Yoda, Tanaka, "he blurted out,
1820
02:09:27,138 --> 02:09:32,394
"learn well from his example.
1821
02:09:32,560 --> 02:09:37,232
Van Gogh drove himself insane
in the service of art.
1822
02:09:37,399 --> 02:09:42,529
To become a real artist,
one must go that far.
1823
02:09:42,696 --> 02:09:46,157
Compared to him...
1824
02:09:46,324 --> 02:09:48,576
I'm nothing."
1825
02:09:48,702 --> 02:09:52,872
Mizoguchi hung up a scroll of the saint
Nichiren and chanted prayers.
1826
02:09:53,039 --> 02:09:54,916
He really wanted that Golden Lion.
1827
02:09:55,083 --> 02:09:58,378
We were to go out,
but he was still in his room.
1828
02:09:58,503 --> 02:10:02,465
I went and knocked on his door.
1829
02:10:02,590 --> 02:10:04,801
There was no response.
1830
02:10:05,010 --> 02:10:06,803
I peeked inside.
1831
02:10:06,970 --> 02:10:10,348
I smelled incense in the air.
1832
02:10:10,515 --> 02:10:13,768
"Sensei, it's time to go.
Everyone's waiting downstairs.
1833
02:10:13,935 --> 02:10:16,771
I came up to get you."
1834
02:10:16,938 --> 02:10:21,526
He glared at me.
The look on his face was terrifying.
1835
02:10:22,485 --> 02:10:26,364
"Do you know what day this is?"
he growled.
1836
02:10:26,531 --> 02:10:30,201
"You all can prance about
without a care in the world."
1837
02:10:30,368 --> 02:10:32,829
He started spitting out
insults and curses.
1838
02:10:32,954 --> 02:10:34,998
I was stunned.
1839
02:10:35,165 --> 02:10:38,001
"If I don't win a prize, "he said,
1840
02:10:38,209 --> 02:10:40,295
"I'm not going back to Japan.
1841
02:10:40,462 --> 02:10:43,590
I'm going to stay in Italy
1842
02:10:43,798 --> 02:10:46,051
and relearn my craft from scratch.
1843
02:10:46,217 --> 02:10:49,054
I won't go back
until I've done that."
1844
02:10:49,971 --> 02:10:56,061
Although he made
many films about women,
1845
02:10:56,227 --> 02:11:01,316
they say he never had
a really great love affair.
1846
02:11:01,691 --> 02:11:04,152
That's one of those things
1847
02:11:04,319 --> 02:11:09,574
I really don't know
the truth about,
1848
02:11:09,741 --> 02:11:12,786
even to this day. Do you?
1849
02:11:12,952 --> 02:11:15,080
I believe --
1850
02:11:15,246 --> 02:11:18,583
and I was rather close to him
1851
02:11:18,750 --> 02:11:22,587
when he was alive, after all --
1852
02:11:22,754 --> 02:11:29,302
that he was in love with you.
1853
02:11:29,469 --> 02:11:32,263
You've just given me
an excellent opportunity
1854
02:11:32,430 --> 02:11:36,142
to respond to those rumors.
1855
02:11:36,810 --> 02:11:39,771
He was very serious about it.
1856
02:11:39,938 --> 02:11:42,690
Earlier you mentioned how,
1857
02:11:42,816 --> 02:11:45,443
during the filming
of A Woman of Osaka,
1858
02:11:45,610 --> 02:11:49,114
he said "Nice to meet you'
at the beginning of filming,
1859
02:11:49,280 --> 02:11:53,284
and "Thank you' at the end,
with almost nothing in between.
1860
02:11:53,410 --> 02:11:55,703
He was very bashful,
1861
02:11:55,870 --> 02:11:57,997
very self-conscious.
1862
02:11:58,164 --> 02:12:01,543
Although he may
never have confessed his feelings,
1863
02:12:01,709 --> 02:12:05,880
you were the great love
of his life.
1864
02:12:06,089 --> 02:12:08,007
There you exaggerate.
1865
02:12:08,174 --> 02:12:10,969
Everybody made too much of it.
1866
02:12:11,136 --> 02:12:14,764
No, I'm not joking.
1867
02:12:16,975 --> 02:12:20,395
In the course of working with you,
1868
02:12:20,562 --> 02:12:24,107
I believe he really came
to admire you.
1869
02:12:24,274 --> 02:12:26,943
You went to see him
in the hospital
1870
02:12:27,360 --> 02:12:31,573
just before he died, right?
1871
02:12:31,739 --> 02:12:33,491
Of course.
1872
02:12:33,783 --> 02:12:40,331
You must have known then
how much he adored you.
1873
02:12:40,498 --> 02:12:44,252
This is a good chance for me
to tell the world
1874
02:12:44,419 --> 02:12:48,506
that we were, in a sense,
married on-screen.
1875
02:12:48,673 --> 02:12:51,593
That's a kind of marriage
in its own way.
1876
02:12:51,718 --> 02:12:56,014
When I said I knew nothing
about his private life,
1877
02:12:56,181 --> 02:12:59,893
you probably thought
I was just being coy.
1878
02:13:00,059 --> 02:13:04,022
But I really knew
very little about him.
1879
02:13:04,189 --> 02:13:08,610
If he really had those feelings,
1880
02:13:08,776 --> 02:13:12,197
they were not for me,
Kinuyo Tanaka,
1881
02:13:12,363 --> 02:13:15,867
but for the characters
Oharu and Ochika.
1882
02:13:16,034 --> 02:13:19,746
That's what I think.
He wasn't in love with Kinuyo Tanaka.
1883
02:13:19,913 --> 02:13:24,542
I played roles that embodied
a certain image of women,
1884
02:13:24,709 --> 02:13:28,379
an image that he loved.
1885
02:13:28,546 --> 02:13:30,715
He was in love with them.
1886
02:13:30,882 --> 02:13:33,009
I'm very clear about that.
1887
02:13:33,176 --> 02:13:37,931
While shooting
The Life of Oharu,
1888
02:13:38,097 --> 02:13:41,184
Mizoguchi was terribly lonely.
1889
02:13:41,351 --> 02:13:43,770
He'd even ask me
to dine with him,
1890
02:13:43,895 --> 02:13:46,898
despite the fact
he didn't like to treat people.
1891
02:13:47,023 --> 02:13:49,651
He rarely invited people
out to eat.
1892
02:13:49,817 --> 02:13:53,112
But he treated me
to dinner this one time,
1893
02:13:53,279 --> 02:13:59,244
and as we ate,
he jokingly said...
1894
02:13:59,410 --> 02:14:04,541
"I'm in love with Tanaka.
What should I do?'
1895
02:14:04,707 --> 02:14:07,710
- That was the sake speaking.
- No, he wasn't drinking.
1896
02:14:07,877 --> 02:14:12,423
He told Ozu the same thing.
He told a lot of people.
1897
02:14:12,590 --> 02:14:15,426
Whenever we met...
1898
02:14:16,261 --> 02:14:19,806
Ozu loved to mention it.
1899
02:14:20,181 --> 02:14:23,059
"Oh, dear! Not again,'
Id think.
1900
02:14:23,476 --> 02:14:26,312
There was a reporter
who believed the story,
1901
02:14:26,479 --> 02:14:30,775
Kinichi Tanimura
of the Yomiuri Shinbun.
1902
02:14:31,109 --> 02:14:35,196
He called me up,
asking for an immediate interview.
1903
02:14:35,363 --> 02:14:37,448
When I asked why, he said...
1904
02:14:37,615 --> 02:14:39,909
"I heard the news
1905
02:14:40,076 --> 02:14:42,954
that you and Mizoguchi
are engaged to be married
1906
02:14:43,121 --> 02:14:46,916
and have set a date
to exchange betrothal gifts.'
1907
02:14:47,792 --> 02:14:49,794
I was astonished.
1908
02:14:49,961 --> 02:14:53,715
I was still young then.
1909
02:14:53,881 --> 02:14:58,219
At the time, I was the great hope
of Mizoguchis troupe,
1910
02:14:58,386 --> 02:15:01,222
so of course
rumors were flying about us.
1911
02:15:01,347 --> 02:15:05,268
Yet again, the real situation
had been misunderstood.
1912
02:15:05,435 --> 02:15:08,646
The reporter came to my house.
1913
02:15:08,980 --> 02:15:13,818
"When's the big day?' he asked.
1914
02:15:14,444 --> 02:15:18,906
"Not so fast,' I said.
1915
02:15:19,490 --> 02:15:22,452
I turned very serious.
1916
02:15:22,869 --> 02:15:25,705
I said the first thing
that popped into my head,
1917
02:15:25,872 --> 02:15:29,542
though the memory made me break
into a cold sweat later.
1918
02:15:29,667 --> 02:15:32,003
"I love the way he directs,
1919
02:15:32,170 --> 02:15:36,215
but he's not my ideal husband,'
I said.
1920
02:15:37,050 --> 02:15:40,053
The impertinence of youth!
- You had your reasons.
1921
02:15:40,219 --> 02:15:42,639
I can't believe I said that!
1922
02:15:42,764 --> 02:15:46,309
The reporter then called Kyoto
1923
02:15:46,726 --> 02:15:53,024
and repeated to Mizoguchi
what Id said.
1924
02:15:53,191 --> 02:15:57,236
"How do you feel
about your impending wedding,
1925
02:15:57,403 --> 02:16:00,698
knowing that Tanaka feels this way?'
he asked Mizoguchi.
1926
02:16:00,865 --> 02:16:04,369
Mizoguchi replied,
"It seems she's rejected me.'
1927
02:16:05,411 --> 02:16:07,872
Don't you think
that's how he felt?
1928
02:16:08,039 --> 02:16:11,626
My point is that
he was a gentleman about it.
1929
02:16:11,834 --> 02:16:14,170
A woman hurts a man.
1930
02:16:14,337 --> 02:16:18,383
The man in turn does nothing
to hurt the woman.
1931
02:16:18,549 --> 02:16:22,762
He could have said,
"I never proposed to her,'
1932
02:16:23,137 --> 02:16:25,556
which was, after all,
the honest truth.
1933
02:16:25,682 --> 02:16:29,435
He never even told me
he loved me.
1934
02:16:29,560 --> 02:16:32,397
He wasn't the kind
to say things like that.
1935
02:16:32,522 --> 02:16:34,941
I really wouldn't know.
1936
02:16:38,403 --> 02:16:40,571
After having responded like that,
1937
02:16:40,738 --> 02:16:43,908
I had no idea
how to ask his forgiveness
1938
02:16:44,075 --> 02:16:47,412
for quite some time.
1939
02:16:47,578 --> 02:16:51,416
Then, little by little --
1940
02:16:51,874 --> 02:16:55,670
You see, the problem was that,
1941
02:16:55,837 --> 02:16:59,132
let's suppose that I was
in love with him too --
1942
02:16:59,382 --> 02:17:04,637
Well, I guess it was
because of that time,
1943
02:17:04,804 --> 02:17:07,432
and I know it may
sound odd today,
1944
02:17:07,598 --> 02:17:11,102
because if you love someone,
why not be with him, right?
1945
02:17:11,227 --> 02:17:15,022
The thing is, I still had
some old-fashioned ideas
1946
02:17:15,189 --> 02:17:20,570
and some -- for lack of a better word --
pretentious ideas about art.
1947
02:17:20,737 --> 02:17:26,617
I felt it wasn't right
for someone like me
1948
02:17:26,784 --> 02:17:30,246
to claim for myself alone...
1949
02:17:33,458 --> 02:17:37,545
a great director like him,
one of the most respected in Japan.
1950
02:17:37,712 --> 02:17:42,425
At the same time,
I felt that if we married --
1951
02:17:42,592 --> 02:17:45,428
- Your artistic collaboration would suffer.
- Exactly.
1952
02:17:45,595 --> 02:17:47,847
Another huge concern
1953
02:17:48,014 --> 02:17:53,811
was that I didn't think
I was capable of being the wife
1954
02:17:53,978 --> 02:17:57,482
of such a difficult man.
1955
02:17:57,857 --> 02:18:01,110
He probably wouldn't have made
such a good husband.
1956
02:18:02,069 --> 02:18:04,071
To be perfectly honest...
1957
02:18:04,864 --> 02:18:07,992
he wasn't much fun
to be around.
1958
02:18:08,785 --> 02:18:13,164
With him it was art all the time.
That was enough for him.
1959
02:18:13,498 --> 02:18:15,792
He lacked humor,
1960
02:18:15,958 --> 02:18:18,377
to tell you the truth.
1961
02:18:18,836 --> 02:18:24,175
Frankly speaking,
his lifestyle held no interest for me.
1962
02:18:24,842 --> 02:18:29,555
He only thought about work.
- Yes, he was absorbed in it.
1963
02:18:29,722 --> 02:18:32,308
It's like in movies from the West,
1964
02:18:32,475 --> 02:18:37,313
where the husband's always working
and the wife takes a lover.
1965
02:18:37,480 --> 02:18:41,859
That's the kind of husband
he would have made, I think.
1966
02:18:42,777 --> 02:18:46,322
But you said that,
in the course of working with him,
1967
02:18:46,489 --> 02:18:51,369
you did come to feel
something like love.
1968
02:18:51,536 --> 02:18:54,497
I kept my feelings separate.
1969
02:18:54,664 --> 02:18:58,042
But I'll tell you this much:
Id have done anything --
1970
02:18:58,209 --> 02:19:01,212
short of going mad
like van Gogh, that is --
1971
02:19:01,379 --> 02:19:05,049
to help Mizoguchi gain
a worldwide reputation.
1972
02:19:05,216 --> 02:19:08,010
How badly I wanted that.
1973
02:19:08,177 --> 02:19:11,514
There were
some unbearable times for me
1974
02:19:12,348 --> 02:19:15,017
during those 17 years
1975
02:19:15,184 --> 02:19:17,395
of working together.
1976
02:19:18,062 --> 02:19:21,399
But because of his charm,
1977
02:19:21,566 --> 02:19:25,653
I was willing to give up my family,
1978
02:19:25,820 --> 02:19:27,989
both during the war and after,
1979
02:19:28,155 --> 02:19:32,535
without hesitation, to work with him.
1980
02:19:32,702 --> 02:19:36,539
I was even willing to give up my life.
1981
02:19:36,706 --> 02:19:40,585
Nobody loved their work more than I did.
1982
02:19:41,043 --> 02:19:44,088
Of course I also coveted fame.
1983
02:19:44,255 --> 02:19:47,091
What actress doesn't?
1984
02:19:47,258 --> 02:19:51,345
But I hoped above all
1985
02:19:51,512 --> 02:19:55,516
that he'd become one
of the great directors in world cinema.
1986
02:19:56,350 --> 02:19:58,978
One thing I really want
to say here is this:
1987
02:19:59,103 --> 02:20:01,856
If a man as great as Kenji Mizoguchi
1988
02:20:02,023 --> 02:20:05,693
really and truly wanted
to make me his wife,
1989
02:20:05,860 --> 02:20:10,281
seeing me as the woman I truly was,
1990
02:20:10,448 --> 02:20:13,409
and not only as an actress,
1991
02:20:13,576 --> 02:20:18,289
then that alone makes me
as respectable as a married woman,
1992
02:20:18,456 --> 02:20:23,002
even if I never married.
1993
02:20:23,669 --> 02:20:25,421
Don't you think so?
1994
02:20:26,464 --> 02:20:28,549
He really loved Miss Tanaka.
1995
02:20:29,425 --> 02:20:35,806
Once, for a PR shot
of the star and director,
1996
02:20:35,973 --> 02:20:40,811
the photographer asked him to look
at Kinuyo, but he couldn't do it.
1997
02:20:40,978 --> 02:20:45,107
After some prodding, he finally flicked
his eyes toward her then looked away,
1998
02:20:45,232 --> 02:20:47,234
blushing scarlet.
1999
02:20:47,401 --> 02:20:49,236
That was a tough photo to take.
2000
02:20:49,403 --> 02:20:52,156
The hell of shooting hadn't yet begun.
2001
02:20:52,323 --> 02:20:55,159
Once filming began,
2002
02:20:55,326 --> 02:20:57,828
there was no more blushing!
2003
02:20:58,287 --> 02:21:02,833
I personally think he loved her,
2004
02:21:03,000 --> 02:21:06,671
but I don't know
2005
02:21:06,837 --> 02:21:11,425
how Tanaka felt about that.
2006
02:21:12,009 --> 02:21:14,679
She made many great films,
2007
02:21:14,845 --> 02:21:17,390
but she must have realized
2008
02:21:17,556 --> 02:21:21,060
that Mizoguchi loved her.
2009
02:21:21,394 --> 02:21:26,607
Although he didn't express
what he felt, he loved her.
2010
02:21:26,774 --> 02:21:28,859
But he set those feelings aside
2011
02:21:29,026 --> 02:21:34,699
as he depicted her
playing women of his dreams.
2012
02:21:34,865 --> 02:21:38,869
He said things to her on a shoot
no husband would say to his wife.
2013
02:21:42,289 --> 02:21:46,210
SCREENPLAY FOR
AN OSAKA STORY
2014
02:21:46,377 --> 02:21:51,841
I wish he could have made
this last film.
2015
02:21:52,008 --> 02:21:55,011
I think it would have been
2016
02:21:55,177 --> 02:21:57,847
his greatest of all.
2017
02:21:58,055 --> 02:22:03,019
He had an incredible film
brewing in his mind
2018
02:22:03,144 --> 02:22:05,146
right before he died.
2019
02:22:05,271 --> 02:22:07,440
It's such a shame.
2020
02:22:08,566 --> 02:22:12,361
He seemed to be in unbearable pain
2021
02:22:12,695 --> 02:22:16,240
as death closed in.
2022
02:22:16,365 --> 02:22:20,953
IN MAY 1956, HE COLLAPSES AND
ENTERS THE HOSPITAL IN KYOTO.
2023
02:22:21,495 --> 02:22:23,956
He had a number
of creative peaks.
2024
02:22:24,123 --> 02:22:27,918
I worked with him
during his final peak,
2025
02:22:28,085 --> 02:22:30,588
after which
he departed this world.
2026
02:22:30,755 --> 02:22:35,134
But that period left
a really strong impression on me.
2027
02:22:35,301 --> 02:22:40,765
I'm very happy
to have had the honor
2028
02:22:41,182 --> 02:22:47,521
of appearing in some
of Mizoguchi's finest films.
2029
02:22:48,064 --> 02:22:54,028
It's a pity that he died...
2030
02:22:54,945 --> 02:22:58,449
at a time when he was planning
2031
02:22:58,616 --> 02:23:02,036
to make some drastic changes
in his way of life.
2032
02:23:02,828 --> 02:23:05,790
He wanted to set things right.
2033
02:23:05,956 --> 02:23:08,334
- Not just in his films.
- Yes.
2034
02:23:08,501 --> 02:23:15,424
I can't say too much...
2035
02:23:15,800 --> 02:23:19,136
since he still has living family.
2036
02:23:20,262 --> 02:23:22,473
Let's just say that...
2037
02:23:25,267 --> 02:23:31,232
the last years of his life
were not peaceful.
2038
02:23:32,108 --> 02:23:35,986
He himself told me
how unhappy he was.
2039
02:23:37,988 --> 02:23:44,078
He wanted to make
a completely fresh start...
2040
02:23:45,579 --> 02:23:49,333
to reform his life.
2041
02:23:49,667 --> 02:23:52,795
His illness made that impossible,
2042
02:23:53,003 --> 02:23:57,758
but if he'd lived another two or three
years, he may have succeeded.
2043
02:23:59,218 --> 02:24:04,390
He could discuss traditional arts
or learned subjects,
2044
02:24:04,682 --> 02:24:09,270
but he never kowtowed
to learned scholars
2045
02:24:09,436 --> 02:24:11,814
or knowledgeable experts.
2046
02:24:11,981 --> 02:24:13,983
He'd bow down only
2047
02:24:14,150 --> 02:24:18,612
when something touched
his longing for purity.
2048
02:24:19,280 --> 02:24:23,325
He longed like a young boy
for the pure and the genuine.
2049
02:24:23,450 --> 02:24:27,663
That's why he could never lie
or cheat in making his films.
2050
02:24:29,248 --> 02:24:33,169
I went to see him in the hospital.
2051
02:24:33,460 --> 02:24:37,381
He was very picky about flowers.
2052
02:24:37,548 --> 02:24:41,218
Every single flower
had to be carefully selected.
2053
02:24:41,385 --> 02:24:44,847
It was the time of the Bon festival,
2054
02:24:45,014 --> 02:24:47,474
so florists were very busy.
2055
02:24:47,683 --> 02:24:50,728
I went to see him at noon
2056
02:24:51,020 --> 02:24:56,525
during the midday visiting hours.
2057
02:24:57,067 --> 02:25:02,406
I sat at his bedside.
2058
02:25:02,865 --> 02:25:05,993
He seemed very pleased.
2059
02:25:06,243 --> 02:25:09,455
We didn't speak.
It was like a silent film.
2060
02:25:09,622 --> 02:25:12,833
I couldn't find the words,
and neither could he.
2061
02:25:13,000 --> 02:25:17,546
I then asked him point-blank
what was ailing him.
2062
02:25:17,880 --> 02:25:21,926
He replied, "They don't know yet.
They're studying test results.
2063
02:25:22,176 --> 02:25:25,429
It's such a nuisance.
2064
02:25:25,596 --> 02:25:28,349
I want to get back to work soon."
2065
02:25:28,515 --> 02:25:31,101
He had red needle marks
on his arms.
2066
02:25:31,268 --> 02:25:37,942
I remember him saying,
"There's no place left for another shot.'
2067
02:25:38,150 --> 02:25:42,988
It was painful going to see him,
so I'd have a drink first.
2068
02:25:43,781 --> 02:25:49,245
One day he noticed and said...
2069
02:25:51,455 --> 02:25:54,333
"You're certainly in a good mood.'
2070
02:25:55,167 --> 02:25:58,879
I'm sure it must
have seemed odd to him.
2071
02:25:59,046 --> 02:26:01,966
I wonder if he realized
the end was near
2072
02:26:02,633 --> 02:26:05,094
when he blurted out...
2073
02:26:05,261 --> 02:26:07,972
"This is sheer hell.'
2074
02:26:08,889 --> 02:26:13,060
That was the first time I ever heard him
say something like that.
2075
02:26:13,686 --> 02:26:16,230
As if he knew it was all over.
2076
02:26:16,355 --> 02:26:18,440
Then he sat up in bed,
2077
02:26:18,816 --> 02:26:22,987
I guess because
I'd spent the preceding day
2078
02:26:23,153 --> 02:26:25,781
searching for something
he'd mentioned the day before,
2079
02:26:25,948 --> 02:26:30,494
but I hadn't been very successful.
2080
02:26:30,661 --> 02:26:35,040
Nonetheless, he wanted
to thank me for that.
2081
02:26:35,207 --> 02:26:38,294
He sat up in bed and said...
2082
02:26:38,419 --> 02:26:41,005
"Thank you for everything.'
2083
02:26:41,171 --> 02:26:43,966
I turned away
2084
02:26:44,133 --> 02:26:47,469
to hide my tears.
2085
02:26:49,305 --> 02:26:52,308
It was heart-wrenching.
2086
02:26:52,474 --> 02:26:56,562
Three days later, he died.
2087
02:26:56,979 --> 02:27:00,357
I was ill in bed
and couldn't leave the house.
2088
02:27:00,524 --> 02:27:05,112
They called to say
he was a little better.
2089
02:27:05,529 --> 02:27:08,532
My fever lifted,
so I went to see him.
2090
02:27:08,699 --> 02:27:11,827
That evening he died.
2091
02:27:12,036 --> 02:27:17,041
The others had gone home,
thinking he was better.
2092
02:27:17,583 --> 02:27:22,254
I was only there for his last moments
because I'd been too sick to go earlier.
2093
02:27:22,379 --> 02:27:24,048
What did he say?
2094
02:27:25,924 --> 02:27:29,428
Almost nothing.
2095
02:27:37,144 --> 02:27:39,229
He suffered terribly.
2096
02:27:45,944 --> 02:27:50,449
I took his hand.
"It's me, Narusawa,' I said.
2097
02:27:50,616 --> 02:27:52,993
He looked into my eyes,
2098
02:27:53,202 --> 02:27:57,164
as if trying to tell me something,
2099
02:27:57,915 --> 02:28:01,335
but he just kept staring at my face.
2100
02:28:02,086 --> 02:28:04,421
That was his final moment.
2101
02:28:05,339 --> 02:28:08,717
What did he want to say?
2102
02:28:12,221 --> 02:28:16,767
MOTOHISA ANDO
ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
2103
02:28:17,017 --> 02:28:19,937
He started writing in the hospital.
2104
02:28:20,104 --> 02:28:23,816
Those last writings became,
in effect, his last will and testament.
2105
02:28:24,233 --> 02:28:28,445
He wrote down his impressions.
2106
02:28:28,612 --> 02:28:33,992
He described the last scene in
An Osaka Story.
2107
02:28:34,493 --> 02:28:42,960
He'd received Yoda's book
of poems entitled Roma
2108
02:28:43,127 --> 02:28:45,587
and wrote down
his impressions of that.
2109
02:28:47,089 --> 02:28:50,342
He also wrote how much
2110
02:28:50,509 --> 02:28:53,387
he wanted to work
with all of us again.
2111
02:28:53,554 --> 02:28:56,432
As he was writing those words...
2112
02:28:57,474 --> 02:29:02,729
he got choked up
and burst out sobbing.
2113
02:29:02,855 --> 02:29:05,357
Tears were streaming
down his face.
2114
02:29:05,482 --> 02:29:08,861
- Before he wrote that?
- As he was writing it.
2115
02:29:09,611 --> 02:29:12,322
AUTUMN'S CHILL
IS ALREADY HERE.
2116
02:29:12,489 --> 02:29:15,242
I WISH TO WORK
WITH YOU AGAIN.
2117
02:29:15,409 --> 02:29:17,995
"I couldn't have written
those words.
2118
02:29:18,162 --> 02:29:20,330
They're all lies.
2119
02:29:20,497 --> 02:29:24,042
Those aren't the true feelings
of a dying man."
2120
02:29:24,334 --> 02:29:28,922
That's what I think Mizoguchi
would have said about those words.
2121
02:29:37,139 --> 02:29:39,183
MIZOGUCHI'S LAST RESIDENCE
2122
02:29:39,349 --> 02:29:41,143
11-1 BABA-CHO, UTANO,
UKYO-KU, KYOTO
2123
02:29:43,061 --> 02:29:48,358
IT IS NOW A GAS STATION.
2124
02:29:48,484 --> 02:29:52,696
THE END