Utamaro and His Five Women

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william d The story just isn't very interesting, worth watching for Japanese language practice only. Rated 2/5 Stars •  Rated 2 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Having just seen the Katsushika Hokusai exhibit at the National Gallery of Victoria today, I thought the time was right to check out Kenji Mizoguchi's film about another contemporaneous ukiyo-e woodblock print artist, Kitagawa Utamaro. Utamaro was famous for his bijin ?kubi-e "large-headed pictures of beautiful women" of the 1790s (according to Wikipedia) and was a denizen of the red-light district of Edo, although the film shows him sublimating any erotic impulses into his art. Even so, the women (and men) around Utamaro do nothing but give in to their passionate desires, causing endless intrigues. Kinuyo Tanaka plays Okita, the most impetuous of local courtesans who drinks too much and chases after young Shozaburo who instead runs off with Takasode, the courtesan with the Utamaro drawn tattoo on her back. Utamaro himself gets into trouble, first for boasting that his art is better than that of the local traditional painting school (which earns him a duel and then an acolyte) and second for making prints that displeased the shogunate (resulting in 50 days in handcuffs). As a director, Mizoguchi had not yet reached his mature period of masterpieces (Ugetsu, Sansho the Bailiff, The Crucified Lovers, and more) but this film has some lovely outdoor (location) shooting and some complex camerawork. The story itself contains too many minor characters, not always clearly delineated, and therefore loses some impact. But surely the vision of the artist consumed by their art was a deeply personal one for this director. Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 02/04/23 Full Review Audience Member A great film from Mizoguchi, who had to plead with the US censors to allow it to be made, dealing with the twin themes of the lowly position of women in Edo society, and the constraints forced on artists. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/22/23 Full Review Audience Member A famed 18th century Edo artist expresses his love for women through his painting. Mizoguchi once again returns to deal with his plea for equity of treatment for women whose feelings in this film are toyed with. However, the contrivance of the plot is sometimes uneasy to stand. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Audience Member Mizoguchi uses this period piece, perhaps his most autobiographical work, to tell a tale of artistic confinement that reflected the tensions of the time, working under the constant threat of censorship during post-war Japan. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/17/23 Full Review Audience Member my first japanese black and white film..It was pretty good, I enjoyed the acting Rated 3.5/5 Stars •  Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars 01/24/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Utamaro and His Five Women

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