Kaneto Shindo’s seminal psychological horror
film Onibaba was a gem among gems in
the Japanese New Wave movement. This incredible dive into the human psyche
provided a nightmarish a depiction of the baser and primeval sides of human
nature, otherwise concealed under veneers of civility, amplified and revealing
their grotesque sides courtesy a socio-political backdrop so harrowing that
even mythological depictions of hell would seem a luxurious place in
comparison. Set in mediaval-era Japan torn apart by bloody feudal wars, an
older lady (Nobuko Otowa), whose son is away fighting for one of the sides, and
her young daughter-in-law (Jitsuko Yoshimura), somehow eking out a survival in
a hostile environ surrounded by tall grasses by killing samurais, dumping their
bodies in a mysterious hole, and selling their armours to corrupt merchants in
return for food; during the lull periods they eat whatever they manage to lay
their hands on. Their structured and isolated regime, however, gets disrupted
beyond repair with the arrival of a rakish samurai who evokes carnal desires in
both the women. As the younger, repressed and gullible lady is easily seduced
by him, it evokes intense jealousy, anger and insecurity in her vicious,
sinister and crafty mother-in-law, leading the film to a devastating finale.
The excellent acting apart, the stark and brilliantly expressionistic B/W
camerawork and the thumping percussion-based score further added to the
unsettling atmosphere and discomfiting themes of this peek into a diabolical and godless netherworld
devoid of humanity and morality, and filled to brim with opportunism, grime, casual violence and sexual aggression and uninhibitedness.
Director: Kaneto Shindo
Genre: Drama/Psychological Horror
Language: Japanese
Country: Japan
The harrowing, violent and psychologically
wrenching The Virgin Springs would
possibly rank amongst Bergman’s bleakest films – which is saying something, I
guess! A dark and disturbing exposition on crime and punishment, the film was
rooted in Christian theology while being mindful of primal human instincts.
This adaptation of a medieval Swedish folktale begins with the pretty, naïve
and nubile Karin (Birgitta Pettersson), daughter of deeply religious landowner
Tore (Max Van Sydow), being sent on a trip to the nearest church, which is
basically quite far off, to perform certain chores, accompanied by their
vicious and hateful maid servant (Gunnel Lindblom). On the way she is
brutalized and killed by two bestial, poverty-stricken men representing a different
social order; and, as coincidence has it, they then take refuge at Tore’s home.
And when their crime gets revealed, the grief-stricken father exacts a revenge
that is nearly as devastating as the crime they had committed. This grim and
disconcerting tale, however, ends on a hopeful note completely at odds with
what had transpired until then. The excellent B/W photography by Sven Nykvist
perfectly captured the mood, atmosphere and tone of this film laden with strong religious motifs and symbolism.
Sydow gave a powerful turn as the father who let a moment of uncontrolled rage
to mask his judgement and religious bend of mind. Bergman perhaps deliberately
chose a victim as representative of innocence and purity as the young girl in
order to make the moral choice of the viewers extremely difficult, and that
made this an even more troubling and illuminating watch.
Director: Ingmar Bergman
Genre: Drama/Psychological Drama/Religious Drama
Language: Swedish
Country: Sweden
A Story Written with Water, though his seventh feature, was a major turning
point in Yoshida’s career as it was the first after he parted ways with
Shochiko Studios. With the new found independence from studio interference, he
embarked on a spree of dark, edgy, layered, psychologically dense, thematically
rich and stylistically dazzling “anti-melodramas”, all starring his ethereal
muse Mariko Okada, with this complex mother-son tale. Shizou (Yasunori Irikawa)
is a shy, young man with a well-paying job and engaged to the pretty, vivacious
Yumiko (Ruriko Asaoka). However, things aren’t anywhere as hunky-dory as they
seem. He has a strange and unhealthy attachment to his beautiful, luscious mother Shizuka
(Okada), disturbingly bordering on Oedipal Complex, which marks his thoughts
and his nature – his prudishness, insecurity, streak of jealousy and aloofness.
And things get further complicated when she renews her relationship with Yumiko’s
gregarious father (Isao Yamagata) with whom she had a torrid affair long back.
Two motifs played key roles; one visual – with a series of exquisitely
structured flashbacks, featuring, among others, Shizou’s lingering memories of
regularly bathing together with his mother when he was a kid, and the other
psychological – his dilemma that his fiancée’s dad might very well be his biological
father as well. The expressionistic B/W photography and disorienting camerawork
combined to provide a disconcerting peek into the protagonist’s troubled
psyche, his inescapable memories, his repressed urges, and his deep-set guilt
on account of his tempestuous relationship with his mother. All the 4 actors,
and especially Irikawa and Okada, provided compelling turns.
Director: Yoshishige Yoshida
Genre: Drama/Psychological Drama
Language: Japanese
Country: Japan
After a hiatus of 8 long years post the
profoundly affecting Black Rain,
Imamura returned with The Eel, that,
with its darkly comic tone and quirky subject, harkened his earlier works,
albeit minus their bawdy, riotous natures – age sure had mellowed him down.
Like Vengeance is Mine, this too had
a murderer as its protagonist even though the two films followed completely
divergent arcs. It began absolutely brilliantly with Takuro (Kōji Yakusho), a soft-spoken
white-collar guy, returning home one night, upon an anonymous tip-off, to find
his wife with another man. He brutally murders her in a fit of rage, and then,
in a darkly funny follow-up, quietly rides to the nearest police station and
hands himself over. Upon his release 8 years later begins for this now
completely broken and thoroughly detached loner a poignant attempt at reconciling
with his violent past that he desperately wants to escape from. Placed under
the observation of a devout Buddhist, he begins the painful journey of putting
the pieces of his life together with the help of an unlikely friend he makes
and a fragile lady (Misa Shimizu) who he finds himself getting attached to. With
intermittent doses of droll humour thrown in, even if the tar black tone of the
opening sequence was replaced by a quieter and more contemplative one as it
progressed, this languidly paced and superbly enacted film, with a marvelous
score that perfectly accentuated the inherent absurdism and melancholia of the
storyline, was proof that the then septuagenarian hadn’t yet lost his
touch. And, by the way, whoever thought that an eel could be a man’s best
friend!
Director: Shohei Imamura
Genre: Drama/Psychological Drama/Black Comedy/Romance
Language: Japanese
Country: Japan
Some call it a jewel among the post-noirs that
Japanese filmmakers dabbled in, while others qualify it as the finest yakuza film ever made; irrespective of
what hyperboles one throws at it, Masahiro Shinoda’s Pale Flower was indeed an exquisitely made film drenched in bleak fatalism,
palpable existential angst and rippling melancholia. With Tokyo’s seedy and
crime-ridden underbelly providing the perfect backdrop, the director concocted
a fleeting and fascinating love story between two self-destructive characters
whose lives lay well outside the conventional spectra. Fresh out of the prison,
where he spent three years for murdering a member of the rival gang, Muraki
(Ryo Ikebe) heads straight to an underground gambling joint. And there, amidst
the drone-like voice of the man rolling the dice, he spots a pretty young girl (Mariko
Kaga) recklessly throwing her money away. And thus begins a strangely
compelling liaison between the laconic, world-weary and impassive gangster and
the enigmatic, effervescing, alluring girl who loves losing large amounts of
cash in high-stakes gambling and racing her sleek convertible on the empty night
streets. As any noir aficionado would guess without looking any further, things
cannot and will not end on a happy note for either as they both slide ever
further towards a bad ending. The fact that we hardly get to know anything
about these two outsiders apart the few moments they share worked excellently
for the film’s cynicism-laden romanticism. The dazzling B/W photography of dark
alleys, rain-washed roads and cramped interiors marvelous accentuated the moody
atmosphere and complemented the murky environs, while the minimally used score was
effective as well.
Director: Masahiro Shinoda
Genre: Crime Drama/Post-Noir/Romantic Noir/Gangster Film
Language: Japanese
Country: Japan
