Affair in the Snow [1968]
Yoshida’s Affair
in the Snow was, in many ways, a complementary and companion piece to his
excellent earlier film Woman of the Lake
– not just tonally and stylistically, but thematically too. In both cases the
protagonist, in her own ways, rebelled against her status quo; but, while in
the latter she moved onto an uncharted territory, here she moved back to an
older one. Yuriko (Mariko Okada), an alluring lady working in an upscale beauty
salon, is in a turbulent affair with the younger Akira (Yukio Ninagawa). His
extreme jealousy, mood swings, possessiveness and perversion, coupled with in
deep existential dilemma, compel her to call of their affair. But, as she hops
city to resolve a personal issue, she takes the help of Isao (Kazuo Imai), her
soft-spoken former lover who she had left, ironically, because of his inadequacy.
Unable to let her go and his jealousy further stoked, he follows her, and as
the three, each delicately poised with the other, travel to a snowy town, an
interesting ménage à trois ensues which made for psychologically engaging
viewing. Role reversals occurred as the narrative progressed, which eventually
led the film to its strangely tragic and wonderfully concocted finale. The film
was tad inconsistent in terms of narrative progression and content building,
and Yukio’s performance seemed like a sore thumb. But, Yoshida’s beautiful muse
Okada gave a compelling turn, brilliantly counterpointing the two men in her
life and the ensuing ironies. The film’s most memorable aspects,
however, would be its brilliant expressionistic photography with its visually
arresting chiaroscuro lighting, and the accompanying melancholic score on a loop.
Director: Yoshishige Yoshida
Genre: Drama/Psychological Drama/Romantic Drama
Language: Japanese
Country: Japan
2 comments:
"The film’s most memorable aspects, however, would be its brilliant expressionistic photography with its visually arresting chiaroscuro lighting, and the accompanying melancholic score on a loop."
Yep, absolutely Shubhajit! I saw this last year and was mesmerized. Yoshida is a master class director, and hopefully one day he'll get the recognition outside of Japan that he deserves. Another exceptional, auithoritative piece!
Thanks a lot Sam. Given the brilliance of his films - stylistically as well as thematically - it really is unfortunate that he isn't as widely recognized as he should be. In fact I too discovered Yoshida only a few months or so back. I hope that, someday, he does get to be placed on the same pedestal, internationally, as the likes of Kurosawa, Ozu, Mizoguchi, etc.
In fact, to think of it, most Japanese filmmakers, even some brilliant ones like Imamura & his Japanese New Wave compatriots (Oshima, Shinoda, Suzuki, Teshigehara, etc.) are yet to receive the kind of international recognition that they deserve.
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