Themes: Prostitutes, Rise and Fall Stories, Star-Crossed Lovers
Main Cast: Kinuyo Tanaka, Toshiro Mifune, Ichiro Sugai
Release Year: 1952
Country: JP
Run Time: 136 minutes
Plot
Life of Oharu features Kinuyo Tanaka in the title role. Oharu is a middle-aged prostitute in 17th century Japan. As she prays before a statue of Buddha, Oharu reviews her past. Her road to degradation began when, as a teenager, she disgraced her family by falling in love with a samurai (Toshiro Mifune). Oharu became the mistress of a prince, who cast her off after she bore his son. She was then sold into prostitution by her father, and thus began a catch-as-catch-can existence alternating between brief happiness with those she genuinely loved and servitude to those she despised. A potential happy ending, reuniting her with her royal son, is dashed by the much-maligned Oharu herself, who opts for the life of a beggar. Directed by Kenji Mizoguchi, a lifelong advocate of equitable treatment for Japanese women, Life of Oharu was adapted from a novel by Saikaku Ibara. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Review
Though maybe not director Kenji Mizoguchi's most perfect film (Ugetsu and Sansho the Bailiff usually garner this title), Life of Oharu is arguably his most important work. When it won the 1952 Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival one year after Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon did the same, Oharu not only solidified the reputation of Japanese cinema but also ended Mizoguchi's decade-long artistic tailspin and freed him from studio constraints, allowing him to create his later masterpieces. Yet the film was almost not completed thanks to cost overruns and Mizoguchi's fanatical perfectionism. Based on a 17th century farcical classic by libertine playwright Sakiku Ibara, both the play and the film details the fall of a woman from imperial courtesan to untouchable. Yet while Sakiku uses Oharu's decline as a means to satirize Japan's rigid feudal culture, Mizoguchi strips away all parodic elements and views her tortured life as noble and sacred. As in his other works, Mizoguchi presents a woman's suffering vividly and sympathetically, framing it in long takes and fluid camera movements in a coolly contemplative style. The result is a film that seems aloof yet packs a remarkably strong emotional punch. Quiet and profound, Life of Oharu is a masterful work by a filmmaker reaching the pinnacle of his creative powers. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide
The Life of Oharu(西鶴一代女,Saikaku Ichidai Onna?) is a 1952historical fiction black and white film by directorKenji Mizoguchi starring Kinuyo Tanaka as Oharu, a one-time concubine of a daimyō (and mother of a later daimyō) who struggles to escape the stigma of having been sold into prostitution by her father. Based on a novel by Ihara Saikaku, the film constitutes an excellent example of the long take aesthetic, which Mizoguchi employed extensively throughout his career.
The Life of Oharu is based on various stories from Ihara Saikaku’s The Life of an Amorous Woman. It was produced by the Shintōhō Company, with cinematography by Yoshimi Hirano and screenplay by Yoshikata Yoda.
It has been claimed that this movie was one of Kenji Mizoguchi’s favorite projects, even though it was under financed. Other crew members include: production designer Hiroshi Mizutani and historical consultant Isamu Yoshi.
The story opens on Oharu as an old woman in a temple flashing back through the events of her life. It begins with her love affair with a page, the result of which (due to their class difference) is his execution and her family’s banishment. Oharu attempts suicide but fails and is sold to be the mistress of Lord Matsudaira with the hope she will bear him a son. She does, but then is sent home with minimal compensation to the dismay of her father, who has worked up quite a debt in the meantime. He sends her to be a courtesan, but there, too, she fails and is again sent home. She goes to serve the family of a woman who must hide the fact that she is bald from her husband. The woman becomes jealous of Oharu and makes her chop off her hair, but Oharu retaliates, revealing the woman’s secret. She again must leave—this time she marries a fan maker who is killed shortly after during a robbery. She attempts to become a nun, but is thrown out for seducing a man seeking reimbursement for fabric that she took. She is thrown out of the temple, becomes a prostitute, but fails even at that. In the end, she is recalled to the Lord’s house in order to keep secret her activities and to be exiled within the compounds to keep her secrets locked away. While being scolded for the life she chose, she attempts to find her son, and in the process, ends up running away as she chooses the life of a beggar over the life in exile.
Gender Issues
Kinuyo Tanaka as Oharu, the mistress of Lord Matsudaira
Kinuyo Tanaka as Oharu, the old poor woman
Oharu faces some major conflicts of interest as her role as a woman in society changes with each stage she enters. During the course of her entire life, she is seen as having little autonomy, from being chosen for her perfect face and perfect body by the Lord Matsudaira’s servant to being forced into prostitution as everything else fails. Furthermore, her role in the society is greatly strained as she was originally cast aside during her initial love affair.
Director
The director of The Life of Oharu, Kenji Mizoguchi, is considered one of the masters of what is often called the 'Golden Age of Japanese cinema'. Mizoguchi’s films were influenced heavily by his childhood. Events such as the loss of his sister and mother through sale to a geisha house and death, respectively, as well as his father’s inability to take care of his family played a major role in deciding what kind of films Mizoguchi would come to direct. Common themes in Mizoguchi’s films are sudden changes in class, oppressive male figures of authority, and the woman protagonist who sacrifices everything only to have her life ruined. Mizoguchi experienced all of these at some level as he grew up in Tokyo. These themes are most prevalent in his films: Osaka Elegy, The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums, The Life of Oharu, Sansho the Bailiff, and Ugetsu. Films such as these helped establish Mizoguchi's reputation as a feminist director.
Cast and main characters
Oharu and fictional daimyo Lord Harutaka Matsudaira (Toshiaki Konoe).
Hisako Yamane as Lady Matsudaira.
Kinuyo Tanaka as Oharu - The protagonist whose bad luck and misfortune lead to various struggles in life.
Tsukie Matsuura as Tomo, Oharu’s Mother - A kind character in the film; her mother tended to side with Oharu and did not wish to see her become a courtesan.
Ichirō Sugai as Shinzaemon, Oharu’s Father - Oharu’s father was consumed by both money and social status. His misjudgments about Oharu caused much of her downfall.
Toshirō Mifune as Katsunosuke - A page who courted Oharu and they fell into a forbidden love. He is beheaded once their relationship is discovered.
Toshiaki Konoe as Lord Harutaka Matsudaira - He takes Oharu as a mistress in order to bear a child heir. Unfortunately for Oharu, he falls in love with Oharu and his wife’s jealousy causes her dismissal.
Hisako Yamane as Lady Matsudaira - The wife of Harutaka Matsudaira who, because of her jealousy of her husband’s love for Oharu, banishes her.
Jukichi Uno as Yakichi Ogiya - He was a respected fan maker who married Oharu, however, he is tragically murdered shortly into their marriage.
A Woman of Osaka (1940) •The Life of an Actor (1941) •The 47 Ronin (1941) •Miyamoto Musashi (1944) •The Famous Sword Bijomaru (1945) •The Victory of Women (1946) •Utamaro and His Five Women (1947) •The Love of the Actress Sumako (1947) •Women of the Night (1948) •Flame of My Love (1949)
