15: Kenzi Mizoguchi & Ridley Scott
Kathleen Norris on MIZOGUCHI AND THE WOMEN
My favorite of the 20th century giants of Japanese cinema, Kenji Mizoguchi (1898-1956) is not as well known in America as his contemporary Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998). Mizoguchi died in his prime, and his major theme - the tribulations of women in Japanese culture - is one that audiences tend to shun in favor of samurai epics. Not to knock Kurosawa: his RASHOMON, WOMAN IN THE DUNES and IKIRU are masterpieces as is my favorite, a sly adaptation of Renoir’s 1936 film THE LOWER DEPTHS, depicting the lives of slum dwellers in Edo (now Tokyo) in the late 19th century.
Both directors faced much censorship: first from the Japanese government before and during World War II, which pushed for films on patriotic themes, and then from US government agents in occupied Japan, who resisted realistic depictions of poverty, and stories of women forced into prostitution in the post-war economy.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Soul Telegram: Movies & Meaning to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.