Japanese director Kenji Mizoguchi directed Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (also titled The Story of the Late Chrysanthemums), a work of dazzling elegance and formal discipline about male artistic fame at the cost of female sacrifice.
Grade: A (***** out of *****)
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Theatrical release poster
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Based on a short story by Shōfu Muramatsu, it follows an onnagata (male actor playing female roles) struggling for artistic mastery in late 19th century Japan.
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums was Mizoguchi’s first film for the Shochiku studios after a short interlude at Shinkō Kinema.
It was the first panel of what later was regarded as a trilogy about theater during the Meiji period (the others being the lost film, A Woman of Osaka, 1940 and The Life of an Actor, 1941.
Kikunosuke Onoe, called Kiku, is the adopted son of a famous Tokyo kabuki actor, who is training to succeed his father in illustrious career. Whilst hypocritically praising Onoe’s acting to his face, his father’s troupe deride him behind his back.
Otoku, who lives at the father’s house as the young wet-nurse of the infant son of the father’s natural son, is the only person frank enough to disclose his artistic shortcomings and urge him to improve himself.
When Otoku is dismissed by Kiku’s family for her over-closeness to the young master, Kiku tracks her down wishing to marry her. His family is outraged and Kiku is forced to leave Tokyo to Nagoya, honing his art away from his father, much to the latter’s wrath.
Kiku is acting alongside his uncle, Tamiro Naritaya in Osaka, but remains dissatisfied and wishes to join a traveling troupe. Otoku tracks down Kiku and re-inspires him by becoming his common law wife.
When his uncle dies, he decides to join a travelling troupe and their times together become even harder. Years later, Kiku and Otoku are on the road. She still loves him, but his love has clearly faded, and their position worsens when Otoku becomes sick.
Otoku goes to meet Kiku’s brother, begging him to cast Kiku in Tokyo. He agrees that Kiku can play the part contingent that he improves his acting, and that he and Otoku separate.
Rendering a bravura performance of Sumizome, in a critical female role, Kiku has at last found the fame he had always sought as kabuki actor. Otoku watches sadly from the wings, but she is happy for him.
The family agree that Kiku may perform in Tokyo. As Kiku boards the train Otoku cannot be found, and Fuku hands him a letter from her. His companions insist that he must proceed in order to make Otoku’s sacrifice worthwhile.
The Tokyo troupe visit Osaka, where it gets triumphant welcome. The landlord comes and tells Kiku that Otoku is fatally ill. Kiku’s father accepts his marriage to Otoku, but the reconciliation is too late as she is already on her deathbed.
However, proud that he is at last happy, she urges him to join the river parade. In the last scene, Otoku dies, while the theater’s parade led by her husband is heard in the distance.
The film, defined by long takes ad slow pacing, and avoiding close-ups, serves as a double metaphorical journey, that of the troupe moving from one city to another, and, more importantly, depicting Kiku’s long, struggling path to artistic excellence and public recognition.
What could have been a sentimental melodrama (“a typical woman’s picture,” to use Hollywood jargon) becomes in the delicate handling of maestro Mizoguchi a critique of rigid Japanese institutions whose norms favor male power and achievement at the expense of women, who are victimized and forced to sacrifice their very lives for that goal.
Many critics regard the film as Mizoguchi’s major pre-war achievement, lauding its cinematography, marked by long takes and dolly shots, and emphasizing its theme of female sacrifice in a patriarchal society.
The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums was selected for the Cannes Classics section of the 2015 Cannes Film Fest, where it was shown in restored print.
Cast
Shōtarō Hanayagi as Kikunosuke Onoe (Kiku)
Kōkichi Takada as Fukusuke Nakamura (Fuku)
Gonjurō Kawarazaki as Kikugoro Onoue, the father
Kakuko Mori as Otoku
Tokusaburo Arashi as Shikan Nakamura
Yōko Umemura as Osato
Benkei Shiganoya as Kikuguro’s wife
Kinnosuke Takamatsu as Matsusuke Onoe
Credits:
Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi
Written by Matsutarō Kawaguchi, Yoshikata Yoda, based on Zangiku monogatari by Shōfu Muramatsu
Produced by Shintarō Shirai
Cinematography: Yozō Fuji, Minoru Miki
Edited by Koshi Kawahigashi
Music by Shirō Fukai
Production and Distribution by Shochiku
Release date: October 10, 1939
Running time: 146 minutes
