CJS 2004 FREE FALL FILM SERIES

A Mizoguchi Retrospective

The Center for Japanese Studies and Doc Films from the University of Chicago have collaborated to organize this retrospective of one of Japan's leading directors, Kenji Mizoguchi.

Fridays at 7:00 PM
Askwith Auditorium in Lorch Hall, 611 Tappan Street, Ann Arbor, MI 48109
(at the intersection of Tappan and Monroe)
Admission FREE
Parking is free after 6:00 p.m. at the University parking structures on Church Street and Hill Street

Please click here for a map of the location.
For written directions, please click here.


LIST OF FILMS

September 17 ~ Hometown (Furusato) (1930) 86 min., 35mm, B&W Mizoguchi's first sound film, Hometown, is a story about a struggling tenor who is faced with making choices between the important people and things in his life and fame. At the beginning, the tenor is supported by a woman who helps him to achieve popularity. Later, their relationship deteriorates and she is replaced by another woman. Japanese with English subtitles. (Print provided by the Japan Foundation. Permission from Nikkatsu.)
Photo courtesy of Shochiku Co., Ltd.	September 24 ~ Story of the Last Chrysanthemums (Zangiku Monogatari) (1939) 142 min., 35mm, B&W Mizoguchi felt as though he came into his own in this film. The story is based on a spoiled young actor from an important Kabuki family who defies his parents to marry the family maid and live in poverty as he struggles to master his craft. Japanese with English subtitles. (Print provided by the British Film Institute. Permission from Janus/Criterion.)
October 1 ~ The Loyal 47 Ronin, Parts I and II (Genroku Chushingura) (1941) 217 min., 35mm, B&W This two-part film was made during the beginning of the war in the Pacific when Japanese authorities encouraged filmmakers to glorify the samurai values of loyalty and self-sacrifice. This film is based on the well-known, true story about a group of forty-seven samurai who avenged their leader's death and ended their own lives in a ritual suicide. Japanese with English subtitles. (Print provided by the Japan Foundation. Permission from Janus/Criterion.)	Photo courtesy of Shochiku Co., Ltd.
	October 8 ~ My Love Has Been Burning (a.k.a. My Love Aflame) (Waga Koi wa Moenu) (1949) 83 min., 35mm, B&W Not one of Mizoguchi's favorite films, this story was inspired by the feminist, Eiko Kageyama. A young woman leaves her home to work on a new constitution with the Liberal Party. Shortly after joining them, she is disillusioned. Japanese with English subtitles. (Print provided by the British Film Institute. Permission from Janus/Criterion.)
October 15 ~ Life of Oharu (Saikaku Ichidai Onna) (1952) 133 min., 35mm, B&W This film secured Mizoguchi's international reputation as a filmmaker and won him the Best Director Award at the 1952 Venice Film Festival. This film tells the story of a woman who sinks from aristocrat to courtesan to streetwalker. Japanese with English subtitles. (Print provided by and permission from Janus/Criterion.)	Photo courtesy of Toho Co., Ltd.
Photo courtesy of Shochiku Co., Ltd.	October 22 ~ Sisters of Gion (Gion no Shimai) (1936) 68 min., 16mm, B&W This film was ranked number one on Kinema Junpo's "Best Ten List" in 1936. The story is a realistic look at the world of the geisha as shown through two very different sisters: one is old-fashioned while the other is more modern. Japanese with English subtitles. (Print provided by the Japan Foundation. Permisson from Janus/Criterion.)
October 29 ~ Ugetsu (Ugetsu Monogatari) (1953) 96 min., 35mm, B&W This is perhaps Mizoguchi's most famous film. The story is inspired by two short stories from the 18 th century written by Akinari Ueda. The tale switches back and forth between the natural world of peasants during the time of civil war and the supernatural world of ghosts and apparitions. Japanese with English subtitles. (Print provided by and permission from Janus/Criterion.)	Photo courtesy of Daiei Co., Ltd.
Photo courtesy of Daiei Co., Ltd.	November 5 ~ Sansho the Bailiff (Sansho Dayu) (1954) 125 min., 35mm, B&W This was the third film of Mizoguchi's to win an award at the Venice Film Festival (after Life of Oharu and Ugetsu). The story is about an aristocratic family in 11 th century Japan that loses everything. The mother is kidnapped and forced into prostitution and the two children are sent to the slave camp of the notorious Sansho. Japanese with English subtitles. (Print provided by the British Film Institute. Permission from Janus/Criterion.)
November 12 ~ Osaka Elegy (Naniwa Ereji) (1936) 69 min., 16mm, B&W This film marked the beginning of Mizoguchi's realism and his first film about modern women. In order to keep her brother in college and her father from jail, a young woman becomes a mistress and later a prostitute. Eventually, the people close to her betray and disown her. Japanese with English subtitles. (Print provided by the Japan Foundation. Permission from Janus/Criterion.)
Photo courtesy of Daiei Co., Ltd.	November 19 ~ Street of Shame (Akasen Chitai) (1956) 85 min., 35mm, B&W This was Mizoguchi's last completed film which was shot as he fought leukemia. It looks at the stories of various prostitutes in the face of a rapidly changing world. Some say that the public outrage fanned by this film was a contributing factor to the outlawing of prostitution in Japan in 1957. Japanese with English subtitles. (Print provided by and permission from Janus/Criterion.)