Masahiro Shinoda - Shinjû: Ten No Amijima (1969)

Many films have drawn from classic Japanese theatrical forms, but none with such shocking cinematic effect as director Masahiro Shinoda’s Double Suicide. In this striking adaptation of a Bunraku puppet play (featuring the music of famed composer Toru Takemitsu), a paper merchant sacrifices family, fortune, and ultimately life for his erotic obsession with a prostitute.




Based on classic playwright Monzaemon Chikamatsu's The Love Suicide at Amijima (1720), Double Suicide examines the effects of one man's actions in light of Tokugawa moral codes. Poor paper shop owner Jihei (Kichiemon Nakamura) has committed himself to the beautiful courtesan Koharu (Shima Iwashita) at the expense of his family and socioeconomic status. He wants to buy her freedom, but lacks sufficient funds. They speak of running away and killing themselves together, a fairly common practice in Japan at that time, but Jihei's wife Osan -also played masterfully by Shima Iwashita- convinces Koharu by letter to dissuade him from this action, appealing to her sense of sisterhood. Koharu agrees and pretends not to love Jihei so that he can return to his family and shop. It works at first, but word soon spreads that a rich merchant is planning to buy the courtesan, making her his indentured mistress. Koharu plans to kill herself in anguish, and Osan feels responsible for the woman's life but is dragged away by her disapproving family. Jihei has nothing left to lose, and goes after Koharu. Ultimately the story reaches its only possible conclusion: tragedy.




Chikamatsu brought the Kabuki (art of singing and dancing) and Bunraku (puppet) theaters to full maturity during the Genroku era (1688-1703) and excelled in domestic tragedy. The focal point of this genre is the clash between giri (social obligation) and ninjô (personal emotion) within individuals in the feudal society in which Chikamatsu lived. A number of Shinoda's predecessors also made films that were inspired by Chikamatsu's domestic tragedies. Among these were Mizoguchi Kenji's The Crucified Lovers (Chikamatsu monogatari, 1954) and Imai Tadashi's Night Drum (Yoru no tsuzumi, 1958).




However, what distinguishes Shinjû: Ten no Amijima from these two films is Shinoda's synthesis of traditional and modern elements. While faithfully exploring Chikamatsu's theme of the individual torn between giri and ninjô, Shinoda overtly brings in scenes of sexual encounter. He also incorporates both bunraku and kabuki techniques such as the kurogo (pupeteers) and the rotating screen and invests them with new functions. These aspects of Shinoda's ingenuity have already been treated by a number of Japanese critics. Yet the unique aspect of Shinjû: Ten no Amijima is Shinoda's use of three images: the lattice windows and checked walls, the water, and the kurogo. The way Shinoda presents these images is just as crucial as what they signify. Although, at first glance, Shinoda appears to present the same Buddhist world view revealed in Chikamatsu's original, the subtle interaction of these symbols with the films thematic development, especially in the final sequence, illustrates the entirely different world view. This is one of the aspects of the film that makes Shinoda's version nakedly modern.




A masterpiece, IMHO.
Criteron Collection rip by Finale.




Jihei (Kichiemon Nakamura) es un mercader de papel, casado con Osan (Shima Iwashita) con quien tiene dos hijos pequeños. Pese a amar a su mujer, mantiene una relacion secreta con Koharu (tambien interpretada por Shima Iwashita), una cortesana. En los años que llevan viéndose, Jihei liquida su fortuna en el burdel y no puede mantener su promesa de comprar la libertad de Koharu. Su familia interviene e intenta separarlos, pero esto es, evidentemente, imposible.

En un tema parecido a Romeo y Julieta, Shinjû: Ten no Amijima o "Doble Suicidio" de Masahiro Shinoda cuenta como dos amantes solo pueden reunirse en la muerte. La pelicula se basa en una obra de teatro de marionetas (bunraku) escrita en 1720 por Monzaemon Chikamatsu. Comienza con un espectáculo de marionetas que está por empezar. Se ven a los marionetistas (kurago) encapuchados y vestidos de negro preparándose para la representación. Pronto las marionetas son reemplazadas por actores y el drama comienza, pero los marionetistas permanecen en escena, modificando la escenografía, moviendo objetos y dirigiendo la acción.

Cinematography/Fotografía: Toichiro Narushima
Music/Música: Toru Takemitsu
Cast/Reparto: Shima Iwashita, Kichiemon Nakamura, Kamatari Fujiwara, Jun Hamamura, Sumiko Hidaka, Tokie Hidari, Yoshi Kato, Shizue Kawarazaki, Hosei Komatsu, Yusuke Takita