Arsenevich: Kon Ichikawa

Conflagración

Un joven tranquilo y asocial llamado Goichi Mizoguchi (Raizo Ichikawa) llega al idílico Templo de Soenji que alberga el renombrado Pabellón de Shukaku con una carta de presentación de su difunto padre, un humilde monje provincial y amigo de confianza del sumo sacerdote Tayama (Ganjiro Nakamura). Soltero y sin heredero del templo, Tayama rápidamente da la bienvenida al joven a su tutela. La decisión impulsiva de aceptar a Mizoguchi como novato atrae la protesta inmediata del asesor de Tayama.

Película adaptada de la novela de Yukio Mishima El templo del pabellón de oro y vagamente basada en la historia real de la destrucción de una estructura sagrada por parte de un sacerdote joven con problemas psíquicos en 1950. Enjo es un examen sombrío e inquietante de la generación de posguerra de Japón, los apure (de la palabra francesa après, o "luego"). Mediante la yuxtaposición de la desilusión sistemática del joven con la cruda realidad de su entorno, Kon Ichikawa captura el nihilismo generalizado y el cinismo de la generación de posguerra.

The Temple of the Golden Pavilion

A quiet, asocial young man named Goichi Mizoguchi (Raizo Ichikawa) arrives at the idyllic Soenji Temple that houses the renowned Shukaku Pavilion with a letter of introduction from his late father, a humble, provincial monk and trusted friend of the Chief Priest, Tayama (Ganjiro Nakamura). Unmarried and without an heir to the temple, Tayama quickly welcomes the young man into his tutelage. The impulsive decision to accept Mizoguchi as a novice draws immediate protest from Tayama's business advisor...

Adapted from the Yukio Mishima novel The Temple of the Golden Pavilion, and loosely based on the real-life destruction of a sacred structure by a mentally disturbed young priest in 1950, Enjo is a bleak and disturbing examination of Japan's postwar generation, the apure (from the French word après, or "after"). By juxtaposing Mizoguchi's systematic disillusionment with the stark realism of his environment, Kon Ichikawa captures the pervasive nihilism and cynicism of the postwar generation, despite the country's efforts to rebuild and preserve cultural heritage: the temple's decision to open access to Shukaku in order to generate revenue; Kashiwagi's exploitation of his disability to seduce women; Mizoguchi's discovery of Tayama's mistress. Furthermore, by structuring the narrative as a fragmented series of intercut flashbacks, Ichikawa reflects Mizoguchi's underlying psychological fracture and increasing madness. In essence, Mizoguchi's obsession with preserving purity leads to the irrational idea of destroying the offending reality. Tragically, Mizoguchi's desperate ideal, like those of the postwar generation, prove to be transient, elusive, and irretrievable

- Acquarello at Strictly Film School