Gan

The flow of films showing the hard lives of women, and the position they are put in, were at their height in 1950s Japan, and this is without a doubt a standout. Hideko Takamine and character actor Eijirô Tôno are stunning as the kept and the keeper. She, accepting the role of mistress, he, the hated moneylender, barely keeping the illusions which made her accept.

Toyoda's direction is strong, and almost fearless. At times he goes even darker and deeper than most peers, leaving us to study "Otama", and see her self respect slowly fade away. The films only flaw is it's occasional lack of subtlety where it feels like the characters just "had to" voice what we should (and usually already are) feeling - but these occasions are luckily rare. I might also have enjoyed it even more without the introduction of a slight sense of hope, but it's harshness and melancholy is still very much there, in almost every moment.

In fact there is at most time a sense of crassness, especially when Tôno is on the screen. Each gesture, each act, each line. You can genuinely feel why he is despised by the people around him, and this without him ever being overtly cruel, something he brilliantly would be the first to point out.

Toyoda had a brilliant eye for detail, and managed to do things they sometimes even had a hard time doing, such as letting every single character, no matter how small, shine in their own way, and be truly worth remembering. Even more incredibly, no one steals the spotlight away from Otame. Each event, each character, they all reflect upon her story, and often adds a further layer to her prison.

An example of all that is great about Japanese cinema prior to its decline in the 1960s. It is pictorially exquisite, leisurely paced but never dull, well-acted with just the right amount of melodrama, and directed by a master in top form. The director, Shiro Toyoda, is a superb Japanese film director that has yet to be discovered in the West, though a few of his films, such as "Wild Geese" and "Snow Country" can be found on video.

The story is of a young woman whose relationships with men in the past have been stormy, and who finds herself once again in a bad situation. She becomes the mistress of a wealthy moneylender, believing him to be a merchant who has been recently widowed and that he will soon marry her. She discovers his lies but cannot leave him because of the money he has given to her elderly father. Soon she falls in love with a student that passes by her house every day on the way home, but their relationship ends before it even begins when he is accepted as an apprentice to a doctor in Germany.

"The Mistress" is a beautifully shot film that captures with subtlety and grace the central character's tragedy through its images. It is also an admirable film for its restraint in not descending into the pit of tear-jerking sentimentality that so many Japanese films of the period (even some of the good ones) so frequently did.

A young woman is forced to reckon with a fate which has made her the mistress of a ruthless moneylender. Another in a long series of long suffering Japanese women caught in unbearable circumstances. Pretty much a common theme in Japanese films of the 50s. What makes this one different is the astonishing fluid, wonderfully composed direction of Toyoda. Someone who I never heard of before seeing The Wild Geese. The use of tight street scenes and forced perspective is extremely effective at creating a sense of time and space. In fact, this movie's technique resembles more the work of a David Lean or William Wyler than any of the major Japanese directors of the period. The score is heartbreaking and stirring. Then there's the acting . Everyone here is magnificent. One minor critique being that the students look a tad old. Hideko Takamine will break your heart in the lead as Otama . And that ending! Enigmatic with a capital "E"!

Unspeakably beautiful, delicate and immutable. There is no weakness in the chain of imagery, the power of forces controlling the lives of the characters, painted on the screen like calligraphy. Necessity cages the characters in images as simple as a bird threatened by a snake, to the money lender once janitor to the kept woman generous to her servant to the cruelty of the wagging tongues. Nothing here a traditional American audience demands and receives from Hollywood; only the lucidity of the haiku or bonsai, the migration of the wild geese. Cinematic perfection.

In late Meiji Japan, a young woman whose reputation had been sullied by being tricked into a false marriage is again deceived, this time into becoming the mistress of a 'widowed owner of a kimono-shop' (Eijiro Tono), only to discover that his is actually a detested money-lender with a living, and resentful, wife. The story is touching and melancholy and Hideko Takamine is outstanding as Otama, a wistful young woman who slowly realises that, as the 'kept woman' of a hated man, she has become a pariah. The rest of cast is excellent (Miki Odagiri is quite funny as Otama's sometimes exuberant maid) and the black-and white cinematography is moody and perfect for the story. Like many Japanese films of the era, cultural transition is a dominant trope. Otama always wears a kimono and keeps her hair in an ornate traditional style, while her 'master' frequently wears Western-style business attire, and the young medical student (Hiroshi Akutagawa) that Otama becomes infatuated with, dreams of travelling to Europe to train as a doctor. Tranquil, sad, and beautiful. Best watched on a quiet evening with a nice bottle of saké. *watched as 'The Wild Geese' with English sub-titles.