Post by petrolino on Nov 4, 2017 21:22:34 GMT
Japanese filmmaker Seijun Suzuki was let go under mysterious circumstances by Nikkatsu Studios in the late 1960s following many years of dignified service. It's been claimed that he'd angered President Kyusaku Hori repeatedly by refusing to reel in his artistic impulses but some film analysts believe Suzuki had long grown tired of the studio's limitations and was pushing for a convenient exit strategy. I've read Suzuki was effectively blacklisted by the studios for 10 years but he did work in film, television and theatre during this time so I'm not qualified to shed any light on his period of studio exile. Suzuki returned to critical favour with a cryptic triptych of period pieces set during the 'Taisho Era' (1912-26), so named in deference to Emperor Taishō who oversaw a period of cultural enlightenment in Japan. Each chapter of the 'Taisho' trilogy retains common elements, inserts surreal images and incorporates supernatural ideas.
![]()
Part 3 : 'Yumeji' (1991, Yumeji Takehisa, 夢二)
A fictionalised account of a chapter in the life of poet and painter Takehisa Yumeji.
Part 1 : 'Zigeunerweisen'(1980, Tsigoineruwaizen, ツィゴイネルワイゼン)
Based on a novel by Hyakken Uchida.
Based on a novel by Hyakken Uchida.
It's a psychological crime melodrama about two men who enter relationships with two different women who appear the same on the surface, Sono and O-Ine (both portrayed by Naoko Ôtani). It's title is adopted from Spanish composer Pablo De Sarasate's violin composition 'Zigeunerweisen' which features in the story. The works of piano composers Frederic Chopin and Franz Liszt can be heard in many fantastical films, something usually attributed to their romanticism; Mike Figgis' architectural crime melodrama 'Liebestraum', featuring Liszt's composition 'Liebesträume', engages in similar games to 'Zigeunerweisen'. De Sarasate's 'Zigeunerweisen' is based on themes of the Roma people. The last section, the rhythms of the csárdás, carries a theme previously used in Liszt's 'Hungarian Rhapsody No. 13'.
Mako Sanjo, Kyoko Enami & Michiyo Okusu
Part 2 : 'Heat-Haze Theatre' (1981, Kagerō-za, 陽炎座)
Based on a novel by Kyōka Izumi.
Based on a novel by Kyōka Izumi.
The tale of a lonely playwright attracted to a strange lady who may be a spooky ghost.
Chishu Ryu & Mariko Kaga
Part 3 : 'Yumeji' (1991, Yumeji Takehisa, 夢二)
A fictionalised account of a chapter in the life of poet and painter Takehisa Yumeji.
A biopic that reimagines an encounter between Takehisa Yumeji and a mesmerising widow whose past is carried over from the afterlife.
'Kurofuneya' - Takehisa Yumeji
'Flashback' - The Hiromi Trio (: Hiromi Uehara, Anthony Jackson & Simon Phillips)
