|
|
| STORY OF A PROSTITUTE (SHUNPU DEN)
(director: Seijun Suzuki; screenwriters:
story by Taijiro Tamura/Hajime Takaiwa;
cinematographer: Kazue Nagatsuka; editor:
Akira Suzuki; music: Naozumi Yamamoto;
cast: Yumiko Nogawa (Harumi), Tamio
Kawaji (Shinkichi Mikami), Isao Tamagawa
(Lieutenant Narita), Hiroshi Cho
(Shibata), Hideaki Esumi (Machida),
Shigeyoshi Fujioka (Kimura), Kaku
Takashina (Makita), Shoichi Ozawa (Sergeant
Akiyama); Runtime: 96; MPAA Rating: NR;
producer: Kaneo Iwai; Criterion
Collection; 1965-Japan-in Japanese with English
subtitles) "Give me a Suzuki yakuza film anytime." Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz A
challenging story on military life and the life of a
prostitute, as seen through her eyes. It's based on
the popular novel by Taijiro Tamura, and is
written by Hajime Takaiwa. Maverick
director Seijun Suzuki ("Branded to Kill"/"Tokyo
Drifter"/"Pistol Opera") keeps it tense and
eloquent. In
1937 when prostitute Harumi (Yumiko
Nogawa) is rejected by her upper-class lover, who
marries a respectable woman, she bolts from working
in the Chinese city of Tianjin to volunteer to
serve as a "comfort woman" for a
Japanese battalion fighting at the Manchurian front.
The sadistic Lieutenant Narita (Isao
Tamagawa), the company commander, mistreats her and
keeps her as his woman servant, as she also serves the
sexual needs of the other soldiers. But Harumi
falls in love with Narita's sensitive orderly,
Corporal Mikami (Tamio Kawaji), and
their affair brings about tragic consequences for both
and depicts how military life is de-humanizing.
The
black and white film though well-executed and
acted, never moved me as much as it should have. The
film is meant to criticize the Japanese military for
their rigidity, brutality and misplaced loyalty to
their traditions of self-sacrifice. Give me a Suzuki
yakuza film anytime. REVIEWED ON 7/26/2012 GRADE: B Dennis Schwartz: "Ozus' World Movie Reviews" © ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DENNIS SCHWARTZ |