Customer Reviews

The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum [VHS]

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1939 is probably best remembered for films like "Gone With the Wind" and "The Wizard of Oz", but when I think of 1939, I think of 'The Last Chrysanthemum' (and Renoir's 'Rules of the Game').

The story concerns the son of an actor, whose skill pales in comparison to that of his father. He falls in love with a servant who believes in his ability, and as always, they are cast out. The son works his craft with various troupes, while his wife stands faithfully by his side. Eventually, he receives accolade for his skill, which the public finally learns to accept, but all this comes at the expense of his wife's health and life. Quite familiar material to be sure, but Mizoguchi's direction makes the story compelling.

'Chrysanthemum' and 'Rules' are similar in their directorial styles. Renoir and Mizoguchi both employ the deep focus technique, and the movies work accordingly to Bazin's theory of deep focus. Mizoguchi's camera likes to stay further away than Renoir's though, and it tracks in a languid manner that is well suited to the story.

There's no need to beat the "Hollywood vs. Art" argument here. Those who want easily digestable fantasy will stick with 'Gone With the Wind' and 'The Wizard of Oz'. If you want something good, pick up 'The Story of the Last Chrysanthemum', and while you're at it, buy 'The Rules of the Game' as well. Both are cinematic landmarks, and you'll love them if you like that sort of stuff.

Mizoguchi was one of the triumvirate in the Golden Age of Japanese Cinema (the other two being, of course, Kurosawa and Ozu). He was also the oldest of the three (twelve years older than Kurosawa) and the most prolific. Much of his work was done during the silent era, little of which survived the vicissitudes of time and war; but luckily his great tragedies of the 1950s are still available.

Story of the Last Chrysanthemum (1939) is one of Mizoguchi's earlier sound films, and it's a real beauty. The framing, composition, and pacing are superb. His work here is a little more fluid and less "painterly" than in his later films. The use of lighting is particularly remarkable. Some may find the melodrama and the acting in this one a little overwrought (I do), but the camera work is absolutely masterly. It's fascinating to watch Mizoguchi's style as it evolves toward its final, perfect form.

Like Ozu, Mizoguchi worked lots of variations on a single theme. In his case, the theme is Japanese society's subjugation of women. Time and again in his films, the men are callow, greedy, or cruel, and their wives, mothers, and sisters pay for it dearly. Unlike Kurosawa's tragic epics, there is no comic relief in Mizoguchi's world. If Kurosawa is like Shakespeare, then Mizoguchi is like Sophocles. The protagonist's path is an unrelenting march to grief and doom. What keeps a Mizoguchi film from becoming unbearably tragic is the way it distances itself from the sorry human spectacle, and the way it finds breathtaking beauty in even the bleakest setting. The ultimate effect is not, as you might expect, a sickening gloom, but rather a kind of awe-struck catharsis.

Mizoguchi will break your heart like nobody else (Sansho the Bailiff may be the most emotionally shattering movie ever made). You never forget his films. If you aren't sure whether or not you've seen one, then you haven't.

So far the only Mizoguchi film available on DVD is his weakest: The 47 Ronin, a stilted historical epic intended by the Japanese military dictatorship as wartime propaganda. It's the only lacklustre movie Mizoguchi ever made, and I like to think it falls flat because the director's anti-militarist, pro-feminist views kept him from co-operating wholeheartedly with such a brutal regime. In any event, none of his best works has made it onto DVD yet. This is a truly sad state of affairs for a director whom both Kurosawa and Godard called "The Master". Maybe it's time for a letter-writing campaign to persuade Criterion to give new life to this profoundly great film artist. They can start with Sansho and Ugetsu and then move on to Last Chrysanthemum, Sisters of Gion, Oharu, and Street of Shame.

The adopted son of a wealthy family whose great tradition in the acting has been an additional value, finds his success and eventual bliss as actor afer he meests and be inspired by the family maid, who tutors him in his promising craft, whose beginnings are not precisely the most encouraging.

She is immediately rejected and even fired if the family once his familiars are aware there's something hidden in this uninterested relationship. These suspicions will determine eventually the imminent tragedy for Otoku (the maid) and the glory of Keinusuke.

The long takes and the way Mizoguchi handles with admirable security every little shot make of this film one his major achievements.

Don't miss it under no pretext.

Though I consider Mizoguchi's best work to be his lovely, unsurpassed masterpieces of the 1950s - THE LIFE OF OHARU, UGETSU, SANSHO DAYU, YANG KWEI FEI, CHIKAMATSU MONOGATARI - Mizoguchi's 1939 masterpiece "Story of the Last Chrysanthemum" aka "Zangiku monogatari" might be the most representative of his work. Not only it contains some of his finest, most dazzling camera movements, but also a sublime illustration of the characteristic Mizoguchi theme: The up-and-coming but SHALLOW man ennobled by the fallen but DEEPER woman. Mizoguchi is at once a master storyteller and master of camera movements. The film's heartbreaking concluding moments are among the finest I have seen.

A near-perfect work, "Story of the Last Chrysanthemum" should confirm Mizoguchi's position as one of the supreme masters.

The film it's self is a masterpiece but, literally half of the subtitles are in the vhs. Many full scenes in the films are missed due to missing subtitles. This work of art needs a proper releasing!