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26 of 27 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The real "Memoirs of A Geisha", January 7, 2001
Unlike the well-intentioned best-selling book, "Memoirs of A Geisha," Kenji Mizoguchi's film set in the 1700s, doesn't fool us with a relatively happy ending. Mizoguchi knew from what he saw happen to his mother's and sister's lives the duplicity and hypocrisy of the traditional role of a Japanese women, who had no choice but to serve men and abide by an odious double-standard. Kinuyo Tanaka's performance as the title character has depth, humor and, above all, realistic emotion. "Oharu" is unforgettable. Mizoguchi, as usual, proves why Kurosawa called him "the master." This film is elegant, filled with graceful camera pans that underline the situations in which the characters find themselves. Filmmaking doesn't get purer or truer than this. Worthy of Shakespeare. And hardly over-sentimental.
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19 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Don't Believe Anything Maltin Tells You, July 16, 2000
Kenji Mizogichi's Saikaku Ichidai Onna, known hereabouts as The Life of Oharu, is a stunning piece of work, and not "cliched" as Leonard Maltin seems to think (is it possible that, having seen too many movies, he can no longer distinguish the good from the bad?). One of Mizoguchi's late, great films.
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
masterpiece of humanist cinema, October 13, 2005
The unhurried pace of this film will make it an uncomfortable experiece for some viewers--but very few films offer more in terms of substance than this one. The dramatic structure slowly reveals a stunningly complete vision of both a single life and a stratified society that degrades women and all who strive for individuality and integrity. Mizoguchi's masterpiece is a portrait of a lady and a critique of 17th-c. Japanese culture--although its implications are much broader.
The cinematography features Mizoguchi's trademark long tracking shots, often framing characters in a landscape at a distance, which emphasizes a Buddhist perspective on the relative insignificance of the individual before the infinite transience of the world. Two beautiful examples: 1) as Oharu and her parents are exiled from Kyoto, the camera slowly descends below a bridge as it watches them disappear through a line of huge trees; 2) Oharu's "suicide run" through the forest is filmed in a single shot at a high angle, her body quaking and jerking like a mannequin. Both of these shots are ineffably powerful. This is a haunting picture, with many resonant images, and one that invites the viewer to reflect at length on its structure (mostly a long flashback chronicling a series of false starts and falls), themes (class, the role of women, the corruption of centralized power, etc.), and meaning (the Buddhist element is quite significant...note the final shot).
Life of Oharu (1952) is the first in a series of major masterpieces directed by Mizoguchi at the very end of his life, followed by Ugetsu (1953), Sansho the Bailiff (1954, which I regard as his greatest achievement), and Street of Shame (1956). Few directors have ever matched the artistry, wisdom, or generous humanity of these films.
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