Kenji Mizoguchi - Yuki fujin ezu (1950)

Japonés | Subs: Castellano/English/Italiano (muxed)
89 min | x264 682x544 ~> 725x544 | 1950 kb/s | 192 kb/s AC3 | 24 fps
1,33 GB

El destino de la señora Yuki

La desdichada Yuki, que sufre maltratos por parte de su marido Naoyuki quien la humilla constantemente e incluso llega a violarla, ama en secreto a Kikunaka, un tañedor de Koto y amigo personal de la familia que le aconseja que abandone a su marido

Mizoguchi nuevamente hace gala de su sensibilidad para captar el mundo interior femenino, un retrato doloroso de una relación destructiva y de un amor no consumado. Delicadeza en los movimientos de sus personajes, belleza de los espacios interiores y de los escenarios naturales, un B/N sublime y una escena final filmada de manera celestial, que años más tarde retomaría en su esencia y su valor lírico en "El intendente Sansho". (cinepatas.com)

A Portrait of Madame Yuki

The story of an unhappily married woman who is obsessed with physical love and uninterested in spiritual love. Yuki, the only daughter of a once-noble family, is married to a businessman whom she despises, though his sexual power attracts her hopelessly. The young assistant to whom she is drawn is too weak and indecisive to take any action of his own. In despair, she drowns herself in a mist-shrouded lake and it falls to a female servant to deliver an epithet of cowardice on her mistress.

Kenji Mizoguchi began his final and most successful decade with this sporadically reserved picture that has, oddly enough, remained neglected. It’s a film, though undeniably melodramatic, still occasionally showcases a certain type of perceptiveness. There’s small doses of truth sprinkled all over this picture, through all of the plot pieces and manipulative music, it does have something insightful about it. It’s far from Mizoguchi’s best, but it’s another more than admirable effort from him.

Hamako has just started working for her personal hero, Madame Yuki. Her romanticized view of the Madame is broken immediately, though, as she is introduced with a ever-growing list of the Madame’s personal problems. Her husband is neglectful and violent. Although she begs for divorce, he always refuses. In retaliation, she converts their home into inn. He responds by visiting the inn and brining his mistress, who plans to take ownership of the place. Despite all this, she still loves him as if forced by some evil inside of her, as she describes it. The film takes another (melodramatic) turn when it’s revealed that she is pregnant, after a suicide attempt none the less!

Silly in some parts, poignant in others, Madame Yuki might just be Mizoguchi’s most frustrating film if only for the fact that potential greatness is marred by stilted dialogue and soap opera-esque plot developments. As mentioned before, the film sometimes stumbles upon something much more truthful. It may not have been Mizoguchi’s intention but there’s something that seems to be happening underneath all the suicide attempts and tearful breakdowns. There’s nothing specific to point out, but it’s very likely that this “truth” is supported by Mizoguchi’s excellent cast, which includes Ken Uehara, Yoshiko Kuga, and Michiyo Kogure.

The film is climaxed by a sequence that’s purpose is purely visual, a testament to Mizoguchi’s unparalleled eye for visual composition. As Madame Yuki mechanically makes her way to the lake, the mist of the morning collides with the grass’ tall blades. A visual sequence, though theatrical in it’s description, is layered with poetic touches. It’s sequences like these that make Madame Yuki worth seeing. The film’s final, tragic turn is unseen but it predicts a similar event visualized later on in Mizoguchi’s Sansho the Bailiff. The sequence in question is just as gloomy, but handled by Mizoguchi with such tenderness, that a visual subtext (is this considered a pun?) is created and it’s very beautiful.

 --  Cinema Talk [Jake Savage]

 

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